Video transcript
2017 NSW PRC author interview - Oliver Phommavanh

[electronic tones]

- Thank you so much for taking part in the video conference, here, for the New South Wales, 'Premier's Reading Challenge.' My name is Oliver Phommavanh, and I'm an author of these books that you might have seen in the actual library, perhaps.

So my books, here, include the fabulous 'Thai-Riffic.' And we've also got 'Con-Nerd.' And we've also got 'Punchlines.' And we've also got 'Thai-No-Mite!,' which is the sequel to 'Thai-Riffic.'

And my latest book is actually called 'The Other Christy,' and it just came out, like, two weeks ago. So it's really cool that I've been able to actually talk to you guys about this fabulous new book, as well.

I'm actually going to show you my first ever book-- when I was only six-years-old. And my first ever book is right here. And it's called 'My Visit to the Zoo.'

Now, you probably can't see this, but this is actually the book that I wrote, back when I was in Year One, in a class called One Yellow, when I was in Kellyville Public School, which is not too far from [inaudible] Meadow Public School, actually-- because that's where I grew up. I grew up in Kellyville.

So I wrote my first book in Year One. And then I moved on to writing some more stories. This is a story that I wrote when I was in Year Three. And so I just kept writing lots and lots of stories.

I'm actually going to read to you the first sentence of that story that I wrote when I was in Year Three. So try to have a think about-- what do you think I was into when I was eight-years-old.

'One day in an old warehouse lived a scientist. The scientist made an experiment-- who kept toys to make them come alive. At the weekend, the mad scientist got into one of his tyrannosaurus dinosaurs.

The mad scientist got him into position, and then-- BOOM-- the dinosaur got, like, 50 metres tall and 5 feet long, eating part fire.' That's the first sentence, because I didn't have any full stops, back then.

But that's OK. The main fact is that I was really crazy about a lot of things-- one, I wanted to be a scientist. I actually wanted to be a scientist that discovered dinosaurs-- called a palaeontologist, but I realised I couldn't be one, because I couldn't say it or spell it.

So the truth is, when I was in Year Three, I actually wanted to be a dinosaur. And it was my life ambition to be actually the most deadliest, dangerous-- just the most vicious-- dinosaur out there.

I actually wanted to be this guy, right here-- a T-Rex.

Yeah, that's right, T-Rex.

Because I reckon, when I was a kid, a T-Rex was the most awesomest dinosaur out there.

Yeah, that's right, pretty awesome.

You know why? Because he's got sharp teeth.

Yeah, yeah, sharp teeth.

He's got strong legs.

Yeah, yeah. strong legs.

He's got a small brain.

Yeah, yeah, small brain. What? I haven't got a small brain.

What's your favourite TV show?

Oh, I love 'The Bachelor.'

He's got a small brain, he's got a small brain, right here. So that's all right. So I loved to be a T-Rex when I was a kid. And I used to go around going, you know-- RRAHH, going around, being a little T-Rex.

And I remember-- actually, I wrote a story called 'Oliver, The Last Dinosaur,' which was basically me as a T-Rex. And I would come to school, and would kick the school gate open. I would rip off the classroom roof, and then I started eating kids.

And I would describe what they taste like, in graphic detail. So I'd be, like-- mm, Billy, gummy bears, or mm, Joshua, fairy frost, or, mm, Mrs. Clancy, my teacher-- oh, broccoli, oh, yuck.

And then I did one more of the broccoli and turn-- zombies take over the world. And I'd give it to my teacher to read, and she thought it was a very interesting story.

But the thing is-- right, I just kept writing all these crazy stories. And people always asked me-- Oliver, you know, where do your ideas come from? And my ideas come from everywhere.

And my number one tip for writing stories is to read, read, read. Because the more you read, the more ideas you're going to get. OK? That's what happened to me, as well.

And that's why I'm here for the 'Premier's Reading Challenge.' I love the premise of the 'Reading Challenge.' When I used to be a teacher, I used to encourage my kids to do the 'Premier's Reading Challenge,' as well.

