Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:11 Hello, and welcome to this special city of Fremantle Hungerford award edition of the Fremantle press podcast. Today, we are recording on wa up in wajanja and I'd like to acknowledge our first storytellers along with the Noga elders past present and future. My name is Maria PaaS. My novels skimming stones won the city of Freeman Hungerford award in 2020. I'm delighted to be asked to help introduce you to the next round of Hungerford writers. Those four shortlisted writers waiting expectedly for the announcement of the winner. On Thursday, the 20th of October, one of the first things we did as shortlisted entrance was to record a podcast. And I think it was the first time since I was a kid that I had heard my recorded voice. It was quite a surreal experience, but one that really showed me what was to come today's. Guest is Mo Schmid, whose manuscript is a novel called salt river road. Take a listen as Freemantle press publisher, Georgia Richter describes why she chose this manuscript for the short
Speaker 2 00:01:21 Salt river road is a novel that's set in the great Southern in the aftermath of a beloved mother's illness and death. And it explores the impact on the different siblings of the Tetley family. And the structure of the novel is set up in such way that that really isolated from each other and their experiences are isolated and it moves between being prose and averse novel. And that sets up different emotional registers. I find myself thoroughly immersed in this beautifully written novel, and it was really moving, especially towards the end. I find found myself weeping, which is always a good sign of immersion. And that's because I was just so involved in the world of the Tetley family.
Speaker 1 00:02:09 And now let's hear from the writer herself, Mo Schmidt is a writer and a journalist currently undertaking the four centers, emerging writers program. She's collaborating with Noga elders from a hometown Albany with the goal of producing a novel, which actively pursues reconciliation between non-aboriginal and Aboriginal peoples. She completed a thesis on the topic in 2021 and is now enjoying delving into her fiction. Writing by day, Molly works as a radio producer and reporter for the Australian broadcasting corporation, where her passion for storytelling is put to good use Molly, welcome to the podcast and congratulations on making it to the short list.
Speaker 3 00:02:50 Thank you so much, Maria.
Speaker 1 00:02:52 First up, what does it feel like to be on the other side of the table? So to speak, being interviewed rather than being the interviewer for a change?
Speaker 3 00:03:02 Oh, it's, um, it's very strange. Um, through my work at ABC, I'm well accustomed to interviewing, but I'm always the one asking the questions and yeah, it feels really strange to be the one that's answering them and sharing my story. Um, I do a lot of script writing for interviews for work, and I realize that I can't script my answers for this, which made me feel a little odd. Um, but yeah, it's a real honor to be here under these circumstances, Maria. So it's exciting if not a bit. Nerve-wracking
Speaker 1 00:03:30 Molly, tell us more about your shortlisted manuscript.
Speaker 3 00:03:33 Sure. So, um, salt river road is a coming of age story. It's set in regional wa um, in Albany and 10 to 10, which is a regional farming community just off Albany highway, uh, set in the late 1970s. So the manuscript draws on my personal experience of losing my dad to cancer. And it explores the reality of what this is actually like. So what a childhood looks like when it's lost to hospital corridors and waiting rooms and the gaping hole that a parent really does leave behind. I felt like in the passing of my dad, there was lots of talk and remembering of beautiful memories and this was important and crucial, but it was like no one talked about the truth of the horror of losing someone to terminal cancer. You know, the, the length of the battle, the loss of dignity, the graphic nature of it all.
Speaker 3 00:04:29 And, um, I really needed to put that on the page and yeah, I mean, it's only part of the book. It's not a doom and gloom book, but, um, I do get that, um, truth of the loss on the page is through the perspective of teenage siblings, rose and Frank Tetley, they lose their mom and it really sets their world off kilter. Their sheet farm goes to ruins. Their dad just becomes this grief stricken ghost of the dad that they knew. And then in, among it all, there's a parallel narrative. And this narrative really acknowledges the stories and the wisdom of the traditional custodians from the great Southern region where the book set. Um, so that's the Menang and the gore Noar people. And yes, I consulted and worked directly with them writing the book, which was a huge privilege. Um, and there are two really important characters. Um, Noar elders, Patsy, and Herbert, and they really help the siblings deal with their grief, but their presence in the story also uncovers some old wounds that involve, um, the Tetley's dad and this Noar family. And in order to move forwards, these past traumas have to be revisited to be healed.
Speaker 1 00:05:39 Can you speak a little bit about the unusual shape and format of your novel?
