In this Together Q&A | Robbie Arnott

Festival month has arrived! But before the Festival officially kicks off, we want to introduce you to some of the participants who have travelled from near and far to discuss their books, writing and ideas with us. Throughout this Q&A series, get to know favourite and unfamiliar writers and consider the 2025 theme, In This Together.

Firm Festival favourite, Robbie Arnott is based in Tasmania, a landscape he brings to life masterfully in his latest release, Dusk.

Tasmania’s landscapes feature prominently in your writing. How important is a sense of place to your practice?

I start every novel with a landscape — describing it, figuring it out, getting a tangible sense of it. Then I look for some characters who fit there. And after that, I try and find some tension in their lives, often between themselves and the environment, and hopefully a plot worms its way out after that. I do not recommend this approach, but it’s the only way I know how to rip a novel out of my head.

What’s on your TBR pile now?

Stag Dance, by Torrey Peters. I’m halfway through it and loving it. What a mind.

What do you hope readers take away from your work?

Oh god. I don’t know. I just hope they come out of the pages seeing a few new colours.

Big cat stories cling to the East Coast of Australia. What do you think compels us to mythologise our environment?

For those of us who have descended from the initial European invasion and every wave of migration since, the wilder parts of the country have never been contended with on their own merits. Very rarely do we look at Australia with clear eyes. I think we lean towards myths for this reason, as long as a simpler one: we like believing that impossible things might happen.  

What is the first book you remember reading?

Tessa Snaps Snakes, by Alison Lester. 

What book do you wish you could read for the first time again?

Old School, by Tobias Wolff.

What events at this year’s Festival are you looking forward to attending?

I’m really looking forward to seeing Robert Dessaix talk on the Friday. Whenever I hear him speak I always feel like my mind has been expanded. He helps us see the world in so many fresh ways.