And look at this lovely little banner, here. It's a bridge made out of books, which is fantastic-- terrible, if it flooded, or there was a storm. But you know, on a sunny day, it's actually pretty good.

Because you know, it's kind of like books are like a bridge to another world. So when you read a book, you can go into, like, the world of Narnia, the world of Hogwarts. You can go into all kinds of places thanks to books.

And when I was a kid, I used to read a lot of funny books. And so these are some of the books that I used to read when I was a kid. So some of my favourite books out there-- I used to read them when I was a kid.

Morris Gleitzman-- one of my favourite authors of all time. And my favourite book of his is a book called 'Bumface.' That's a really great book. I'm also a big fan of Andy Griffiths, and I'm pretty sure all of you guys have read of these books when you-- right now.

When I was a kid, he was really famous for that 'Just' books-- 'Just Tricking,' 'Just Disgusting,' and so on. But I guess, these days that he's known for the 'Treehouse' books, which are really cool.

I'm also a big fan of Roald Dahl, as well-- Robin Klein, Judy Blume. I was also into, like, the 'Goosebumps' books-- always gave me frights. I was always into, like, you know true story and adventure books, as well.

So whatever book was out there, I was into. Because the thing about books-- its kind of like writing. Like, whatever you love, there are books out there for it. So if you're into, like, you know, 'Star Wars,' you can read about 'Star Wars.'

If you're into netball, you can read about netball. If you're into Justin Bieber, read about something else. No, no. If you want to read about Justin Bieber, then you go for it. OK? Because you know, he's pretty cool, as well.

So it's OK, it's all right. There's plenty of books out there for you, as well. Now, another book that I used to read when I was a kid was actually this book, right here-- 'Thai-Riffic.' Actually, no. How could that happen?

Well, the thing is I actually went back in time, back to when I was a kid, and I gave this book to myself when I was a kid. And he read it, and that's how I became an author. 'Thai-Riffic,' here, is actually about embarrassing families.

And the truth is, everybody there has got an embarrassing family. My mum and dad take turns to embarrass me. In fact, my mum, in particular, really embarrassed me, because she was the kind of mum that would just do all kinds of crazy things.

For example, when she went down to Woolys or Coles after school, and she saw something that was a bargain-- like, you know, toilet paper-- like, six rolls for $2, she would just start dancing. She would go-- oh, wow, it's six rolls for $2, time to do the dance of bargains.

[laughter]

OK, And for those who don't know, she's actually imagining that she's carrying bags of coins, because that's all the savings that she'll get. And it was my worst nightmare that my mum was going to appear in one of the ads for Coles or Woolys or IGA, going-- look at all the money you'll save from Coles.

And there will be me in the corner, going-- oh, for shame, for shame, because my mum is a bargain hunter. And she used to love to buy toilet paper. And she didn't just buy one roll of toilet paper or, like an eight-pack like normal people. She literally bought tonnes of toilet paper.

She actually bought, like, about a pallet of toilet paper, because it was on special. And this is really embarrassing for me, because I would actually pull up my trolley full of toilet paper, and then I'd go out to the car park.

And I'm still in my school uniform, as well. And then who do I bump into, but the school Captain, Andrea [inaudible]. And she looks at me, and she goes-- Oliver, what are you doing with all this toilet paper?

But all I could say, was-- A-BA-BA, I like toilet paper. I was really embarrassed. And that moment stayed with me for a very long time. And so my number two tip for writing stories is to write about yourselves.

Write about things that happen in your life. For example, my mum and dad used to embarrass me every single time it was, like, Harmony Day or Multicultural Day. And they would come to school with all this Thai food for the big feast.

And I don't like eating Thai food. I would rather have McDonald's or KFC or Pizza Hut or Nando's, and all those other things like that But all I got was this Thai food every single day.

And the truth is I actually couldn't eat hot and spicy food. And Thai food is, like, 90% hot and spicy. So whenever I ate hot and spicy food, fire would come out of my mouth, like-- YA-- just like that.

