The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
Actually, what I'm doing is, at the moment, I'm fairly deeply immersed in Gillian's enormous archive at the State Library of New South Wales.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
She kept a diary every day almost from the age of about 16 to I don't know how far it's going to get yet.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
I'm currently up to the point where she's 24.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
She collected all letters, cards, everything from the time she was a child, from the age of five, photographs, recordings.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
She had a huge life in her 51 years and I think she's a magnificent writer.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
So I'm very privileged at the moment to be getting to know Gillian and getting to know the people that she knew and loved.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
And that's a real honour.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
Oh, the difficult question.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
If I was recommending one to... I can't say is the answer, which is unusual because normally there is one that will stand out with a writer.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
I think The Mint Lawn, which was her first, which won the Vogel, is extraordinary.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
And I meet women largely about sort of 40s and 50s who, a bit like when I said I was working on Helen Garner and older people said, oh, monkey grip.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
Now people say to me, oh, The Mint Lawn changed my reading, changed my appreciation of...
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
writing.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
But I think The Grass Sister is extraordinary.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
And Folesbread that won the Prime Minister's Literary Award and the ALS Gold Medal, for which I was very pleased now.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
I was the president of ASEL at the time, and I was also the chair of the judging committee.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
And I got to meet Gillian to give her that gold medal.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
And so little did I know that six years later, I'd be writing a book about her and her life.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
But I think Folesbread is an extraordinary novel.
The Bookshelf
On Michael Ondaatje's Warlight, Jenny Ackland's Little Gods, Charmaine Craig's Miss Burma and David Peace's Patient X.
Definitely.