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Famous Adopted People: a Novel – by Alice Stephens
I saw Famous Adopted People at my local library and picked it up for a friend who has an adopted child. I was in a hurry so I didn’t see the words ‘a novel’ and thought it was a non-fiction book about famous adopted people. It is not. The book is best described as a rollicking read that explores a range of salient issues around transnational adoption and one that exemplifies how some truths are best told through fiction. At the start of the novel, we meet two young women who are negotiating the complexities of their transnational and racialized identities. At the center of the story is Lisa Pearl, a Korean-America adoptee who isn’t…
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Conversations with Marianna Shek
Marianna Shek was one of the writers I approached when I decided to profile writers on (or should the preposition be ‘in’? Do you appear in or on…) this blog because I really wanted to continue the conversation that we started in Melbourne. I was immediately drawn to Marianna’s creative passion and energy. When you read this profile, you’ll find out just how multi-talented Marianna is. We could have easily ended up with a novella-length interview if we’d allowed ourselves, but we decided to leave that for another day. Marianna has no immediate plans to travel to Perth, nor I to Brisbane, so we will have to make do with Skype…
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Yona Diamond Dansky – Educator, Writer and Illustrator
Yona Diamond Dansky is a Philadelphia based writer, artist, lifelong educator, mother and grandmother with many stories to share. Moshu Worries , Yona’s first children’s book, draws upon her three-year-old grandson’s journey when Yona’s daughter was diagnosed with cancer. I approached Yona for an interview because this is the book I wish my child had when I was diagnosed with a blood cancer. Most adults struggle to get their heads around a cancer diagnosis, so you can imagine how hard it is for children. How do you explain that a parent’s sudden hair loss， lack of energy and absence from the house for long periods of time？ “When Mom gets a serious illness,…
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Catherine Robertson – Writing a Bestseller
I met Catherine Robertson at a short-fiction workshop at the International Institute of Modern Letters when I was on a working holiday in the Land of the Long White Cloud. I don’t know how the others in the workshop felt about their time there, but I remember thinking, “This is it. This is why I took such a meandering path and made seemingly senseless choices…I’m meant to be alive at this moment, sitting in a circle with 12 intelligent and creative people who value creative expression as much as I do, and damn this view over Wellington Harbour is amazing.” The 13 of us in the room, 12 Wellington-based emerging writers and…
