This week we talk to Chloe Wilson about her piece ‘Arm’s Length’ which appears in Landmarks, the latest anthology curated by Spineless Wonders. During this interview Chloe describes an Australian landmark of significance to her, who inspires her writing and what inspired her micro-lit piece.
Tell us about a landmark that is significant to you
The Westgate Bridge is significant to me. I live in the west of Melbourne, and grew up hearing regularly about how my grandfather (who worked on its construction) could have died in its collapse.
What inspired you to write ‘Arm’s Length’?
The absurdity of the phrase, when taken literally. There’s a strange intimacy to it, which seems at odds with its actual meaning.
How do you find the experience of writing to a theme?
I love writing to a theme. It gives me something to kick against.
Describe your writing space
I write in an odd little garret above an art gallery. I share it with a friend who works in fashion, so there are various headless mannequins and toothy machines loitering in the corners. There’s also a bickering pair of pigeons who live in the roof. I’ve become quite fond of them.
Tell us about a writer or work that has inspired you as a writer
I don’t know how it came into my possession, but I’ve owned a book called ‘A Handbook on Witches’ by Gillian Tindall ever since I can remember. It’s full of gruesome tidbits about the history of witchcraft and the fate of those accused of it. I probably shouldn’t have read it whilst in primary school, but reading (and re-reading) it proved useful in building my tolerance for the macabre.
Chloe Wilson is the author of two poetry collections, The Mermaid Problem and Not Fox Nor Axe, which was shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry and the Judith Wright Calanthe Award. She received equal first prize in the 2016 Josephine Ulrick Poetry Prize, and has been awarded the John Marsden Prize for Young Australian Writers, the (Melbourne) Lord Mayor´s Creative Writing Award for Poetry, the Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize, the Fish Publishing Flash Fiction Prize and the Arts Queensland Val Vallis Award.
Feature image via Flickr.com