By Melissa Burns
Glen Humphries is an award-winning senior journalist at the Illawarra Mercury. In a career spanning more than 20 years, Glen has published several books including Aussie Rock Anthems (Gelding Street Press, 2024). He combines storytelling uplift with melody to discuss how lyrics became anthemic at our True Story Festival. Glen will be in conversation with Midnight Oil’s Jim Moginie and Tanya Ali on on Saturday, 16 November, from 5-6pm at Coledale Community Hall. The session is titled 'The State of Us' and tickets are available via Humanitix.
What inspired you to you write the book you'll be speaking about at True Story Festival?
Aussie Rock Anthems was inspired by another book I wrote. I do a bit of self-publishing through my own imprint, Last Day of School. I had written a book on the phenomenon that is Daryl Braithwaite’s The Horses – how and why it keeps coming back. I showed it to my publisher first but they said “nah, it’s too niche for us” (which is totally understandable). But then they asked me about writing a book telling the stories of 40 songs rather than just one. And so Aussie Rock Anthems was born.
What is your current writing project?
I have two more books in the pipeline with Gelding Street – one on famous Australian sporting venues and a second on unusual and quirky stories from the world of Australian rules footy. On the self-publishing side, I’m working through the editing for a book detailing various events that happened along Keira Street, between Smith and Burelli streets. It won’t sell very well at all, but I don’t care – I find topics that interest me and I write about them. I reckon it would be death to have to write a book about a subject you loathe.
The book you are currently reading?
That would be The Big Time by Michael MacCambridge. It’s about how the 1970s transformed sport in America. I have a bit of a thing for US sports writing, which tends to be a lot better than what we can get here. The idea behind the book is that there were a number of cultural shifts in the 1970s that affected sport. I’m only a handful of pages in but it’s pretty good so far. Which, incidentally, is an important thing for me both as a reader and a writer. People shouldn’t have to struggle through the start of the book before it “gets good”; it’s the writer’s job to make it interesting right from the start.
Your all-time favourite non-fiction book?
There are two that I can’t split – maybe that’s because they’re by the same author. We’re talking about Homicide and The Corner, both written by former Baltimore Sun journalist David Simon – best known as the creator of the excellent TV series The Wire. Homicide is a fascinating book about a year he spent inside the Baltimore homicide squad – I still have no idea how he convinced the higher-ups in the police force to agree to that.
The Corner looks at a year in the life of a drug corner in Baltimore. How he got addicts and drug dealers to open up to him is amazing. Both books are stunning examples of reporting, where the focus is on the people first. Simon always paints realistic portrayals of the people in his books. They might not always be doing good things, but Simon knows that there will be more going on inside that person.