And if you thought, Toothless was a fire-breathing dragon, you haven't seen me when I eat my too hot curry, OK. And my dad, he eats like a mad scientist, OK. He would have all these chilies growing in his backyard, and there would be chilies all around the world.

So we would have these-- like, the normal Thai chilies. He would have these South American chilies. He would have the Mexicano chilies, and all these kinds of chilies.

And he would put them into a pot, and then he'd be, like-- so Oliver, what kind of chilies would you like to eat, today? And I'm like, I don't want to eat any chilies. And my dad is like-- no, you're going to eat chilies. It will put hair on your chest.

And I'm like-- I don't want to put hair on my chest. I don't want to be like Chewbacca. I just want to be a normal kid. Because my dad was a teddy bear. He was a big, fluffy teddy bear, because he had lots of hair around, because he basically, ate chilies. And I didn't want to be like him.

But anyway, the point is that he used to make the most deadliest curries known to man. And his famous curry was the purple curry. OK, now, the purple curry-- I've actually got a bowl of purple curry, right here.

And I can't show it to you for legal reasons, because it's kind of copyrighted. But anyway, the purple curry is right here. It looks pretty bad. It kind of stinks, as well, actually.

It's kind of good that you actually don't have smell-o-vision yet on your video-conference systems, because this chilli is kind of overpowering. It really smells like someone's hard day. It does really smell like someone's hard day. And it's really true,

It's really bad. And I asked my dad-- I said, dad, how do you make the purple curry? And he goes, I can't tell you, it's a family secret. And I'm, like-- But I'm your son. And he goes, you're adopted. I'm like, no. No, no. That's not true.

But anyway, I'm now going to actually demonstrate how hot this chilli is. Actually, you want to know what-- I'm just going to duck down and just take a little, small biteful of the curry, just to show you how hot it is, OK.

So I'm just going to go down here, and-- yeah, OK, just take a tiny sip. OK, that's not too bad. OK, that's all right. So now, that's a-- um, (SLURRING) that's the purple curry, and--

[panting]

Oh! Woo! That is some, that is some hot curry. Let me just-- ooh, oh, wow, OW! It is, like, the most hottest curry in the world. Oh my goodness. Oh, I'm-- oh, oh, my god. Agh ha.

Let me just, just-- let me just drink some water. Agh, ah, man. Agh, agh. I can't feel my face. (SINGING) I can't feel my face, but I like it. Oh, no.

Anyway, I'm going to give my dad a nice thank you card. So that's very nice-- purple curry, right there. Now, this story here is about a boy named Albert Lengviriyakul. And he just wants to be a normal kid.

But you know, he looks different, he sounds a bit different. He has a very unusual surname, like Phommavanh. Because when people look at my name, they always go-- oh, Phommavanh, so where are you from?

And I'm, like-- oh, I'm from Sydney. And they go-- no, no, where are you really from, from? And I'm like-- Auburn Hospital. And they go-- no, no, like, where are you really from, from?

And I'm, like-- from my mommy's tummy. Basically, what they want to know is why I look like this. And so I say, oh, you know, my mum's from Thailand, my dad's from Laos. But I realised, right-- you know, living in Australia, everyone comes from different countries.

And I'm really happy that all my books, here, feature kids that-- you know, I used to teach, when I used to be a primary school teacher, out in the West, as well-- which leads me to my second book, here-- 'Con-Nerd.'

Now, I love 'Con-Nerd,' because 'Con-Nerd' is also another story based on me, as well. And it's about the nerdy side of me. And if you look closely at that cover, you're probably wondering why he's kind of like half nerd and, like, half something other on the left, here.

And that's because he's a comic book artist who loves to draw pictures. And in his head, he is Condor, the fearsome dragon-killing knight. So it's about him making the best of both worlds, as well.

You know, in his head, he's a bit of a hero, but outside he's a bit of a nerd. But then he starts to draw pictures for his friends, and the friends like it. All of the sudden, the school finds out about his drawings.

