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As May rapidly approaches, we are so excited to welcome you to the Festival and to introduce you to the writers who make it all worthwhile. To awaken your Festival spirit, we're got a series of Q&As to introduce some of the 2024 participants. Get to know them as we discuss their reading, their writing practice and the Festival theme, Take Me Away.
James Colley is head writer of ABC TV's Gruen and Question Everything. In 2017, he published his first book, a satirical memoir, before writing an autobiography and junior autobiography of rugby league player Sam Thaiday. His debut romance novel is The Next Big Thing.
Which book would you take to a deserted island?
I am tempted to take something like In Search of Lost Time because I would finally have the space needed to actually get through the whole thing but instead I’ll go with Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol. I take great comfort in knowing that writers in the 1800s were just as bizarre and funny and mad as we are now.
Is there a book you wish you could read for the first time again?
A Confederacy of Dunces. It was the book that taught me books could be funny. It moves like an episode of Seinfeld. It’s so sharp and so silly. It’s an incredible predictor of every aspect of a certain kind of modern subculture with the one omission of the invention of the internet.
What interested you in the romance genre?
I’ve a big sap at heart. I’ve always adored the genre in all of its forms. But more than anything, it was a personal challenge. It is very easy for comedy, particularly satirical comedy, to be cynical and mean. I wanted to write something that still could have a sharp tongue but inspired joy.
How did you find the transition from your comedy and non-fiction writing to writing a novel?
For me, the major change was the time to properly craft a work. So much of comedy writing is very high-paced. We start a show on Thursday and it’s on air by Wednesday going out to a million people. Within seconds, you have instant feedback. Novels are a much more gentle process. It’s like shaping marble. You have to slowly uncover what you are creating, finesse it and then wait and wait and wait and wait until you can find out whether you’ve actually done a good job.
What’s your favourite ‘Big Thing’ in Australia?
It’s hard to look past a classic like the Big Prawn of Ballina or the Big Potato of Robertson but I want to give a quick shout out to the Big Rolling Pin of Wodonga. Above a bakery. Exactly as impressive as a regularly sized rolling pin. No real indication of why it exists. What could be better.
What events are looking forward to attending at the Festival?
I am so very excited to hear Viet Thanh Nguyen talk. I’ve adored everything I’ve ever read from Melissa Lucashenko and can’t wait to hear more about Edenglassie. And I have loved the amazing people at Sweatshop for years and will be very excited for their talk.