A couple of weeks ago I went to Sydney, partly to do a talk about From the Wreck at the Thomas Keneally Centre. The Centre, at the Sydney Mechanics School of Arts, is a wonderful little retreat from the lunacy of the Sydney CBD, and they’re perfectly happy for you to pop in and browse Tom’s library, or just hang out quietly on the couches. They also host regular lunchtime talks with authors. If the line for a slice of Black Star strawberry watermelon cake is just too long at Kinokuniya Books, maybe go hang out at the TKC instead?
Tom was in residence on the day I visited. He’s so great! If you run into him at an event or the shops or whatever, have a chat with him. He’s a really good bloke. His daughter and fellow-novelist Meg was also there, and she’s great too! She teaches SCUBA and she has seen lots of octopuses and we talked a lot about octopuses.
Anyway, their volunteer video bloke, Phil, thought it would be a good idea if Tom interviewed me on camera for a few minutes after my talk. He asked me the best questions. Here it is:
Helena Fox Dunan
October 12, 2017 at 1:20 pmJane, this is a WONDERFUL interview. Wow—I am so pleased for you, so impressed by Tom’s insightful questions, and so inspired by everything you said. Damn, this is lovely.
Jane Bryony Rawson
October 12, 2017 at 1:24 pmThanks Helena!
Melinda Tognini
October 12, 2017 at 5:15 pmA great interview. Tom Keneally is one of my favourites so how wonderful to be able to have this conversation with him. I really enjoyed listening – and nice to ‘see’ you in person. I usually only get to hear you through your written words.
Jane Bryony Rawson
October 12, 2017 at 5:17 pmThanks Melinda, glad you enjoyed it!
Jim Hart
December 12, 2017 at 2:18 pmI’m curious to know if you and Tom Keneally discussed the cannibalism taboo. It’s been a long time since I read The Survivor but as I recall this was one of the ethical ghosts haunting Keneally’s protagonist as with yours. (A bit late to comment – only just found this post.)
Jane Bryony Rawson
December 12, 2017 at 2:40 pmWe didn’t. But he did mention, in passing, that I seemed a lot more concerned with the ethics of writing biofiction than he was.
N@ncy
April 12, 2018 at 5:28 pmI just finished your book From the Wreck. You have convinced me that I should give the SF genre a chance! I enjoyed the book so much. I’m not on twitter or FB but you can see my review on Goodreads.com or on blog https://nancyelin.wordpress.com/
Question: I’m still puzzled by Henry asks if one can die from drinking flowers mixed with water? Can flowers in water kill you without actually dying? I just could not make the connection with this in the book. Can you help me?
Jane Bryony Rawson
April 12, 2018 at 9:06 pmHi N@ancy, thanks for the great review. I was recreating an episode from my childhood when I tried to make my brother drink a ‘tea’ I’d made from water and flowers from my grandma’s hedge. He wouldn’t drink it, which was lucky as my mum later told me the flowers might be poisonous.
N@ncy
April 13, 2018 at 1:35 amThanks so much for clearing that up!
I read your book slowly..admiring your writing craft.
I was looking for the irony….man saves his life (…dark secret) during shipwreck…but loses his soul.
After your intense story I’m switching gears and am reading Girl Reporter by Tansy Roberts…great read on the train!