And then he gets popular because of his drawings. But his mum wants him to study hard and become a doctor, just like my mum. Now, I don't know about you, but my mum used to want me to study hard and become a doctor, and she wanted me to be smart in maths and science, and all that kind of stuff.

And I said to them, I don't want to be a doctor. And she goes, no, you've got to be a doctor. Can I be, like, a time-travelling doctor? And my mum's, like-- Doctor Who?

And I'm like, yeah. I want to be just like him. And she goes, no, you can't be like any doctor like that. I want you to be, like, a real doctor. So for my birthday-- she actually wanted me to get one of these for my birthday, OK, one of these stethoscopes.

And I'm, like-- oh, wow, mum, you shouldn't have. Like, seriously, mum, you shouldn't have. OK? Because I don't like this at all. But she made me wear it. And can you actually imagine if I came to your school-- if I came to, like, [inaudible], or if I came to, like, [inaudible] Cove or [inaudible] Meadow, or even all the way out near [inaudible] Way.

OK? And I came to your school, and I was, like-- why, hello there, kids. My name's Dr. Phommavanh, and I'm here today about getting your flu shots. So who wants to come up here and get themselves shot by a flu?

Anybody? I've got lots of flu, right here. Any takers? No, come back, come back. So obviously, I'm not cut out to be a doctor, but I am a nerd. And my favourite book, 'Punchline,' is actually about a boy who wants to be a stand-up comedian.

And when I told my mum and dad that I wanted to be a comedian, they just start laughing. And I thought-- all right, good start. And mum's like-- why do you want to be a comedian, for real.

But it's true. I did want to be a comedian when I was a kid, because I used to love to make kids laugh. And these are some jokes for you, right now-- just free of charge, because you know, I can do that kind of stuff.

What sort of nut has a hole in it? It's a doughnut-- ay. Where do caterpillars go on the holidays? The Great Barrier Leaf-- ay. So you know, that's pretty cool.

I love making people laugh. And that's why all my books are pretty funny, right? So it's pretty cool. And people always ask me, Oliver, how do you come up with jokes?

And I can say, look-- you can use different emotions. So you know you can use anger, of course, and I had Anger here before-- RRAHH. OK, thank you, Anger.

I like using-- you know what I like-- I like using sadness, as well. And I can't find Sadness, but I've got this guy over here-- Grumpy. Say hello, Grumpy.

Hello.

Now, Grumpy, what makes you happy?

Nothing makes me happy. I'm only happy when it rains.

Well, that sounds like garbage, Grumpy. Because I'm pretty sure on a sunny day, everyone has to go outside and have some really cool fun. But you know what, I love using different emotions.

I love using fear, as well. And if you read my fourth book, 'Thai-No-Mite,' which is the sequel to 'Thai-Riffic,' you will actually see all of Lengy's fears come to life, because he's scared of many things.

One, he's scared of needles. Two, he's scared of roller coasters, OK, because he goes on a roller coaster, and he's scared of heights. But three, the most worst fear ever is that he hates his dad's karaoke singing. OK? He just can't stand it.

I'm pretty sure your dad sings in the shower. My dad sings in the shower, but he never turns the water on. He just sings in the shower for no reason, because he likes the acoustics.

You can write about your fears, and a lot of jokes can come from that, as well. Now, for my latest book, 'The Other Christy,' 'The Other Christy' is actually about-- well, it's actually not really about me, this time, because I'm not really Christy.

But a part of me is Christy, in that we're both kind of weird. Now, Christy is actually kind of loosely based on a girl that I used to teach when I used to be a primary school teacher.

And I don't know about you-- all right-- but I'm pretty sure you might be in a class with someone with the same name as you. And sometimes, you come up with all kinds of systems.

So you might have-- Christy N., or Christie B. You might say-- oh, you know, Christy one, Christy two. In my class, it was easy. We just had Christy and the other Christy.

Now, the other Christy-- the girl in the bottom over there is Christy O. And she's very quiet, and she's very shy-- doesn't have too many friends. And the Christy above there, the upside down Christy-- her name is Christy Owens.

