Claire Corbett author of Hostile Takeover What inspired you to write this story? I’d been working in the NSW Cabinet Office, which provided policy advice to the Premier. It was a unique and intensely hierarchical workplace and I wanted to capture the sense of intrigue and behind-the-scenes machinations before my deep understanding of it faded. Our … Read More
Amanda Lohrey Selects Interviews
Amanda Lohrey Selects series: Interview with Belinda Rule
Belinda Rule author of The Road North From Toodleton What inspired you to write this story? The first thing was that Olga Lorenzo assigned Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping in Novel 2 class (at RMIT), which for me is one of those books that is playing the violin in a minor key inside your chest cavity and you … Read More
Amanda Lohrey Selects series: Interview with Amanda O’Callaghan
Amanda O’Callaghan author of The Memory Bones What inspired you to write this story? Small parts of it are autobiographical. I was an over-imaginative child, or a tragedy-centric child, so I was always conjuring up fears and disasters. The little girl who is afraid of snakes is me. I am still quite a cowardy custard, in … Read More
Amanda Lohrey Selects series: Interview with E. Ratnam Keese
E. Ratnam Keese, author of The Fence What inspired you to write this story? In writing ‘The Fence’, which is based on an actual event —conflict over the demolition and installation of a fence between two properties— what inspired me was the theme that finally emerged: that to love is to be supportive. This philosophy is … Read More
Amanda Lohrey Selects series: Interview with Sue Goldstiver
Sue Goldstiver, author of Empty Rooms What inspired you to write this story? I was staying in a deserted unit block on the Gold Coast and it began to feel increasingly isolated, and eerie. At night, I’d sit down to write with lightning flashing onto black water out to sea, and the story of a … Read More
Amanda Lohrey Selects series: Interview with Sue Booker
Sue Booker, author of Beware of the God What inspired you to write this story? ‘Beware of the God’ grew from an idea that formed years before I wrote a draft. The jumping-off point was ‘It could never have worked. But that doesn’t excuse what I did.’ All I knew was that a stranger would hassle … Read More
Amanda Lohrey Selects series: Interview with Marjorie Lewis-Jones
Marjorie Lewis-Jones, author of Shooting Star What inspired you to write this story? “Shooting Star” was inspired by a word and a pact. The word was Hilo. Hawaiians in the past named each of the thirty nights of a lunar month. The first night was called Hilo — to twist — because the moon was like … Read More
Amanda Lohrey Selects series: Interview with Erin Gough
Erin Gough, author of Night Trip What inspired you to write this story? Some years ago I met someone at a party, a seemingly ordinary sort of person, who happened to mention how he liked to drive up the freeway of a Saturday with a group of mates and jump off the top of a cliff. … Read More
Amanda Lohrey Selects: Interview with Joanna Atherfold Finn
Joanna Atherfold Finn, author of Jesus Sandals and Anchovette and Something for a Rainy Day What inspired you to write this story? Jesus Sandals and Anchovette The story has an autobiographical dimension so it was inspired to a degree by life events (yes, I was sent to a book parade dressed as a Gumble). It is also a … Read More
Amanda Lohrey Selects: Interview with Marian Matta
Marian Matta, author of Danny Boy What inspired you to write this story? Although Danny is a composite character and his situation and actions arose from my imagination, I was moved to write his story because of the personal circumstances of a friend of mine. It’s an unusual story for me in that I started writing … Read More