25 August 2016

Meet the John Marsden Prize Shortlist: Nonfiction

JMPgraphic

This year, over 250 secondary school students from across Australia entered The 2016 John Marsden and Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers. Fifteen talented young writers made it on to the shortlist in categories of Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry.

In the lead-up to announcing the winners at the 2016 Melbourne Writers Festival, we’re introducing you to each and every young writer on our list. Read on for more information about them, what they’re reading and why they love to write.

Nonfiction

 

darrelynguyenDarrelyn Nguyen – The Formula of Life

Why do you write nonfiction?

When I write non-fiction, I’m constantly finding out new things about myself, the people around me, and my world. It compels me to write a piece stringing together all these new findings into a singular story, in hopes that a reader will find out something unexpected about themselves too.

Who are your favourite writers? Or your favourite books?

The most recent book I’ve read is Michael Greenburg’s “Hurry Down Sunshine”, and has quickly become one of my favourites. It’s about Greenburg’s daughter who struggles with bipolar disorder, and his efforts to stich together the pain, desperation and misunderstandings that comes with caring for his daughter. I think it’s the way Greenburg perfectly encapsulates the complexity of the family unit that makes his memoir so engaging.

Can you tell us a bit about your shortlisted John Marsden Prize submission?

My non-fiction submission, “The Formula of Life”, is about the death of my cousin, and how it ultimately affected the life of my uncle. It explores how death has a perpetual existence within our lives. In a sense, death takes on it’s own life, by affecting surrounding family, friends, loved ones. The shock, breaking of a family, and slow recovery process – these are the experiences that everyone goes through, and the experiences I retell.

Why did you choose to write it?

There is this article, “Nature Has A Formula That Tells Us When It’s Time To Die” by Robert Krulwich, which claimed there was a formula that could determine how long something could live – “You take the mass of a plant or an animal, and its metabolic rate is equal to its mass taken to the three-fourths power.”

I was amazed, then skeptical about how such wide sweeping formula could be applied to the complexity of a human life. This inspired me to write a piece drawn upon my personal experiences of losing a close family member, to explain why humans can not be constrained by such formula. Everyone quietly acknowledges that death is inevitable, but I chose to write my story to explain why this isn’t entirely correct. The fact we “have a formula that tells us when it’s time to die” may work logically, but in reality it doesn’t. Once someone passes away, they leave an imprint of memories within others – in a sense that a person never really ‘dies’.


 

photoGeorja-Rai Abdoo – Big Eyes

Why do you write nonfiction?

I feel a sense of connection to the characters that I create. I thoroughly enjoy using my imagination as well as creating a visual experience for others to conceptualise.

Who are your favourite writers? Or your favourite books?

My overall favourite writer would be Craig Silvey, who also wrote my all time favourite book: Jasper Jones.

Can you tell us a bit about your shortlisted John Marsden Prize submission?

It’s about a troubled young teen who has experienced sexual abuse from a minister in the Catholic Church. It shows from the victims perspective and creates controversy between the Catholic Church and modernised society.

Why did you choose to write it?

My Uncle was a victim of sexual abuse from a Catholic minister, which led me into writing a non-fictional story about the effects on the child’s mind and mental stability. I felt as though this topic needed to be addressed and recognised as it is an ongoing issue throughout the past as well as the present.

 


 

 

erica Erica Sayon – Connections

Why do you write nonfiction?

I write nonfiction because sometimes reality is far lovelier, and horrifying, than whatever nightmare the mind can come up with. Knowing that something in nonfiction makes words so much more powerful, and to write from one’s own experience gives a story an authenticity that one might not otherwise achieve.

Who are your favourite writers? Or your favourite books?

To be honest, I have a rather short attention span, so I enjoy shorter pieces that allow me to think for hours on end. Lang Leav is one of my favourite authors, as there is something absolutely pretty about the way she tells a story without doing so.

Can you tell us a bit about your shortlisted John Marsden Prize submission? Why did you choose to write it? 