And she's a loudmouth. She's the kind of girl that will always be shouting. Even when she's doing spelling tests, she'll be humming a song. And she's very popular. And the two girls don't really like each other.

But then-- Christy O. loves to bake. And so she decides to bake cupcakes. And she decides to bake a lovely birthday cake, as well, for her class. And all of the sudden, she gets the spotlight.

Her classmates go, oh, Christy O. really likes to bake. And these cakes are really delicious. And so all of the sudden, she kind of gets a couple of friends on her side, as well.

And Christy Owens, on the other hand, she has a falling out with her best friends. You know, she's used to having besties, and they become beasties. And all of the sudden, she gets kicked out of her friendship group.

So now, you've got sort of the opposite happening. You've got Christie O., who's starting to have a lot of friends coming. And then you've got Christy Owens, who's just being kind of left out, now, in the open.

So I'm going to read you a very small part, now, of where Christy O. Is going to share a couple of muffins with Christy Owens. 'I have two more muffins by the time I see Christie on the logs. She looks up at me-- 'oh, it's you.'

I tilt my container of muffins, watching them slide, left to right-- 'come on, nobody can resist them, except for my grandpa, who doesn't like any sweet stuff.' 'I don't need your pity or your muffins.'

'Oh, come on.' 'No, no, no, no, no. I don't want any piece of it.' Ah, but this is a peace muffin.' I hold the container up to her nose. 'I baked them yesterday with my aunty's help.'

'Fine, whatever.' Christy Owens takes one and then sniffs the muffin. 'What's in it?' 'It's a triple berry muffin.' 'What kind of berries?' 'Just have a bite.

She nibbles the edge of the muffin. You'd think I'd given her some bitter melon for her to try. I laugh, 'come on, Christy Owens, you have a big mouth.' She looks at me. 'Do you want this muffin in your face?'

'Well, if you're going to throw it at me, throw it in my mouth, so at least I can eat it then.' She breaks the muffin in half, and then she chews on it, carefully, like she's a judge on 'Master Chef.'

'Mm, blueberries.' I nod, 'yeah, yeah, what else?' 'Um, raspberries.' She pops the other half in her mouth. 'Yup. I'll bet you can't guess the last one.' She swallows the last piece.

'Um, blackberry?' 'Nope.' 'Purple berries?' 'There's no such thing as purple berries, Christy Owens?' 'Oh,' she clicks her fingers. 'You know what I mean, those dark purple berries.' 'Oh, boysenberries,' I say.

'Poison berries?' Christy Owens stands up and spits some out. 'I knew you were up to something, Christy O.' 'No, boysenberries.' I finish off my muffin. 'See, they're not poisonous, it's OK.'

Christy Owens grips her neck. 'Then why can't I breathe-- oh.' 'Oh no, are you OK, are you all right?' Christy Owens looks up to me, and says, 'gotcha..''

And as you can probably tell, if you're going to be friends with someone, you like playing pranks on people. And you like also to, like, make fun and jokes, as well.

So the two girls do eventually become friends because of the baking. And they realise they do have something more in common than just their names, as well, which is really cool.

And the thing is-- while I was never a popular kid or a cool kid, I used to love reading books a lot. But I used to love reading books so much, right, that my mum used to be one of those parents that said, Oliver, get your head out of the book.

And I was like-- I can't, because somebody super-glued the book to my face, and I can't get it off. Other times, I would be eating my food, and my mum would be-- Oliver, you can't have any books on the table.

I'm like-- OK, that's all right. So then I would lay it on my lap, and I would go-- gulp, gulp-- just like that. But the most annoying part for my mum was the fact that bedtime was at 9 PM. And I would be like-- please mum, just a couple more minutes, or come on, mum, just a few more chapters, I need to finish this book.

And my mum was like-- no, no, you can't. I'm like-- OK, fine, right? And then I can I get out my little torch, and I'd start reading my book just like this, which is really cool.

I'm pretty sure you guys do it, too, you know, when your lights are off, and you're probably camping somewhere, or when your mum tells you or your dad tells you that it's bedtime, now. You get your torch out, and you start reading your book like this, which is really cool.