Speaker 3 00:05:44 Yeah, sure. So the story itself is a mix of pros and poetry. I found that I naturally turned to poetry when I was writing emotional scenes and, um, in early draft stages, I edited the poetry out. And then I in another stage wrote the whole book as a poem. Yeah. So lots of edits. And now what I've ended up with is a compromise, which is a bit of both, but, um, in terms of the unusual shape, I think that that's because the mum dies in the first few pages. So you open the book to the crisis rather than build to it. And, um, even though you're in crisis, the beginning is really slow. It's, it's the slowest part of the whole book. There's a lot of reflection, lots of cups of tea. And the remembering goes on throughout the book as rose and Frank makes sense of their childhoods and the loss that they've experienced.
Speaker 3 00:06:37 One of the main conflicts that needs resolving has occurred in the past as well. So I guess that's unusual cuz the reader doesn't actually live through this conflict, but you hear about it as the dad reflects. Um, but it is this conflict that's resolved in the story of salt river road. So it kind of moves the story into the present, but I think a big part of that unusual structure, it's actually a little bit like skimming stones, Maria, in that, you know, it's a story about overcoming grief and the grief process isn't linear and it certainly doesn't follow a traditional narrative curve
Speaker 1 00:07:10 When you were speaking. I could definitely relate to your choice of, of structure here. You spoke earlier about the parallel, um, narrative. I know one of your goals was to write a novel which actively pursued reconciliation between non-aboriginal and Aboriginal people tell our listeners about the research that went into the writing of this work.
Speaker 3 00:07:32 Sure. Um, yeah, this certainly became the real heart of the story. The book itself began as boat dancing, which was its original title. And yeah, I guess as I mentioned, it was much more a, um, work of therapy to start with. And I realized that and I left it alone for years. It stayed in my bottom door of my desk. And then, um, after working for some time as a journalist and having the real privilege of engaging with the Noar community in Perth, um, for storytelling in the media, I was really struck by this, um, disregard and a mission of Aboriginal stories and voices in that media space. And I felt that as a wa writer in my fiction, I had a real responsibility to write in a manner that is inclusive of first nations people. So yeah, I kind of went back to boat, dancing and looked at it and knew that I wanted to include known our people in the narrative.
Speaker 3 00:08:30 They were very much there. It set in the seventies in regional wa, but I understood the importance of avoiding cultural appropriation and stereotypes and I didn't want it to be tokenistic. So I knew that I had good intentions, but I also really didn't have the answers. So I went back to uni and I undertook an honors project. I was incredibly lucky to be supervised by Nona author, professor Kim Scott, and another great author, Dr. Brett Darcy. Um, and the project started out as a question. So basically I approached five Noar elders in Albany and I asked them if as a non-aboriginal writer, I'm writing a work of fiction set in your town, should I include, uh, Noar people within my work? Do you want to be present in the pages? And the research was very, um, place specific. So I'm conscious that my research doesn't speak for any other community, but all five of these elders all said, yes, they very much wanted to be represented within this book.
Speaker 3 00:09:32 And so then the research became, if so, how, um, what sort of stories do you want to be present? Um, what is the scope of what I can and can't write and yeah, the collaboration took place over two years. I extended the honors project because so much of it became about creating a authentic deep connection with the elders. A very small proportion of it was the formal research. So much of it was drinking tea and going on country and learning and listening. And, but what I did create that became a strong guideline for the writing of what became salt river road was a set of rules. One of them was to never write from the perspective of my indigenous characters, because as a non-indigenous person, I could never be inside their mind. Another was not to name cultural sites and a really interesting one that became a great guide for me was that, um, all five of the elders that I spoke to mentioned that they felt like a story that's not often told is their engagement in the settlement of what is now Albany in the great Southern.
Speaker 3 00:10:39 Um, so they talked about the physical backbreaking work of clearing the land, logging the trees, um, making what is now that farming community and how it's so often, um, always attributed to white settlement and these elders and their families actually did that back breaking work and felt that it was never attributed to them. So, um, that was something I would never have known without speaking to them and is something that I made sure to filter into the, um, back stories of my <inaudible> elders. Yeah. There was so much I learned from them and they are so time poor and so sought after. And I'm just so grateful that they chose to spend time and create. What's become a really beautiful friendship with me. So yeah, I'm very, very lucky.
Speaker 1 00:11:24 Oh wow. Thank you. Um, Molly, I'm intrigued by the structure of your manuscript and can't wait to hear it out loud. Could you please read us an extract?
