Western Port Writes at the Fringe

As part of the Flinders Fringe Festival, Western Port Writes hosted a lively discussion on family relationships and what makes a good story with three excellent authors. We were privileged to have Jason Steger as our moderator. The three authors were Tony Birch (Women & Children), Melanie Cheng (The Burrow) and Kylie Ladd (The Mix Up). It was fabulous conversation with three great authors who were generous in sharing personal stories and insights into their writing process. I look forward to reading more of their novels.

by Jacky Howgate

On a balmy afternoon in late summer the Flinders church hall is full of well-dressed literary fans, all doing their best not to look too sweaty. Luckily there is iced tea, coffee and water on offer, served by smiling volunteers.

At the front, Karina, looking summery and fresh, begins the session with an acknowledgement of country and a warm welcome to everyone. Seated behind her are three successful authors, ready to share their expertise and enjoy a panel discussion facilitated by Jason Steger who looks calm, cool and professional.

Tony Birch speaks with intelligence, humour, generosity, and a little bit of charm. He knows his craft and is clearly a very proud grandfather.

Melanie Cheng sits next to him. Her smile is open and generous. Her expertise as a GP is clear as she talks objectively about subjects; her love of writing is equally evident.

Kylie Ladd sits at the end closest to the fan. She looks keen to speak and when she does it is entertaining and informative.

This is literary fiction at its finest. Jason asks searching questions of the panel; they take turns to explain elements of their book, not giving us any spoilers, but drawing us in. The talk is about family, the one we’re born with, friends, family and pets that we collect along the way. There is a hint of domestic violence in Tony’s book, but it doesn’t overshadow the description of Melanie’s rabbit or Kylie’s mixed-up babies. There is a perfect synergy.

The mixture of personalities has been perfectly considered by the organisers. We are entertained, enlightened, amused and treated to an hour of intelligent and thought-provoking conversation. Despite the heat in the room, we are entranced.

When asked for their favourite aspect of being a ‘book parent’, Tony is quick to tell us how much he enjoys the structural edit with his editor. He loves moving the pieces around until everything fits. Melanie is methodical in her approach to editing, and she loves this part of the process. Kylie tells us that she can’t wait for it all to be done! That way she doesn’t need to read it anymore and she can enjoy the process of meeting her readers.

We are allowed a few questions at the end. All three authors look kindly at us and delight us with their responses. They are used to events such as this; it must get tiring at times, but they never falter. They proceed to the signing table and spend time smiling for photos, listening to budding authors share their dreams and enjoying the light breeze out on the deck.

It’s a wonderful afternoon; there is inspiration for new and established writers, books to add to home libraries and a delicious afternoon tea prepared and served by committee members from Western Port Writes.

by Anne Murphy

On a very hot and sweaty Saturday afternoon in February, as part of the Flinders Fringe Festival, Western Port Writes hosted a lively discussion on family relationships and what makes a good story with three excellent authors. We were privileged to have Jason Steger as our moderator. The three authors were Tony Birch (Women & Children), Melanie Cheng (The Burrow) and Kylie Ladd (The Mix Up).

I was especially interested in hearing from Melanie Cheng as she is one of my favourite authors. I had not read Kylie Ladd and only read one short story book by Tony Birch. So, I was very keen to hear their stories too. I was impressed with both these authors and subsequently bought their recent books. I have just finished The Mix Up and this is a great light read.

Jason Steger commenced the discussion by quoting from Anna Karenina ‘Happy families are alike: every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’ He then asked the question: Is it possible to write a novel about happy families? Tony Birch quipped, ‘would anyone want to read a book about happy families?’

The three authors all declared they had happy childhoods but there were elements in their personal lives that were unhappy, and it was these experiences they drew inspiration from for their novels.

Tony Birch was at pains to tell us that, although he writes about disturbing and unhappy themes, he was very happy as a child, despite living in an unhappy family. He draws from his past, but the novels are not autobiographical. The reference to violence, the Catholic church and Catholic schools were indeed drawn from his own experiences. I could relate to the subtle and overt violence he described in his novels having been educated in the Catholic system.

Melanie Cheng disagreed with the quote from Anna Karenina as she thought that unhappy families were very similar in their responses to unhappiness – there is a limited repertoire of responses to unhappiness.

The issue of parenting and grandparenting was tackled by each author. This resonated with the audience as many were grandparents.

In writing The Burrow, Melanie Cheng drew on her experience working as a general practitioner and as a mother to explore the effect of sudden death of a child on the family and how it can destroy the lives of those impacted. Kylie Ladd drew on her personal experience with IVF in her latest novel The Mix Up. Both parenting and grandparenting were central to both their novels. Tony Birch commented that on becoming a grandparent he had softened, and he now wanted to write a novel with male characters that were loving not violent.

The development of characters in books was also discussed. Jason Steger asked the panel how they went about writing multiple characters.

Tony Birch fleshes his characters out as he writes the first draft. Whereas Kylie Ladd produces a two- to three-page biography of each character before she starts writing. Melanie Cheng also develops her characters before she starts writing. She stressed the fact that each character had to have authenticity and that each character had some similarities with her.

An audience member asked the panel about the best part of birthing a novel. Melanie loves the editing stage where she polishes the novel and perfects it. Whereas Kylie loves it when it’s all finished, and she doesn’t have to talk about it anymore! Tony enjoys working on the second draft where he can tidy up the writing and expand on themes. All authors commented on the need for a great editor.

To end the session Jason asked the panel for recommendations for great novels about family relationships. Both Melanie and Kylie nominated author Ann Tyler’s novels: Breathing Lessons and Dinner at the Homesick Cafe. Kylie also nominated Clare Lombardo’s novel: The Most Fun We Ever Had. Tony chose The Island by Alexander McCloud. He also recommended the Netflix series Azura, the story of four Japanese sisters. Great suggestions for us as readers!

It was fabulous conversation with three great authors who were generous in sharing personal stories and insights into their writing process. I look forward to reading more of their novels.