The stage of Bendigo's
brand new Ulumbarra theatre was intimately lit. Two comfy looking
armchairs faced each other centre-stage and two of Australia's best
loved writers sat in deep conversation, seemingly oblivious to the
throng of schoolchildren from across the Greater Bendigo region
listening in. John Marsden and Alice Pung spoke with a great deal of
respect, both for each other and their audience, ably chaperoned in their conversation by Sue Gillet.
The two couldn't be more different at surface level. Alice Pung is new to Young Adult fiction, her latest book Laurinda being her first in the genre. Previously she has been known for her non-fiction works which explore her family history and cultural identity as a first generation Chinese-Cambodian growing up in Melbourne's Western Suburbs. Laurinda, is similarly themed but approaches those issues through the eyes of a young Chinese girl, Lucy Lam, who gains a scholarship to a prestigious private school on the wealthy side of the Yarra and is forced to contend with tyrannical clique of schoolgirls who run it. Alice calls it "...an exploration of class and socio-economic status in Melbourne."
John Marsden is a man who needs little introduction. Having authored dozens of best-sellers for Young Adults, including the infamous Tomorrow When the War Began series, he opened the Candlebark School in 2006 and now divides his time between working as a principal and an author. He has recently published South of Darkness his first book meant for an adult audience, a book which he also analyses class mobility in a rigid society. South of Darkness tells the story of a 13 year old convict boy, Barnaby Fletcher, who comes to Australia hoping for a better life.
Pung and Marsden spoke to each other and their audience in the Ulumbarra theatre without a trace of condescension. In fact the two were earnest and frank, sometimes downright blunt with their audience.
“The trouble with being a teenager” Pung said at one point “is that you have the mind of an adult but are afforded very little power or agency [to affect the world].”
Both writers, however, commented that this was one of the draw cards of writing for a young adult audience. The themes of survival and challenge are heavy in both their works. Following on from Pung, Marsden sits forward in his chair, looking out intensely into the crowd. The moment feels very personal.
“I like to write characters who solve their own problems, who dig deep and learn things.” he says.
We are all born at a station called Ignorance but we don't have to stay there. In fact there are two journeys in life. One is to move as far away from that station of Ignorance as possible. The other is to move towards Wisdom.”
I wondered at the time if these kind of philosophical conversations might be over the head of some of the younger members of the audience, but when the house-lights came on in the Ulumbarra Theatre and we filed out the doors I heard nothing but positives from the sea of chattering students around me. One girl, maybe about 13 years old, even exclaimed loudly to her friends.
“This was the best day of my life!”
I'm not sure who exactly was to blame for that but someone up on that stage did something right.
South of Darkness by John Marsden is available now through Pan Macmillan at $39.99Laurinda by Alice Pung is available now through Black Books Inc. at $19.99
The two couldn't be more different at surface level. Alice Pung is new to Young Adult fiction, her latest book Laurinda being her first in the genre. Previously she has been known for her non-fiction works which explore her family history and cultural identity as a first generation Chinese-Cambodian growing up in Melbourne's Western Suburbs. Laurinda, is similarly themed but approaches those issues through the eyes of a young Chinese girl, Lucy Lam, who gains a scholarship to a prestigious private school on the wealthy side of the Yarra and is forced to contend with tyrannical clique of schoolgirls who run it. Alice calls it "...an exploration of class and socio-economic status in Melbourne."
John Marsden is a man who needs little introduction. Having authored dozens of best-sellers for Young Adults, including the infamous Tomorrow When the War Began series, he opened the Candlebark School in 2006 and now divides his time between working as a principal and an author. He has recently published South of Darkness his first book meant for an adult audience, a book which he also analyses class mobility in a rigid society. South of Darkness tells the story of a 13 year old convict boy, Barnaby Fletcher, who comes to Australia hoping for a better life.
Pung and Marsden spoke to each other and their audience in the Ulumbarra theatre without a trace of condescension. In fact the two were earnest and frank, sometimes downright blunt with their audience.
“The trouble with being a teenager” Pung said at one point “is that you have the mind of an adult but are afforded very little power or agency [to affect the world].”
Both writers, however, commented that this was one of the draw cards of writing for a young adult audience. The themes of survival and challenge are heavy in both their works. Following on from Pung, Marsden sits forward in his chair, looking out intensely into the crowd. The moment feels very personal.
“I like to write characters who solve their own problems, who dig deep and learn things.” he says.
We are all born at a station called Ignorance but we don't have to stay there. In fact there are two journeys in life. One is to move as far away from that station of Ignorance as possible. The other is to move towards Wisdom.”
I wondered at the time if these kind of philosophical conversations might be over the head of some of the younger members of the audience, but when the house-lights came on in the Ulumbarra Theatre and we filed out the doors I heard nothing but positives from the sea of chattering students around me. One girl, maybe about 13 years old, even exclaimed loudly to her friends.
“This was the best day of my life!”
I'm not sure who exactly was to blame for that but someone up on that stage did something right.
South of Darkness by John Marsden is available now through Pan Macmillan at $39.99Laurinda by Alice Pung is available now through Black Books Inc. at $19.99
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