Speaker 3 00:11:35 Sure. So, um, this one looks like a poem to people that would be looking at it on a page there's very little punctuation and no capital letters. That's from the perspective of Frank Rose comes and stands in the doorway of my old bedroom. She looks straight in my eyes. The only one who still does that, she stands there, a footie under her arm. And one of Steve's old shirts hanging loose around her shoulders, rose Tetley one of the boys. She keeps her hair short now cuts it herself, all jagged, but her eyes are deep and round and brown and pretty. And they look at me with this, look in them, this question and mom, she looks so much like you, I hate her. Wanna have a kick. She asks balancing on one leg and leaning on the doorframe. Her voice is casual, but her eyes say, please and mom, I can't, I can't even look at her.
Speaker 3 00:12:26 Nah. I say she looks at her socks and she's wearing those ugly yellow ones you made. And I see a tear roll down my sister's cheek and it breaks me and it feels good at the same time to see someone feel, something feels good, her, her shoulders hunch in, but she tries again. Maybe in a bit, she asks fuck off rose. I say, she sucks her breath in and looks at me. It takes a lot to get to rose, but I know how and mom, I can't stop because I can hurt through her hurt hurting her makes me feel something. And I don't say anything else, but I just look into her eyes. Try not to see you until she turns and walks away. Then I feel sick. I think about summer when we were little, when we would run through the paddocks, getting grass seeds in our hair, chasing that ball, rose was good.
Speaker 3 00:13:21 She could run fast almost as fast as me, which annoyed me back then. And you used to say, just let her wing. Sometimes Frank, she's only little and sometimes she would win or by herself, but I'd tell her I went easy on her and she'd get so mad. She used to hit me with strong fists and we'd tumble in the dirt back then. Gray's knees was something to be proud of and you'd sit us on the laundry sink and clean us up with de on cotton wall. We were the troublemakers rose and me Joe. Would've had his nose in the national geographic and Steve was already bigger. Riding motorbikes, catching fish, birdie. Wasn't with us yet back then back then. I hate rose for thinking. I can be like that again. Her brother, Frank, how can anyone be the same after this birdie comes in a bit later with a cereal box on his head, I'm a robot he says, and I punch his robot head. I can hear him crying in Rosa's room. Mom. I think I've become a monster.
Speaker 1 00:14:19 Thank you, Molly. That was so beautiful to listen to <laugh> I really enjoyed that. What is the significance of making the shortlist? What do you hope it leads to?
Speaker 3 00:14:31 Oh, it's it's everything. I, I still can't believe it. It's an absolute dream. Um, this book has been the center of my life for so many years, like almost half my life. And it's never been about, you know, writing a book, so to speak. It's been about the particular story and this story of overcoming grief and of listening to and learning from our country's traditional custodians. And it feels like regardless of what happens, moving forwards from here, simply being long listed, let alone shortlisted was a huge step forwards towards this book. Hopefully being in people's hands one day. Yeah. Freeman press have been my dream publisher for salt river road. So to be recognized by them is super surreal. I'm still pinching myself. And the idea that excites me the most is being able to hand one day, hopefully this book to their elders that I consulted with and give them something real that, um, shows what we put together that I could never have done without them. So yeah, it just feels like my dream might be getting a little bit closer.
Speaker 1 00:15:39 Molly. Thank you so much for being with us today and sharing your work and your inspiration. Is there anything else you would like to share with us today?
Speaker 3 00:15:47 Um, I'd love to just thank and name the elders that I worked with, if that's okay. I worked with uncle Lester coin, auntie AAL, Dean, auntie Carol Edison, uncle ARD, flowers and uncle Glen UNG. And I, I really hope to include another elder soon auntie Elaine Miniter and I, I guess I'd just love to say that I feel like the, um, real heart of my work is a belief that, um, every writer that is not from a minority group has a responsibility to be inclusive when we are putting words on paper. And for me, the end goal is more minority voices writing their own stories. And it's so exciting. We're seeing that with indigenous stories even here in wa it's amazing. But I think because of that, it's not our responsibility to tell these stories, but we do need to make sure that we're writing about the same world and that that world does include indigenous people and queer people and people with disabilities. I think it's super important that these people are seen in fiction and especially written about in stories that don't limit them to just representing that minority group. I think that they really deserve to be presented as true fleshed out characters. And that was my goal. And I really hope that salt river road achieves that with, with my, our characters.
Speaker 1 00:17:08 I wish you all the very best of luck on the, the 20th of October when you're on stage at Freeman or art center, waiting to hear whether you've won the city of Fremantle Hungerford award listeners, you can help cheer Molly on by joining us in the audience, tickets to the ceremony free, and you can secure your spot by jumping onto the Freemantle press website or event bright a Maria PaaS author of skimming stones. And I hope you'll join me very soon for the next Freemantle press Hungerford podcast.
