Open Page with Justine Ettler

Why do you write? Because I love doing it and because at times I’ve been changed for the better as a result of reading great novels. Bohemia Beach is about a successful woman who is also an alcoholic. My love of Prague aside, I was inspired to challenge the novelistic cliché of the happy-go-lucky female drunk: bad things can happen to women who drink. Are you a vivid dreamer? Yes. I go through periods when I record them on a notepad I keep beside my bed. I dream of adapting my novel The River Ophelia for the screen. Where are you happiest? At the beach with my dog. What is your favourite film? To Walk Invisible (2016), because of its depiction of the woman writer’s lot. Also, I love Sally Wainwright’s dialogue. And your favourite book? Two books I recently enjoyed for their so-called ‘unlikeable’ protagonists are The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl. Despite being mainstream works, Paula Hawkins’s Rachel is a great woman drunk, and Gillian Flynn’s contemporary romance as Mr Narcissist meets Ms Sociopath is bang on. Name the three people with whom you would most like to dine. Sally Wainwright, Margaret Atwood, Jane Austen. Which word do you most dislike, and which would you like to see back in public usage? Dislike: ‘I get that’ when ‘get’ is used in place of ‘understand’. Bring back: ‘democracy’, which is a word that has no meaning today, given the psychopathic behaviour of global multinationals. Who is your favourite author? I’m in a Austen, Brontë, Eliot phase. Probably Elizabeth Gaskell, though, because of North and South (1855): so topical given the way the digital revolution has impoverished so many and enriched so few. And your favourite literary hero and heroine? Jane Eyre, because she gets away despite her childhood, and because I agree, a little money and some divine intervention certainly help if you love an older, divorced/widowed man. Which quality do you most admire in a writer? I tend to prefer truth – fictional, authentic, emotionally complex – over beauty. Justine comes from justice; and I like other writers who are just. Name an early literary idol or influence whom you no longer admire – or vice versa. The last time I tried answering this question I ended up with a PhD. The writer I’m thinking of is Bret Easton Ellis and my love–hate relationship with American Psycho. What, if anything, impedes your writing? Bullying. How do you regard publishers? I think it’s important for aspiring writers to talk to other writers before signing up with a publisher. Not getting that right can result in author-hell. Finding an editor/ publisher who understands what you’re trying to do and who is in it for the long haul is the key. What do you think of the state of criticism? Criticism, to my mind, is when a professional responds to a text’s strengths and weaknesses in a way that is useful to the writer. More of that please – and how about some big international prizes for some Australian women authors? And writers’ festivals? Strange, staged events – though given that I come from a musical background I actually enjoy them and come alive in the excitement of performing my work. I’d like to see bolder programming. Are artists valued in our society? Less so in Australia than in other countries I’ve lived in, but it’s complicated. I rarely felt valued in London as an Australian writer, but I often felt valued as a Czech one. The place I felt most respected as an Australian writer was in Europe. I felt most supported as a writer in New York, but I found that positivity unsustainable in the face of the tsunami of American content we consume in Australia. What are you working on now? My fifth novel. I’ve almost completed the second draft, the writing’s at an exciting stage. It will feature another complex woman protagonist named after a famous literary character. Justine Ettler’s latest novel is Bohemia Beach (2018).

Why do you write?

Are you a vivid dreamer?

From the New Issue

Vincent Namatjira edited by Vincent Namatjira

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

Transgender Australia: A history since 1910 by Noah Riseman

Saving Lieutenant Kennedy: The heroic story of the Australian who helped rescue JFK by Brett Mason

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