The story I submitted for the John Marsden Prize was just a little tale about my time overseas, missing someone I was afraid to miss, and my family.  The reason I wrote this tale was the sheer need and desire to, as it scratched the inner layers of my mind. At that time, being both close and distant from my family, the tale was just a recount of it, and a way to make sense of things going on around me. When words are hard to speak, or when things are hard to explain but need to be known, one could say this was a letter of my life to someone else. Most importantly, I wrote it for him.

Erica Sayon is a participating writer in of Express Media’s inaugural Toolkits: Creative Writing program. 


 

13918466_1630327223925461_1462564252_o Duniasha Kapukotuwa – How to Hurt Your Best Friend

Why do you write nonfiction?

Nonfiction is basically a piece you write that is more factual and realistic, right? I write non-fiction to showcase the life that I’m living and inform others about living their life. Might sound cliché but for every embarrassment, mistake or wrong that I cause, I often imagine another scenario or another reality I could live in but writing my reality down (by mixing a few names and places etc.) on a piece of paper kind of makes me happy to be me!

Who are your favourite writers? Or your favourite books?

My favourite book hands down has to be ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ by Stephen Chbosky. This book I believe is forming bits of my personality as I read it at the early start of secondary school. The book has themes that express interesting and important things that are relevant in the real world and that’s mainly why I love it so much!

Can you tell us a bit about your shortlisted John Marsden Prize submission?

My piece ‘How to Hurt your Best Friend’ was inspired by some of the people in my life who I was close to often ditched their best friend for hopeless guys. Sadly, this was happening more often than I thought and I was in one of these situations. The personalities of the characters in the piece is what of whom I inspire to have and the adventures that I have the thrill to seek. This piece isn’t like the ones I’ve written and it was a challenge writing this especially it being on love!

Why did you choose to write it?

I chose to write it actually to show my audience how foolish it is to lose the ones who are always there.

 


 

LilyLancasterLily Lancaster – My Mechanical Mind

Why do you write nonfiction?

Nothing is more fascinating then humans and human behaviour. I love the fact I am free to explore this through writing. Nonfiction is an avenue for authors to observe and analyse life in an honest, simple and creative way. In life, as in writing: “A story has no beginning or end; arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead.” –  Graham Greene, The End of the Affair (1951)

Who are your favourite writers? Or your favourite books?

I have always been a sucker for historical fiction. What is more interesting the real human beings of our past, the way they thought and acted?

As a child I was deeply in love with every single word of Michael Morpurgos’ writing. He painted my first visions of history and possibly was the reason I began to love to read. As was the brilliant Jacki French.  Whilst I now thoroughly enjoy Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and Jane Austen, a part my heart still belongs to historical fiction. My favourite books are probably “Goodnight Mr Tom” by Michelle Magorian (who says childrens’ books are just for children?) and  “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett. I have read it so many times that all I can say is, the library ladies may as well donate it to me I sign it out so often.

Can you tell us a bit about your shortlisted John Marsden Prize submission?

Through the greater part of my school life I have suffered from a heavy dose of self-expectation and perfectionism. “My Mechanical Mind” follows my journey, struggling through high-school assessments, theatre productions and dance classes often feeling like a broken machine that couldn’t complete its tasks the perfect way I envisioned.  It is ultimately a journey of self reflection that I hope others may be able to relate to and learn from.

Why did you choose to write it?

Admittedly this particular piece of writing was sparked by a school assignment; as soon as I was handed the task sheet asking for a personal reflection I knew “perfectionism” was the topic for me. Writing about it was a kind of self-therapy. I had noticeably been using my journey with stress and self-pressure to help mentor other students dealing with the same issues. Putting it on paper gave me a chance to open up and explore some of the critical moments that had defined my experience. It was uplifting to reflect on my growth as I have worked to overcome this issue of perfectionism.


Keep an eye on the Express Media blog for more interviews with the Fiction and Poetry writers of The 2016 John Marsden & Hachette Australia Prize!


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