AustLit
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In the eighteenth of this series of interviews, Anita speaks to Samantha Faulkner.
Samantha Faulkner is from the Cape York Peninsula and the Torres Strait but lives in Canberra, where she is an active member of the local First Nations writing group, Us Mob Writing. She writes oral history, life stories and poetry. She was recently published in Ora Nui: A Collection of Maori and Aboriginal Literature.
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My mob is Wuthuthi and Yadhaigana from Cape York Peninsula, and Badu and Moa Islands in the Torres Strait. I grew up on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait. Looking back now it just seemed to be the ideal childhood of swimming in clear blue salt water, fishing with a hand line, spending time with the grandparents and eating lots of fresh fish, crayfish and oysters.
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There was not any one specific favourite book. Rather, I read a lot of Phantom comics, first just the pictures then the bubbles of words. I liked Aesop's Fables, then the Trixie Belden girl detective series as a teenager, and the Agatha Christie murder mysteries. Also, my Dad gave me a book of Shakespeare’s Tales which I still treasure today.
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Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwong. I loved it and especially how he peppered Chinese and Malaysian words throughout. Some of the words are very familiar and used in Torres Strait Creole/Yumpla Tok today and the amount of eating that the book's characters do - well, I can relate to that!
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Read Samantha's poetry in Etchings Indigenous: Treaty edited by Scott Halligan and Timmah BallIs there a book you just couldn’t finish?
Not that I can recall. I usually finish a book, eventually!
What book do you think every Australian should read?
I recommend any book written by an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writer. Reading a book by a First Nations Australian writer will identify similarities that connect us and bring us together, rather than divide us. After all, we live on this beautiful country together.
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Well, I can’t dance and can’t sing, in public anyway. Writing gives me pleasure and I seem to have a skill for conveying what others feel. Writing is a great use of one’s time and the idea of creating something is addictive. You can write anywhere, any time with a laptop, pencil and paper and inspiration can strike anywhere and any time too.
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Life B'long Ali Drummond : A Life in the Torres Strait by Samantha FaulknerI sort of fell into writing. I wrote poetry as a teenager, and liked English at high school. It was not until the 90s that I received a research grant from the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies to document my grandfather’s life story. This became Life B'long Ali Drummond: A Life in the Torres Strait.
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I was a recipient of the Australian Society of Authors' Mentorship Program. This teamed up emerging writers with established writers to develop your manuscript. It was a great initiative and I learned a lot from the experience and valued that time.
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By Close of Business : Us Mob Writing edited by Samantha Faulkner, Lisa Fuller, Jeanine Leane and Kerry Reed-GilbertKerry Reed-Gilbert is so supportive and encouraging to not only myself but to other members of the ACT Us Mob Writing Group. It is great to get feedback on your work and also have a mentor who is there for you.
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Join your local writers' centre, the Australian Society of Authors and Copyright Agency Limited. Join a local writers' group and also attend Wwriting festivals, where you can hear from other writers. Read widely and read a lot.
Do your research on publishers and what and when they are accepting manuscripts. Enter competitions and submit your work for consideration to journals.
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Recording the stories and lives of Torres Strait Islanders in the ACT. This is a funded project by the ACT Government and supported by the ACT Torres Strait Islanders Corporation. I love spending time with my mob and getting to know more about them and why they choose to live in Canberra. A possible launch date is NAIDOC Week 2014.
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