Open Page with Sophie Cunningham

Why do you write? I feel compelled to try and organise my thoughts and the world using words. Are you a vivid dreamer? Yes. Where are you happiest? On a beach; in a forest; walking; on the couch with a cat; sitting reading, while my partner is sitting and reading in the same room; those moments of flow when writing. What is your favourite music? I love pop music that makes me want to dance and fills my heart with joy. Michael Jackson used to be my man. My current favourite song is ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams. I’m living in Brooklyn at the moment and the song has been bursting out of the window of every second car all summer long. But if we’re talking desert island albums, I’d be taking some Miles Davis with me. Kind of Blue maybe, or fast forward a few decades to Bitches Brew. And your favourite book? Jane Eyre would be one. Any number of Patrick Whites would be vying for that list. As a teenager I would have said The World According to Garp by John Irving. I am currently haunted by the novel In a Perfect World by Laura Kasischke. Who is your favourite author? Who one responds to changes from year to year. My list would include Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Patrick White, Raymond Carver, China Miéville, Frank Moorhouse, and Alexis Wright. And your favourite literary hero and heroine? I’ve been sitting staring at the computer screen for ten minutes trying to think of an answer to that question. Life’s too short. Name an early literary idol or influence whom you no longer admire – or vice versa. Disillusionment strikes more often with public figures than literary ones. How old were you when your first book appeared? Forty. What, if anything, impedes your writing? Trying to earn a living. Fear. Laziness. How do you regard publishers? Well, given I used to be one, I’m biased. I think they’re very important, though they sometimes struggle to keep up with the rate of change in the industry (don’t we all). Some are better than others. I’ve had two publishers, Text and NewSouth. They have both been fantastic. What do you think of the state of criticism? I think it’s doing better than it was. If you had your time over again, would you choose to be a writer? When I was packing shelves in the produce section of the Park Slope Food Coop the other day, I was dwelling on just this. I certainly feel a greater sense of achievement placing piles of spinach, coriander, and mushrooms in their boxes than I ever do at the end of a day’s writing. I’m not thick-skinned enough to deal with public responses, which can make things pretty gruelling. What do you think of writers’ festivals? Like publishers, they vary. By and large I enjoy them and appreciate the fact that audiences love them. I prefer the ones where there isn’t a focus on getting big names and it’s just one big group of writers thrown in together. Do you feel artists are valued in our society? Not really. But we’re more valued than many other members of society, so we should probably just shut up about that. What are you working on now? Something too embryonic to name.

From the New Issue

Transgender Australia: A history since 1910 by Noah Riseman

The Floating University: Experience, empire, and the politics of knowledge by Tamson Pietsch

Expanding Mindscapes: A global history of psychedelics by Erika Dyck and Chris Elcock

We All Lived in Bondi Then by Georgia Blain

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