Ten Terrifying Questions with Brendan James Murray!

Brendan James Murray teaches high school English at the school he attended. He is also the award-winning author of two previous books, Venom and The Drowned Man. He lives in the Mornington Peninsula with his wife, who is also a teacher.

Today, to celebrate the release of his new book The School, Brendan James Murray is on the blog to take on our Ten Terrifying Questions. Read on!

Brendan James Murray

1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?

I was born in Geelong, but have no memories of living there. Very early in my life, my family relocated to the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria.
Attending a government school in this area in the 1990s, it was impossible not to be aware of the acute disadvantage that surrounded me. This is a little-known aspect of the Mornington Peninsula; many see it as a tourist destination, ‘the beach’, but there are some confronting realities beneath that glittering façade. In some ways it is a place of extremes. There are streets where housing commission homes stand alongside palatial villas built by wealthy retirees wanting a sea change.

When I returned years later as a teacher, I was warned that more than 50% of the students in my classrooms came from families that received some form of government financial support.

2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?

At an extremely young age, I decided that I wanted to be a writer. It started with horror and ghost stories when I was in primary school. I was probably about ten when a family friend gave me a gift: an old typewriter. From then on, I was obsessed. I’d be holed away in my room for hours on end, bashing away at the machine to the point that all my fingers became calloused. I’ve never been able to unlearn the habit. To this day, people ask me why I hit the keys on the computer so hard.

While undertaking a writing course in my early twenties, I met an extraordinarily inspiring teacher named Liam. He made me realise the positive impact that teachers can have on the lives of young people, and that set me on a path towards my own classroom.

Tragically, Liam was murdered not too long after I met him, something I attempt to come to terms with in The School.

3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you don’t have now?

Towards the end of my own secondary education, I became frustrated with the ‘problematic’ students in my classes. When somebody was disruptive, or rude, or got into fights in the schoolyard, I would look at them with a kind of dismissive judgement. My perceptions of those kids were extremely superficial. After more than a decade of teaching, I now see that there’s almost always a reason for challenging behaviours, and it’s usually because the child needs help. So I’m far less judgemental than I used to be. In many ways, The School is about illuminating the lives of students beyond the classroom and showing them as complete people in all their complexity.

4. What are three works of art – this could be a book, painting, piece of music, film, etc – that influenced your development as a writer?

All writers are in a state of continual development, so I’ll answer this question by referencing some things I’ve read / heard quite recently!

Last year I taught a collection of short stories by Canadian writer Alice Munro entitled Dance of the Happy Shades. Both myself and the students were enchanted by Munro’s ability to deftly explore complex social issues in terse, haunting narratives. Her writing is beautiful.

The second recent influence was a book called Non-Places by French anthropologist Marc Auge. Essentially, Auge argues that a place has a sense of connection and meaning – our home, school, sports club – whereas a non-place is devoid of this. Increasingly we are spending more and more time in non-places: waiting rooms, freeways, supermarkets. Non-places contribute to the isolation and loneliness of the modern world.

The final example is a piece of music – a song called ‘Run Boy Run’ by Woodkid. I listened to it over and over while writing The School. It sounds great, and the lyrics have some wonderful messages for kids in the process of growing up.

5. Considering the many artistic forms out there, what appeals to you about writing non-fiction?

The Yugoslav writer Ivo Andric has one of my favourite quotes about true stories: “When I read or listen to accounts of what I have seen with my own eyes, I clearly see that the truth, the actual genuine truth, is impossible to establish and convey to other people and generations. I am constantly haunted by this discovery.”

I think what appeals to me about non-fiction writing is the challenge. How do you convey the truth (from literal truth to emotional truth) to people who haven’t experienced something? Literary non-fiction is a wonderful way to strive for this ideal.

6. Please tell us about your latest book!

In The School, my aim is to take readers into the often closed world of high school classrooms. More than that, though, I want to expose readers to the lives and stories of some of the most inspirational young people I have met in the course of my teaching career. One student came to Australia from Kenya as a refugee, and has experienced things few of us could begin to imagine; another was diagnosed with cancer twice before he had even turned fifteen. Young people are remarkable, inspiring, and are too often dismissed as entitled brats obsessed with their mobile phones.

I also tackle many of the faults that I see within modern education. In particular, I examine the way educational bureaucracies obsessed by data and ATAR scores are damaging the mental health and wellbeing of our children.

7. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?

I hope that readers will be moved by the stories of the young people they will encounter in The School. Meeting these children has made me a better person – I have been humbled by their strength, kindness and resilience. If readers are impacted in the same way, I will have done my job.

I also hope that readers (especially parents) will feel empowered to question and challenge aspects of contemporary education. Not too long ago, it was accepted practice in schools for teachers to strike students with canes; I think we need to be asking ourselves which of today’s educational practices future generations will look back on with dismay.

8. Who do you most admire in the writing world and why?

A key figure in The School is Peter Carey, because one of the classes I write about was studying his Collected Stories at the time. I adore Carey’s writing, as did my students. In fact, some of the kids in that class knew I loved Carey’s writing so much that they decided to make contact with his agent … To find out what happened, you’ll need to read the book!

9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?

I would love to be able to write full-time, but I’d never quit teaching. I belong in the classroom. So perhaps my ambition is to be able to divide my time evenly between teaching and writing, as opposed to cramming all my writing into late nights and weekends.

10. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Read a lot and write a lot. It’s the best advice I was given as a young writer, and I think it’s the best piece of advice I give my own students today.

—The School by Brendan James Murray (Pan Macmillan) is out now.

The School

The ups and downs of one year in the classroom

by Brendan James Murray

One teacher. One school. One year.

Brendan James Murray has been a high school teacher for more than ten years. In that time he has seen hundreds of kids move through the same hallways and classrooms - boisterous, angry, shy, big-hearted, awkward - all of them on the journey to adulthood. In The School, he paints an astonishingly vivid portrait of a single school year, perfectly capturing the highs and lows of being a teenager, as well as the fire, passion and occasional heartbreak of being their...

Order NowRead More

No comments Share:

About the Contributor

Booktopia