Video transcript
2019 NSW PRC author interview – Alison Evans

TAMARA RODGERS: Hi. I'm Tamara Rodgers from the Premier's Reading Challenge. We're here at Riverside Theatre Parramatta for the Sydney Writers Festival All Day YA, a celebration of everything that's amazing about YA literature.

We've been joined by some fantastic Australian and overseas authors. We're really excited to bring you these chats. We'd really like to thank the Sydney Writers Festival for having us along, and also thank our programme sponsors, our media partner News Local, and our supporting partner, Dymocks Children's Charities. Thank you so much for your support.

Hi, we're backstage at the All-Day YA Event at the Sydney Writers Festival for 2019. I'm really excited to get to catch up with Alison Evans, who I'm not going to lie, I've been like stalking a little bit on Instagram over the past year or so, since I read your first book 'Ida.' How's your day been?

ALISON EVANS: It's been really great. This is my last event for the day. And I feel really invigorated from all the discussion about fanfiction and stuff. And I just want to go home and write fanfiction.

TAMARA RODGERS: And so, like, a few people have mentioned fanfiction over the course of our interviews over the past few days, because we've been doing a few interviews with all, as a really great way for people to kind of dig their toe into the world of getting their story out there. And it's something that wasn't around when I was growing up. What's your history with writing? Like, what were kinds of things that you started to write. When you very first went, oh, I want to be the author. Because that sounds--

ALISON EVANS: Yeah. I started writing really bad poetry. And I was like, this is not for me. So I found fanfic, and I really loved it. And I didn't write any for a long time. And then, I had a go at it. And it was the best thing ever.

TAMARA RODGERS: What were you writing in fanfiction of?

ALISON EVANS: Um, like, Harry Potter. Later on, like 'Mass Effect,' the video game, or like, 'Lord of the Rings.' That was very fun.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yes.

ALISON EVANS: And then one day, I thought, wait, I could do this, but not fanfiction.

TAMARA RODGERS: Oh, just my own stuff.

ALISON EVANS: Yes. Fiction.

TAMARA RODGERS: Fiction? Serious books.

ALISON EVANS: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: So we say serious books. And some of the content of the stuff that you write is quite serious, but also pretty out there. Like, we're dealing with zombies. We're dealing with-- I broke my tea cup, and I'm not happy about that, so I'm just going to slip into a different version of reality.

ALISON EVANS: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: So how do you kind of approach that grounding a text-- you know, really, like a very recognisable world, but with really very kind of out there ideas.

ALISON EVANS: Yeah, I guess my main focus is the characters. So I want them to feel like a real person. And so the world-- their worlds are quite mundane, except for those extra little bits.

TAMARA RODGERS: Except for the zombies.

ALISON EVANS: Except for the zombies.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

ALISON EVANS: Except for the doppelgangers.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

ALISON EVANS: But apart from those things, I wanted the world to feel like as close to mine as possible.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

ALISON EVANS: So, that's--

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah, and the thing that I found really compelling when I first read 'Ida,' for example, is that that kind of world is not something that you usually see in a town that I grew up in. You know? Like that not necessarily exactly that place, but it was very, you know-- because it's very typically Australian little town--

ALISON EVANS: Yeah, yeah. Because I remember the first book I read that was set in Melbourne, 'Pink' by Lili Wilkinson. And I was like, this is so cool. You can set books in Australia.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yes. Yeah.

ALISON EVANS: Yeah, so I guess-- and I can't not write about Melbourne. I just think it's in my blood now.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah. Yeah.

ALISON EVANS: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah. So you talked a little bit about the process of writing 'Highway Bodies,' which has multiple different points of view.

ALISON EVANS: Yes.

TAMARA RODGERS: So I guess when I think about writing a book, I just go, wow, like trying to find one authentic voice to write from is huge. And you've done that three times within the course of one book.

ALISON EVANS: Yeah. That was a lot of hard work.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

ALISON EVANS: It started off as a short story, with one of the narratives, and then--

TAMARA RODGERS: Which one?

ALISON EVANS: Dee.

TAMARA RODGERS: OK.

ALISON EVANS: I mean not Dee. Eve. And so I had the short story, and I was like, done. And then my friend read it, and she was like, but what if this happened. And then, I was like, oh, no. So it spiralled out into two narratives.

And then, Dee met Jojo. And then I was like, I really like Jojo. I think they should have their own narration too. And so it ended up being three, which is very hard to juggle when you have to change plot points. Because I mean, like, but when does this happen? And eh, eh. So it was a bit messy, but I think it got there in the end. Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: And so, so if you started writing that as a short story, the short story format must be fairly-- something you were fairly familiar with. So then, we've recently, today, launched this morning, at the festival.

ALISON EVANS: Yes, it's so beautiful.

TAMARA RODGERS: I know. It's your book, baby.

ALISON EVANS: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: And so, can you tell us a little bit about the process of writing for Kindred?

ALISON EVANS: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: And why is this story, particularly important, do you think?

ALISON EVANS: I had the bare bones of the story before Michael asked me to be a contributor. So my story is just two non-binary teens who meet after a storm has happened, and they meet in like, a mangrove forest, in a drowned, post-global warming world.

TAMARA RODGERS: Literally, just floating around.

ALISON EVANS: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: Bump into each other.

ALISON EVANS: Basically, yeah. And I guess with that, I really wanted to have two non-binary characters who just met and were friends. Because I think like, being non-binary, community is really important, because so many people don't know what it means.

And yeah, like, a lot of queer stuff is focused on romance, and I didn't want to write a romance. And just global warming has been on my mind a lot. So.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

ALISON EVANS: Yeah, so that's basically what happened.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yes. And I think that that idea-- and this is something that comes across in all your work, is that whilst it's about characters who are queer, the story is not particularly, well, this is a gay love story. Like, it's just that the characters just happen to be queer whilst they're dealing with zombie stuff, or whilst they're--

ALISON EVANS: Yeah--

TAMARA RODGERS: That that's not the focus of the novel.

ALISON EVANS: I guess because that's, again, that's how I feel like, real life is.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

ALISON EVANS: Yeah. So that's my motivation there.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yes. So what are you working on now?

ALISON EVANS: My next book is like, a magical realist-- it's very soft, it's very gentle. It's called 'Euphoria Kids.' It comes out next year, and it's basically just like, all the things that make me happy. So like, magic, plants, crystals, fairies. And it's just about three trans kids who become friends.

TAMARA RODGERS: Nice. Cool. If you had some advice for someone who's perhaps sitting and watching this video at school or at home, who kind of goes, you know, I feel like I have a story that I want to tell, but I don't really know what it means to be a writer, or how they can kind of get their voice out there? What would you suggest for them?

ALISON EVANS: I think the most important thing to realise is that a writer is just someone who writes. And that's it. And if you finish one thing, it becomes easier to finish the next thing, and the next thing, and just keep going. And you'll get there.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yes. Well, thank you so much for coming and hanging out, and having a chat with us. It's been really interesting.

ALISON EVANS: Yeah. Thank you for inviting me.

TAMARA RODGERS: Enjoy the rest of your festival.

ALISON EVANS: Thank you.

TAMARA RODGERS: Thanks, everyone.