The power of the written word

 Anyone who knows me, knows I  love to read, but that is a superficial statement. What I love is to surround myself with books and the stories within them. When I read, I want to lose myself in the world the author has created in the pages of the book. I want to be absorbed by the story. While I am in those pages, the rest of my life should be subsumed by the life in the book, whether it be a classic like Pride and Prejudice, which takes me on a journey to an unfamiliar past; a Jane Harper crime story set in the harsh Australian outback with clever and unexpected twists; or a Trent Dalton ‘love’ story, exploring the importance of human connection in its many forms.   

Not only do I cherish books and reading, I prefer to hold the physical book in my hands and turn the pages myself, an old fashioned notion I know, but for me, there is something visceral about reading the last word on a page and hanging onto that as I turn the page to find the subsequent word and see the next step in the story spill out in front of me. The other ingredient that completes this experience for me, is hearing from the author themselves, whether it be through a podcast or a real live author talk, to dig deeper and hear their personal stories, adds a whole new dimension to the reading experience.

We are incredibly fortunate here in Castlemaine, to have a wonderful couple, who team together to bring an astounding range of authors to venues in our own town. This experience, previously confined, for me, to big annual events such as the Bendigo, Melbourne or Adelaide writer’s festivals, now exists on a regular basis, a few kilometres from home. Northern Books has brought many of my favourite authors to a venue near me, and importantly, they (Kristin and Graham) have also introduced me to authors I have never previously read, or dare I say, never even heard of.

To give you a picture of the calibre of authors we have been treated to over the past 6 years or so, I have met, listened to and come home with books (often signed copies), by Annie Smithers, Heather Morris, Liane Moriarty, Jane Caro, Christian White, Chloe Hooper, Kerry O’Brien, Clare Bowditch, Monica McInerney, Robyn Davidson, Craig Silvey, Robbie Arnott, and Jock Serong, just to name a few. And these are just the names you might recognise, add to that a huge list of authors, whose work I have been introduced to through the ‘Books at the Brewery’ series, who now grace my bookshelves, and whose stories I have delighted in and, in some cases, because the pile is constantly being added to, not yet read.

This week, we were treated to two such events, both held in the beautiful Phee Broadway Theatre, because the number of attendees warranted a larger space. First, I dragged Wallsy along to hear Chris Hammer speak about his latest book, The Seven. Now, Chris’s work was not new to me, I already owned a copy of The Tilt (which I have read!) in my bookcase, and had listened to Treasure and Dirt, Scrublands, Silver, and Trust, so you could say I was already a fan. To hear him speak however, eloquently drawn out in conversation with one of our local librarians, was a treat, and Wallsy came away with a new author to read (they had him when they compared his work to that of Peter Temple) – my copy of Tilt, is now on his bedside pile, and the newly purchased, The Seven, has been added to mine. The power of putting a human face and a personal story with a skilfully written book, should not be underestimated.

The second event was Trent Dalton, and it is no secret that I am a huge fangirl of Trent. I first heard him speak at Adelaide Writer’s Week when his first book, Boy Swallows Universe came out in 2019. I was back there in 2021 to hear him speak about his next release, All Our Shimmering Skies. We had driven from Mount Gambier that morning, having first completed parkrun there, and then high-tailed it to Adelaide, knowing Trent was on the program mid-afternoon. We arrived in Adelaide with very little time to spare, and I abandoned Wallsy in the hotel carpark, running to the Pioneer Women’s Gardens so as not to miss a word of the chat with Trent. I made it! But this time, Trent came to me, in my hometown, to speak about his third novel, Lola in the Mirror, and what a moving and enlightening afternoon that was. If you weren’t already a fan of Trent’s work, spending an hour listening to his inner most thoughts, the rationale for his writing and the personal experiences that have led him to write as he does, I would be very surprised to hear that you didn’t want to immediately devour every one of his works.

The most moving, of the many stories he shared with us on Saturday afternoon concerned a young, teenage fan in South Korea who wrote to Trent and said that he had no idea where Bracken Ridge, Brisbane, Australia was, but after reading Boy Swallows Universe, and the adversity the character Eli Bell overcomes, he had decided to live on to adulthood after all – there was not a dry eye in the auditorium! And that perfectly illustrates the power of the written word – it can speak to people across time and across cultures, it can break down barriers and it can change lives.

That’s why I read; and that’s why I write.

My bedside reading pile - I obviously need to spend more time in bed!

Trent Dalton in conversation with Astrid Edwards

photo credit Nicki Renfrey, my enthusiastic compatriot in all things books