Now, mum, she had a torch, as well. And she busted me. And she just didn't point the torch in my face. She came up to me and said, hello, Oliver. And I was like-- GAH, what are you doing?

And that's why my hair is like this, OK? I can't keep it down, no matter how hard I try. Anyway, I said, OK, mum. Before I go to bedtime, can I just, like, go to the bathroom?

She goes, OK, just be quick. I'm, like, OK. So then I'd sneak in my book, and then I'd sit down on the toilet. And then I'd start reading my book. And then I'd say to myself-- oh, you know, just a couple more chapters.

But you know how, sometimes, when you read a book and get really, really excited, and you just have to finish it, because you know, you're just lost in that world?

I was kind of like that when I read the 'Narnia' series, and when I read 'Harry Potter.' I just had to-- or the [inaudible], I just had to read on and see what happens next.

So I'd just keep on reading my book. And then I'd just finish the book, and then by the time, you know, I finished a book, I looked up, and it was, like, you know, midnight.

And I'm like-- oh man, OK. So I'd better get up. So I got up, and I had a red mark on my bottom, because I sat in the toilet for way too long. But it was totally worth it, though. So it was OK. You're probably wondering why I even pulled my pants down in the first place to sit on the toilet.

But that's not the point. The point is that I actually loved reading books. And I would read them anywhere. A lot of kids always ask me, Oliver, where else do your ideas come from.

And if you want to be a writer, you've got to carry one of these with you. It's a notebook. And writers are like spies, because, you know, observations have really helped me to become a writer, as well.

So if I see something funny, or if I see something weird, I will just jot it down. I'll be, like-- oh yeah, that's pretty cool. I'll just sort of mark it down, like this, as well. Or if I see something-- oh yeah, that looks pretty interesting. I'll write it down, as well.

So if you hear a funny conversation on the bus or on the train or at the shopping centre, or if you see something funny on YouTube or a funny TV ad, just jot it down. And you never know, those ideas could become stories someday, as well.

And look, as you can see here, my little toy collection-- I have actually brought about 50 of my toys out here, just for you guys. And I actually have over 528 toys.

A lot of people always ask me, Oliver, what did these toys have to do with writing? Well, I'll tell you what-- you know how, in 'Toy Story,' Andy would play with Buzz Lightyear and Woody and have really cool adventures? I would do the same thing, as well.

So I used to come to school with a bag of toys, and I would do puppet shows with these toys over here. And I love doing characters with my toys, over here. So you know, like--

Hello.

OK, hello Shrek. Thank you very much, there. Or you know, you've got this guy over here, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Hi. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. And it's really important to pick your nose.

OK, that's enough, Sonic. That's enough, right there. Over here--

Howdy folks. How's it going? Yee haw.

I know that kind of stuff is always very nice, here. The Little Mario, over here.

Mama mia, have you seen my mushroom?

I haven't seen it. Why don't you ask Luigi.

A la la-- I haven't s-s-een your-a mushroom.

I'm sorry about that. Sorry about that, Luigi. So anyway, I'd come to school with a bag of toys. And I would actually make adventures with these toys, over here. Way before the Wii U games and the Wii games Mario and Sonic and the Olympic games, I actually had adventures with Sonic and Mario together.

And they had really cool adventures, just like this. And you know, I would kind of have really, really cool shows going on and like that. And the thing is, my teacher said to me, Oliver, why don't you just start writing these stories down?

So that's what I did. So I started writing these stories down. And that's how I sort of started off with writing, as well. That's why I'm really happy to be a part of the 'Premier's Reading Challenge,' because you know, I think that not only do reading books make you a better writer, it also gives you a really cool imagination, as well. There just something about it

I just want to say a massive thank you to Oliver. It's been awesome. It's been epic. I've loved hearing about it, and I know you all have, too. So thank you, and we'll see you in the future.

I hope to be back very soon, guys. Keep on reading, and keep on having fun reading, as well. So thank you.

[music playing]