Spineless Wonders asks Jo Langdon
1. What inspired you to write the prose poem/microfiction which is published in Small Wonder?
I can’t remember a particular moment of inspiration, but I suppose the story ‘Pause’ formed around ideas about memory and absence, and the accumulation of a few images: bits of gravel and Redhead matches, tree frogs and tropical fruits, blue kitchen tiles and chandelier glass.
2. Tell us about that process. (Do you start sparse and widen out, or do you write down every possible association and cut back? Do you research the subject matter you are writing about? Is it pure intuition?) Take us through an example if you want.
I usually start sparse, with an idea or collection of images at most. Most of what I’ve written lately is very short; my recent short stories tend to resemble vignettes or episodes. I usually write in fragments, incrementally, and yet there’s always room to cut back. I definitely value concision, but it’s something I have to work at, too.
Like most pieces, ‘Pause’ has been through a number of mutations. The first draft was written an embarrassingly long time ago, and this particular piece is an offcut from a longer narrative. The two stories have since gone separate ways. Like estranged family members, or ex lovers, to throw in a dubious metaphor.
As for research, I guess it depends on your subject, but of course it’s really important for authenticity’s sake. Especially if you’re writing something that engages with an historical event, a specific time or place. For me it usually comes back to reading a wide range of texts, then figuring out what else needs to be explored, or what needs to be explored further.
How to go about including research, and ideally without being too deliberate, too hackneyed or too obvious, is something more intuitive again, I guess.
3. What advice do you have for other writers ? about the first or last line? About how to choose the title? Do you follow any rules?
I don’t think I’m in a position to offer advice to other writers. But like most readers, I really savour those striking first and last lines. And perfect titles. Any writing that’s good and memorable, really. So I’m grateful to those writers whose work I will return to again and again, for whatever reasons.
4. Who or what inspires your writing?
Things I read, see, hear. Poetry, short stories, novels, works of non-fiction. Films, visual art, and music. History. Postcards and souvenirs. Childhood memories, and misremembered memories; ideas about memory and absence. Travel, as well as the places I’ve lived, and the place I live now.
Anything can provide inspiration, of course, but I think reading widely definitely continues to improve my writing!
5. Tell us, what do you do if you haven’t written anything in a while and you want to get started writing again? Could you share your favourite writing exercise with our readers?
I’m usually working to a deadline, and can’t afford to stop for too long. My poetry manuscript had a deadline last year; my PhD thesis has one fast approaching. Admittedly, I’m a bit hopeless when it comes to meeting them, but there is always a timeframe, a sense of something ticking, ticking.
If I really can’t stare at the computer screen any longer, I read. Then I’ll form a response to what I’ve been reading, even if it takes quite a different direction.
Walking is always great, too. For whatever reason, ideas seem more likely to magically arrive when I’m walking – or any time I don’t have a pen and paper at hand…c’est la vie!
Jo Langdon lives in Geelong where she is currently completing postgraduate studies at Deakin University. A chapbook of her poems, Snowline, was recently published by Whitmore Press.
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This entertaining collection includes a romp of a novella called The Rattler, as well as short stories and micro fictions all set in and around contemporary Melbourne. Sometimes serious, sometimes seriously playful –always written in breathtakingly beautiful prose – these stories uncover the heartbreaking tragedies, slow-burning emotions and serendipity of ordinary lives.
Cover image by Miles Allinson, illustrated by Miles Allinson & Maxine Beneba Clarke
Praise for The Rattler & other stories:
“Spare and taut, sometimes tricky, sometimes shocking, yet always deeply and satisfyingly tender. A great collection.”
Paddy O’Reilly.
“An explosive mix of muscular prose and sharp originality. In this collection, A. S. Patric proves himself to be a writer who must be taken very seriously.” Vanessa Gebbie, author of Short Circuit, A Guide to the Art of the Short Story.
“A.S. Patric is that rarest of writers- he is absolutely fearless. His stories take risks, his characters soar and his prose sings. Be careful. These stories might cut you.” Ryan O’Neill.
In Permission to Lie, Julie Chevalier casts a curious eye into many different worlds. Her characters ride the citybound bus route, spend the night in a nudist colony and wait tables. Quirky and beautifully-written, these stories provide insights that ring with integrity and compassion.
‘A new voice in Australian fiction, wry, gritty, knowing and true.’
Fiona McGregor, Indelible Ink
Read an interview with the author, here.
What makes a man?
In this collection of short stories, Pierz Newton John moves through the full range of masculine experience, with an openness not afraid to show men at their most lonely, sexual, loving, sometimes vulnerable, sometimes abusive. First touch of a woman’s body in a cold and foreign land, tender moments between father and son, the deep love of a father separated from his child, treachery and opportunism mixed up with loneliness and internet dating, the casual violence of young boys exploring the world, rites of passage from young rebels to comfortable suburbanites, and what men feel and think about women. In Pierz Newton John’s stories it always come back to emotion?tenderness with children, warmth with wives after dreams of alienation, the pain of treacherous girlfriends, the loneliness of men. Plus ça change plus c’est la même chose…….the reader is lulled by the seamless prose, undercurrents of contemporary music, the urbane writing, the suburban settings, but it is all happening behind closed doors.
Read an interview with the author, here
Purchase a copy, here.
In these seventeen stories, Melbourne writer, Mary Manning, looks at the ways people are shaped, or damaged, by their circumstances. The results may sometimes be humorous, sometimes tragic. Whether set on a tram, along a highway or on an outback road?it is the journey, the characters and the telling of the tale that will capture your attention.
Cover and illustrations by Paden Hunter
‘Mary Manning takes her stories to places few writers would dare to go. She ranges across different styles with ease in a unique voice that is tart, tight and compulsively readable.’ PADDY O’REILLY
Read our interview with the author, Mary Manning here
To purchase, click here
If you like your genres with a bit of edge, you’ll love this diverse collection of stories from Spineless Wonders.
Features award-winning writers such as Ryan O’Neill, Jen Mills, Andy Kissane, Louise Swinn, Julie Chevalier, A.S. Patric and Kim Westwood as well as stories chosen by Sophie Cunningham in the inaugural Carmel Bird Short Fiction Award.
Contains illustrations by talented young artist, Paden Hunter.
‘Quality short fiction, packed with surprises. Prepare to be transported.’ Marion Halligan
Purchase here
Read interviews with our contributors, here.
Listen to audio samples here.
An anthology of prose poems and microfiction from 30 Australian writers.
- Includes award-winning writers Michael Farrell, Keri Glastonbury, Judith Beveridge and Peter Boyle.
- Features prose poems and microfiction selected by competition judge, joanne burns.
- Cover and evocative sketches by talented artist, Paden Hunter.
- Read interviews with our contributors here
- Click here to here audio
To purchase, click here
Escape audio stories Vol. 2
Playlist
Those Gauls Must Be Crazy – Claire Aman 14:36
The End of the Beginning – Meredyth Cilento 25:50
Poioumenon – John Steiner 8:22
The Gardener – Susan McCreery 21:50
For more details about these stories and their authors and to hear audio samples from this CD click here. Also available as mp3.
Escape – audio stories Vol. 1
Playlist
Paper Anniversary – SJ Finn/JR Davidson 19:35
Under the Skin – Sue Booker 21:39
Unnameable – M. Giacometti 20:14
Home – Yin Lin 13:36
For more details about these stories and their authors and to hear audio samples from this CD, click here. Also available as mp3.
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