Ahead of the South Coast Readers & Writers Festival, Emma Darragh, author of Thanks for Having Me, shares her reading memories and writing routine with SCWC's Elizabeth Heffernan.
What is your earliest reading memory?
The two that come to mind right now are going with my dad to the old Dapto Library on Byamee Street with its bright green carpet and passing my junior library card across the desk, and being gifted about a hundred Enid Blyton books when a neighbour moved house. (I read those Naughtiest Girl in the School books every day over the summer school holidays!)
The writer that changed your mind?
Every good book changes you in some way, so it’s really difficult to choose just one, but Elizabeth Strout and Margaret Atwood really opened me up and shaped me as a writer. Not only in the stories they tell about their female characters, but their mastery of form and command of narrative voice. I think they’re the writers who initiated me into the short story cycle and made me want to experiment with that form, rather than being a poet or a (conventional) novelist.
The book you are currently reading?
I’m currently reading Charlotte Wood’s Stone Yard Devotional, and I’m listening to Kelli Hawkins’s The Miller Women on audiobook. I recently finished Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and loved the audiobook of There There by Tommy Orange.
Your comfort read?
I have a few comfort reads. I love Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie series, which I listened to on BorrowBox, and I also love Normal Rules Don’t Apply, which is a really clever set of linked stories (or a short story cycle). One of the most comforting things ever is listening to Rick Stein read his memoir Under a Mackerel Sky.
Your writing routine?
I like to write first thing in the morning, before the sun comes up, with a cup of coffee. I start by writing in my diary to declutter my brain before either doing a writing exercise or getting straight to work on my current story. Lately I’ve been journaling about the process as I’m writing as well, keeping it all in the same document.
The other thing I like to do is to think about any problems with my current story while walking on my way to do my grocery shopping. I’ll talk into my phone and then transcribe the recording when I sit down the next day.
The South Coast Readers and Writers Festival is coming to Thirroul on 13-14 July 2024. With a festival line-up featuring more than 40 stellar award-winning authors, talented new voices, acclaimed poets, broadcasters and thinkers, in over 22 sessions to choose from, the weekend promises to be filled with captivating stories, thought-provoking discussions, and inspiring conversations. Book your tickets now: https://southcoastwriters.org/festival