Open Page with Hazel Rowley

Why do you write? It’s a thrill to build up a story and to inhabit characters. I’m alone and not alone – in touch with layers of life I’m not able to savour when I’m living it. Are you a vivid dreamer? No. I’m a vivid waker. Christina Stead called it ‘the 3 ams’. Where are you happiest? Right now I’m in a café (old style, quiet, friendly waiter) with a notebook, pen in my hand, thinking what to write. It’s about as good as it gets. What is your favourite word? Courage. Which human quality do you most admire? Empathy. When we imagine ourselves into other people’s skins, we don’t turn them into the Other. Where would you like to have been born? I’m glad to have been born into the English language, though I always wished I had glowing olive skin. What is your favourite book? Jane Eyre. I read it at thirteen and was swept away. And your favourite literary hero and heroine? Pippi Longstocking. She’s fun, spunky, outrageous, fears no authority. Her parents are conveniently out of the picture. What, if anything, impedes your writing? Emailing is a hell of a distraction. How old were you when your first book appeared? Forty-two. I’d seen myself as a writer since I was eight. Of which of your books are you fondest? The first, I think – Christina Stead (1993). In a phrase, how would you characterise your work? My books are about people who had the courage to break out of their confined world and help others to do the same. Christina Stead, Richard Wright, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt ... Who is your favourite author? That’s impossible to answer. I have many. How do you regard publishers? I respect them. It’s a harrowing time to be in the book business. What do you think of the state of criticism? When I read intelligent criticism, such as you find in the New York Review of Books,I feel uplifted. These days we are mostly surrounded by the twittering of twits. If you had your time over again, would you choose to be a writer? Oh, yes. What do you think of writers festivals? I love them. It’s a rare opportunity to meet other writers, interact with readers, have conversations about books and writing, and feel fêted. Do you feel artists are valued in our society? They still have a certain mystique in some circles – they are the outsiders who dare to follow their passion as others dream of doing – but valued, no. Most Australians have never even heard of one of their most brilliant artists – Christina Stead. What are you working on now? I’m writing personal essays on the side. My new book is about what came after the Roosevelts – the Cold War. It’s the story of the Hollywood Ten. Hazel Rowley was born in London and educated in England and Australia. She taught Literature for some years at Deakin University, before moving to New York City. She died there on 1 March 2011, aged fifty-nine. Dr Rowley published four biographies: Christina Stead: A Biography (1993), Richard Wright: The Life and Times (2001), Tête-à-Tête: The Lives and Loves of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre (2005), and Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage (2010).

From the New Issue

A Memoir of My Former Self: A life in writing by Hilary Mantel, edited by Nicholas Pearson

Always Will Be by Mykaela Saunders

‘Calm Voice’, a new poem by Anders Villani

Letters to the Editor - April 2024

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