James Laidler: Asialink

James Laidler  

James Laidler is an emerging novelist, poet and spoken word performer from country Victoria. His first novel, The Taste of Apple, won the IP Picks Award for 'Best First Book' and was published in 2010. The novel explores the life of an East Timorese asylum seeker growing up in inner city Melbourne during the late 1990s.

In 2009, James’ short one man play, ‘Before the Fall’ was selected in The Australian Poetry Centre’s Poetry Monologues Competition and performed on stage at the 2010 Melbourne Writer's Festival. James has won several awards for his poetry and short stories. In addition, his work has been widely published throughout Australia on Writer's Radio, ABC Radio National and Melbourne's RRR; as well as in the literary journals: Going Down Swinging, Cordite, Poetica Christi, Poetry Matters and Peril.

What will you be doing in your Asialink Residency?
During my Asialink residency I will be immersing myself in the East Timorese culture. This process will help me to foster relationships with local Timorese writers and citizens. The experience will also give me the insight I need to write about Timorese issues with courage and conviction. But perhaps most importantly, my residency in Timor Leste will give me the time I need, free from distractions, to develop my skills as a writer and commence research into my third novel.

How do you expect the experience will inform your practice?
On completion of my residency I hope to achieve the following:
•I hope to have compiled an extensive dossier of research; including stories, interviews and descriptions of people and places. Once collected, this material would form the basis for my next writing project—a novel.
•I hope to have worked directly with local Timorese writers and artists, and found ways of bringing their stories back to Australia. For example, by the end of the residency, I might have decided to work with local writers and artists on creating an exhibition of Timorese work—stories, memoirs, songs, poetry, art, photography etc—to be toured back home (Perhaps with a mind to raising money in support the development of the Arts in Timor Leste). This sort of project, of course, would benefit both our countries.
•Through my work with my host organisation, Arte Moris, I also hope to be able to engage with the East Timorese in the spirit of cultural exchange. Moreover, as a visiting artist living in a country with little infrastructure or Arts funding, I am hoping to contribute to the Arts by giving talks and conducting workshops for art students and budding Timorese writers and poets on aspects of creative writing, performance poetry and publishing (ie. sharing my editorial skills and knowledge of the publishing industry).

What inspires you about living and working in another country?
I have a particular interest in the country I am going to. For many years I have had an interest and involvement in Timor Leste. Throughout the 1990s I played an active role in the East Timorese solidarity movement through my work with the Sanctuary Network. Later, as a writer, I used Australia’s history with East Timor as a backdrop for my first novel, The Taste of Apple, which won the IP Picks Award for ‘Best First Book’ in 2010. The Taste of Apple focuses on the life of a young East Timorese asylum seeker growing up in Australia in the 1990s after fleeing the Dili Massacre. I believe this novel documents an important chapter in Australian/East Timorese relations by giving a human face to important historic events. By living in Timor Leste, I hope that my writing about Timor will become more authentic and insightful.

What experience do you have of travelling and living in other cultures?
As a young man I have travelled extensively across Europe and Northern Africa. I have also spent a year living in Los Angeles.

How would you describe your work to a complete stranger?
I am a writer of fiction that focuses on basic human relationships and everyday life. I have been told that my writing has a hard, gritty edge to it. Perhaps this is the case, although that is for the reader to decide. What I strive to achieve in my writing, however, is a simple, straightforward prose that is easy to read and yet punctuated here and there by lush imagery and provocative ideas.

Is there a mission to your work?
Shh! If there is, it’s a secret. Read my writing and send me a letter. Tell me what you think it might be.

What's your background – what have you done that has got you to where you are now?
I have been the publisher and editor of a small independent newspapers. I have also had a love affair with literature and writing throughout my entire life. As a consequence, I have always dabbled in the writing of poetry, short stories and essays. In more recent years, I have also been a teacher of English and creative writing. Not until the age of 35 did I finally feel like I had accumulated enough confidence, experience and knowhow, to embark upon a career as a writer – something I have always wanted to do.

Can you describe an "average" working day for you?
Eat, write, exercise, eat, write some more, read, eat, read, sleep. And mixed in with this I also spend time trying to be a decent husband, father and human being.

What's the one thing - piece of equipment, toy, security blanket, – you can't work without?
Unfortunately, the luddite inside me must confess the truth: a laptop.

What gets you fired up?
Where do I start? Maybe with a question like this that I can never hope to adequately answer.

Who in the industry most inspires you?
Wendell Berry and Tim Winton

What in the industry do you despair about?
Just how difficult it is for good unpublished writers to get noticed.

What is the best thing about your work?
I’d love it if you read my work, so you tell me.

What’s the worst?
Again, you tell me.

What are the top three skills you feel you need in this industry?
Self belief, insight, and a sensitivity to the needs of your audience.

How would you advise someone looking to break into your field ?
Persistence and humility. Good writers are made, not born.

How do you know when you’ve missed the mark?
Sometimes I just know it and sometimes my most cherished colleagues (the critical ones!) tell me. I would be nothing without their insights.

Which of the below phrases best suits your career development to date and why?
"Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor."
Dancing is what it’s all about!

For more information please visit www.jameslaidler.net