{"id":26533,"date":"2012-09-03T11:41:18","date_gmt":"2012-09-03T01:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=26533"},"modified":"2016-03-01T09:46:34","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T23:46:34","slug":"louis-nowra-author-of-into-that-forest-answers-ten-terrifying-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2012\/09\/03\/louis-nowra-author-of-into-that-forest-answers-ten-terrifying-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Louis Nowra, author of Into That Forest, answers Ten Terrifying Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Booktopia Book Guru asks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Louis Nowra<\/h1>\n

author of Into That Forest<\/em><\/a>, Cosi<\/a>,
\n<\/em>and much more…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ten Terrifying Question<\/h2>\n

————————-<\/p>\n

1. To begin with why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was raised in Fawkner, Melbourne, on a housing commission estate. In my early teens we shifted to middle class Macleod where I went to the local high school.<\/p>\n

2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the age of 12 I was still recovering from a bad head accident which had happened the year before. For the next few years I had to learn to speak, write and think clearly again. By the age of 17 I read a novel all the way through for the first time.<\/p>\n

At the age of 18 I was at university, a very average student with no goals or aims at all.<\/p>\n

By the age of 30 all this had changed. I had acted in a theatre group at university and went on to write a one -act play which was performed at La Mama theatre, Melbourne. It was dreadful and I became determined to learn about the art of playwriting and create something better, so I immersed myself in theatre and reading. At the age of 27 I wrote my first novel \u2018The Misery of Beauty<\/em>\u2019 and had my first full length play, \u2018Inner Voices<\/em>\u2019 performed in Sydney. Melbourne theatre was uninterested in my work so I shifted to Sydney and when I was thirty I had a play on at the Opera House, one at the Nimrod (now the Belvoir), a translation on at the Opera House (\u2018Cyrano de Bergerac<\/em>\u2019) and a radio play for the ABC\/BBC.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you do not have now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am probably more forgiving about human weaknesses but not my own.<\/p>\n

4. What were three works of art \u2013 book or painting or piece of music, etc \u2013 you can now say, had a great effect on you and influenced your own development as a writer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lolita<\/em><\/a> by Vladimir Nabokov was one of the first novels I ever read and it remains a constant inspiration for the elegance of its literary style. Watteau\u2019s paintings had a profound impact on me. They may be about pleasure but at their centre is always a troubling melancholia. As for movies, it was Orson Welles\u2019s \u2018Citizen Kane\u2019 that made me realise films could be a true art form and I never tire of Talk Talk\u2019s The Spirit of Eden<\/em> and the Burial and his extraordinary dub-step albums<\/p>\n

5. Considering the innumerable artistic avenues open to you, why did you choose to write a novel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I considered myself to be a playwright. My first attempt at writing a novel was driven by an inner impulse I had no control over. It just seemed natural to write one and once it was published I knew I would write more.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>6. Please tell us about your latest novel\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Into That Forest<\/em> is about two young girls who find themselves alone in a Tasmanian forest after a boating accident. They survive by living with two Tasmanian tigers for several years. Later back in civilisation they find it hard to fit in.<\/p>\n

(BBGuru: <\/strong>Publisher’s blurb – From one of Australia’s foremost literary talents, this is an unforgettable and heartbreaking story about two young girls living in the wild with Tasmanian Tigers. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Me name be Hannah O’Brien and I be seventy-six years old. Me first thing is an apology – me language is bad cos I lost it and had to learn it again. But here’s me story and I be glad to tell it before I hop the twig.<\/em><\/p>\n

So begins this extraordinary novel, which will transport you to Australia’s wild frontier and stay in your mind long after you’ve finished reading.)<\/p>\n

Click here to buy Into That Forest<\/em> from Booktopia,
\nAustralia’s No.1 Online Book Shop<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

7. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope they see it as an enchanting, mysterious story that may or may not be true.<\/p>\n

8. Whom do you most admire in the realm of writing and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nabokov because he has a superb prose style, a sense of playfulness and can tell a story. There is also the French author George Perec\u2019s whose novel \u2018Life: A User\u2019s Manual\u2019 has an astonishing mixture of playfulness, storytelling magic and fiendish sub-plots.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have no goals except to tell a story the best I can.<\/p>\n

10. What advice do you give aspiring writers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) Read, read, read. 2) have a need to tell a story 3) develop unlimited concentration 4) Remember that to be a writer is not to be a sprinter. A true writer is in it for life, knowing it\u2019s a marathon and that fame and money come to very few writers, so be prepared.<\/p>\n

Louis, thank you for playing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here to buy Into That Forest<\/em> from Booktopia,
\nAustralia’s No.1 Online Book Shop<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Louis Nowra author of Into That Forest, Cosi, and much more… Ten Terrifying Question ————————- 1. To begin with why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was raised in Fawkner, Melbourne, on a housing commission estate. In my early teens we shifted to middle class Macleod where I went to the local high school. 2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why? At the age of 12 I was still recovering from a bad head accident which had happened the year before. For the next few years I had to learn to speak, write and think clearly again. By the age of 17 I read a novel all the way through for the first time. At the age of 18 I was at university, a very average student with no goals or aims at all. By the age of 30 all this had changed. I had acted in a theatre group at university and went on to write a one -act play which was performed at La Mama theatre, Melbourne. It was dreadful and I became…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[4,84,85],"tags":[2620,3356,5184],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26533"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57120,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26533\/revisions\/57120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}