{"id":81748,"date":"2018-07-23T11:41:24","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T00:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=81748"},"modified":"2018-07-23T18:53:28","modified_gmt":"2018-07-23T07:53:28","slug":"trent-dalton-boy-swallows-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2018\/07\/23\/trent-dalton-boy-swallows-universe\/","title":{"rendered":"Trent Dalton on Boy Swallows Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walkley-winning journalist Trent Dalton puts pen to paper to write his first novel,\u00a0Boy Swallows Universe<\/em><\/a>, a powerful coming-of-age story. One by one, here at Booktopia, we have fallen under the spell of this magical debut novel, shooting to the top of many of our ‘highly recommended’ lists. Plus, it has to be said, the cover is to die for!<\/p>\n

We were all delighted when Trent came by to chat with us about his journey of turning his childhood experiences into\u00a0Boy Swallows Universe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"trent<\/a><\/p>\n

“Boy Swallows Universe<\/em>\u00a0is pretty deeply inspired by my own life,”\u00a0explains Dalton. “It\u2019s a real coming of age tale, set in the Queensland\u00a0criminal underworld.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Dalton experienced a fairly unconventional childhood. Raised with and around criminals, he explains how he is still trying to answer all those questions that arose for him in his early years. Enter\u00a0Boy Swallows Universe<\/em>, a way for Trent Dalton to work through the confusion of his past.<\/p>\n

“Whatever I was going to write, I had to get this out of my system.” – Trent Dalton<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“My earliest memory,” says Dalton. “I\u2019m sitting on a couch, I\u2019m probably 4 or 5 years old \u2026 and I look to my left and there\u2019s this guy with red hair, he\u2019s wearing a Jackie Howe singlet, he\u2019s got tats all over him. I turn to him and say \u2018I love you, Dad\u2019. He turns back to me and says \u2018I love you too mate but I\u2019m not your dad.\u2019 That guy, as I later discovered, had more than one foot in Queensland’s criminal underworld. On paper, that guy\u2019s life would read like a series of misdemeanors and crimes. What you would never get from that guy\u2019s life is the wisdom and care and compassion and the things he taught me and my brothers. I was really fascinated with that. This whole book, all of those concepts come from me questioning how could that guy be so beautiful, and how could I love that guy so much and yet he is this other person?”<\/span><\/p>\n