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Robert Lukins lives in Melbourne and has worked as an art researcher and journalist. His writing has been published widely, including in\u00a0The Big Issue<\/i>,\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/i>, Crikey<\/i>,\u00a0Broadsheet<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Overland<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The Everlasting Sunday<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>is his first novel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\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 My family emigrated from Wales a fortnight before I was born, so I held on just long enough to be an Australian. I grew up in Buderim on the Sunshine Coast, which I now realise was a stroke of amazing luck. It was all very free and idyllic: billy carts, tree houses, running through rainforests, swimming beneath waterfalls. I moved to Brisbane for university, then later to Melbourne after everything went wrong.<\/p>\n \u00a02. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?<\/strong><\/p>\n Novel Writer, Novel Writer and Novel Writer. I don\u2019t remember where it started, though it was likely the encouragement of my parents. My elder brother and sister both worked at the local library and books were always around. It seemed a natural impulse to want to make some of these things \u2013 someone has to.<\/p>\n 3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you do not have now?<\/strong><\/p>\n Not to get too dark, but probably the belief that I wouldn\u2019t still be around by the age I am now. I never saw myself as likely to have a long or happy life. Now, I intend to have both.<\/p>\n Unbearably tricky, so I\u2019ll cheat slightly and name three that relate in some way to my novel. Book: A Handful of Dust<\/em><\/a> by Evelyn Waugh. Beyond all the dazzling prose and humour, the heart of this story is a person trying desperately to anchor themselves to the world. The Everlasting Sunday <\/em><\/a>looks at how we tether ourselves to keep from floating away into oblivion. Painting: I had a print of Snow Storm<\/em> (J.M.W. Turner) pinned to my wall during the writing of my novel and to me the story exists in the centre of that swirl. Piece of music: Fern Tree <\/em>by Andrea Keller. This was something of a theme song for the book. If I ever needed a shortcut into the story\u2019s atmosphere I could put this on and find my way in.<\/p>\n 5. Considering the innumerable artistic avenues open to you, why did you choose to write a novel?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s the version of art I\u2019ve been practising the longest. I play music and paint, but I have a weak voice and haven\u2019t clocked up nearly enough brush-time. That, and writing gives me the greater feeling of euphoria.<\/p>\n 6. Please tell us about your latest novel\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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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