Kat Capel, 25, Vic

work & love

 

How did you begin writing?

In primary school we were asked to write a short story. I remember everyone groaned but I was really excited by the prospect. I wrote a really a painfully descriptive story about a dragon. In hindsight I feel like I might have stolen a lot of the plot from some other YA novel. Let’s call it fan fiction.

 

Why do you write nonfiction?

I am too overwhelmed by reality to make things up…

 

Tell us a bit about your submission to the Deakin University Nonfiction Prize:

work & love is a working book-length manuscript of narrative nonfiction poetry, prose and found text. It explores the role of the whore; who is either forced into faking her/their/his own nonexistence or who is consistently abandoned, shamed and misrepresented by society, and the role of the lover; who is always considered to be falling without will or choice. 

 

Why did you choose to write on this subject?

Because somebody has to

 

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?

‘Keep writing’

 

Who are some of your favourite nonfiction writers?

Joan Didion, Roland Barthes, bell hooks, Maggie Nelson, Beau Rice