Panel #3 Session 2
Wednesday 29 November - 15:00
Building 25, Room 2
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Chair: Laura Fulton
On the Limits of Imagination: Experiences of First Nations Writers and Writers of Colour within the Australian Literary Industry
- Natalie Kon-yu
Victoria University
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In this paper I will discuss the results of a series of interviews I undertook in 2020 and 2021 with Australian writers from First Nations and/or migrant backgrounds who have published at least one full-length book. The respondents also have a combined readership spanning from children’s fiction all the way up to adult readers; and also write in a variety of forms (poetry, prose, theatre, fiction and non-fiction) and genres (realist fiction, postmodern fiction, fantasy, science and speculative fiction). The project aimed to ascertain the interviewees’ experiences related to the public and or critical reception and perception of their works and questions were focussed on reviews, promotional material, appearances on panels, interviews and literary prizes. Despite the vast differences between the individual writers, the data details that the experiences of First Nations and migrant writers within the Australian Literary Industry share many commonalities. That is, despite differences in genre, form and target audience, there exists a continued exoticisation and/or marginalisation of works by writers considered to be ‘diverse.’ I will argue that the Australian Publishing Industry continues to homogenise the works of these authors and this is not only has implications for the established writers, but also for emerging writers. The perpetuation of the marginalisation and exoticisation of ‘diverse’ writers creates a narrow artistic framework for all writers from First Nations and migrant backgrounds, and thus places real limitations on writers and their imaginative work.
Natalie Kon-yu is a writer, academic and editor whose work has been published nationally and internationally. She is the co-commissioning editor of #Me Too: Stories from the Australian Women’s Movement (Picador, 2019), Mothers and Others: Why Not All Women are Mothers and All Mothers are Not the Same (Pan Macmillan, 2015) and Just Between Us: Australian Writers Tell the Truth about Female Friendship (Pan Macmillan 2013). Her first monograph, The Cost of Labour, was published by Affirm Press in 2022.
The Missing Books in Australian Children’s Literature: An Australian-Filipino Author’s Journey to Representation
- Kristyn Maslog-Levis
University of Technology Sydney
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This paper discusses my own experience as an Australian-Filipino children’s and young adult (CYA) author trying to get traditionally published in Australia. After self-publishing two picture books and traditionally publishing three bestselling YA books with a Philippine publisher, I raise the question as to why the Australian publishing industry has not traditionally published a CYA book from the community in two decades, especially since the Aus-Fil community is the third largest Asian community in Australia. The paper covers my journey as an author — how I started, why I started, the steps I took to get traditionally published via a Philippine publisher, how I landed an Australian agent and the struggles of getting a publisher in Australia as well as getting recognised as an author. It contributes to the understanding of the struggles of writers of colour in Australia and discusses the realities of Aus-Fil writers.
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Kristyn Maslog-Levis is a marketing and communications coordinator, author, ghostwriter and former journalist. Several of her stories have landed in The New York Times and Al Jazeera. She finished her masters degree in communication at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore under the ASEAN scholarship. Kristyn is the author of the bestselling YA Engkantasia series published by Anvil Publishing. She started her Doctor of Philosophy candidature in 2021 with University of Technology Sydney for Creative Writing under the Australian Research Training Program, focusing on cultural diversity in children’s literature in Australia.