Reckoning
We’ve heard a lot about reckonings in recent times, especially of the political kind, here in Australia. Our media and other notable if not exactly worthy opinion-makers, would have us believe that Scott Morrison and his increasingly fragile government, is in the middle of a reckoning. Female politicians of various [...]
The comfort of story
I have always found it hard to tell ‘a single story.’ When Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche warned of the dangers of a single story, I understood her caution a deeper level. Is my story one of migration or is it one of silence? Is it culture I write about or being Australian? [...]
Recovery
The events of the last few months have been too much. The world has been too much. The Virus. George Floyd. Black Lives Matter. Rio Tinto. 434 Aboriginal deaths in custody. 55 Indian journalists arrested for doing their jobs. Our Prime Minister talking Tim Tam diplomacy with his British counterpart. [...]
The Parable of Bansi Lal Babu
‘You remember Bansi Lal Babu?’ asks my father, frowning down at me as I sit on the floor of our lounge, back against the wall, ginger cat purring on my lap. I nod. I don’t know who he means, of course, but I’ve learned not to question his random, occasionally obscure [...]
Moving in from the margins
Talented Perth writer Emily Sun invited me over to her blog and asked me a series of excellent questions, which I enjoyed answering. In this chat we talk about being writers of colour, being culturally and linguistically diverse, and why that is a problem/not a problem and how grammar ruined my [...]
The semantics of slaughter
We know that language matters. As people of colour, especially, we know language matters. Pauline Hanson’s debut speech in Parliament in 1996 sent a shiver up my spine. Words like swamp, ghetto and assimilate spun in my mind as I hugged my daughter. She was still at primary school, old [...]
Hot Chocolate
Day One - A red and white tape stretches along the curvaceous corridor, like a scene of crime. I cannot think of crimes – I must focus – I am here to save my life, I think. The whine and blast of the thing that may indeed save my life is [...]
Peddling my wares
These days I write the word ‘writer’ on forms that ask me what I do. I know I’ve earned it. I am that person – a published novelist. Publication has changed the way I view my profession. The secret is out. I can own it. Even when I’m questioned and occasionally [...]
A Ministry, a Garden, a God
I read a lot of books. For research mainly, or so I tell others and myself but also for pleasure, for comfort and to know myself better. I read fabulous books and ordinary ones, heartbreaking books and healing ones, smart books and hilarious ones, and I have a system of shelving [...]