1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,360 Speaker 1: You can listen to the Front on your smart speaker 2 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: every morning to hear the latest episode. 3 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 2: Just say play the news from the Australian. 4 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,440 Speaker 1: From the Australian, here's what's on the Front. I'm Claire Harvey. 5 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: It's Friday, July nineteenth. Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest says labor 6 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 1: should push ahead with billions in tax incentives for green hydrogen, 7 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: even though he's dramatically scaling back his own investment. Forest 8 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: says high energy costs must come down to make green 9 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: hydrogen a viable fuel source. An exclusive on the Australian 10 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: dot com dot a You right Now, Defense and Veterans 11 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: Affairs ignored mounting evidence of chronic brain injuries in soldiers 12 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: caused by repeated exposure to blast pressure waves. 13 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 2: The injuries, which have been linked. 14 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: To suicides, are common in special Forces personnel. It just 15 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 1: became a little easier to become an author. The Australians 16 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: launching a brand new literary prize worth thirty five thousand 17 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: dollars and a book deal today. Why TikTok is changing 18 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:36,959 Speaker 1: the way books are consumed and who gets to write. 19 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: Writing a good book used to be the first step 20 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: for getting a publishing deal. But in today's market, that 21 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:48,560 Speaker 1: doesn't always cut it. So how are new writers getting noticed? 22 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,559 Speaker 3: TikTok so, I was going through a very difficult time 23 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 3: in my life and the one thing that got me. 24 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 2: Through that was journaling. 25 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 3: So when I heard of the term shadow work, that 26 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 3: was the missing puzzle piece that gave a name to 27 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 3: this introspective work that I was already doing in my journal. 28 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 3: That's when I decided to create the shadow Work Journal. 29 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 3: And it's had immense online praise and it's reached millions 30 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 3: of people. It's incredible to see how many people have 31 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 3: resonated with this work. 32 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 2: That's Kayla Shahane. 33 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: She's in her mid twenties and she's the author of 34 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:30,799 Speaker 1: The shadow Work Journal. It's a fill in the blank's 35 00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:34,919 Speaker 1: self improvement book. Thanks to TikTok, Shahan has sold more 36 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: than a million copies of this journal. She's now got 37 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: a five book deal and a seven figure advance with 38 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: Simon and Schuster. When she has a new book to sell, 39 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: Shahine hops on TikTok. 40 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 3: Good things will come your way if you make room 41 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 3: for them. Lucky Girl syndrome is so real. 42 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 2: Lucky Girl syndrome is like. 43 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,640 Speaker 3: A two part method, taking control of your self concept 44 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 3: the mental image that you have of yourself. 45 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: Social media can be great for book sales, but a 46 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: genie's author doesn't always make a good influencer. Take Patrick White, 47 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: a literary giant and a famously prickly recluse. Here he 48 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: is after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in nineteen 49 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: seventy three. 50 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 2: Mister White, first of all, congratulations, How does it feel? Oh? 51 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 4: Rather bewildering. I had my door battered on half the 52 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 4: night by the prayers, taking a sleeping piling on to bed. 53 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 4: That's a strange way to celebrate such an hour. I 54 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 4: get up very early. I'd had a very hard day 55 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 4: and I wanted to sleep. 56 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 1: If White was writing for the first time today and 57 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: needed a popular TikTok account to be published and promote 58 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: his books, would the world have read his work? 59 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 4: Well, I'm not writing at this moment, but my publisher 60 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 4: has another book and I'm preparing to write another one. 61 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 4: Can I ask what about now? 62 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 2: Perhaps not. 63 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 5: Being a writer in Australia is incredibly tough. We know 64 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 5: that it's really hard to be published, and I think 65 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,359 Speaker 5: a lot of the time bookshops and the culture in 66 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 5: which we live encourages writers from overseas. 67 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 2: That's Caroline Overington. 68 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,480 Speaker 1: She's the literary editor at The Australian and she's also 69 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: one of the judges at the Australian Fiction Prize, the 70 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 1: country's newest competition for authors. Caroline loves books that share 71 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: unique Australian voices, but sometimes risk adverse publishing industry can 72 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: make it hard for talented new writers to be discovered. 73 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:53,159 Speaker 5: There are a handful of major publishing companies and they 74 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 5: have to make decisions based on what they think will sell. So, 75 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 5: for example, if a vampire book takes off, suddenly you'll 76 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 5: see twenty vampire books. But then if you come along 77 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 5: with a book that doesn't quite fit into what they're 78 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:08,840 Speaker 5: looking for, you might miss out, even though what you've 79 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:10,280 Speaker 5: written is very good. 80 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: And if you do get a deal literally riches await 81 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: or not. The average income for a literary fiction author 82 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: is just fifteen thousand, four hundred dollars according to the 83 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: most recent survey by Creative Australia that's the government's advisory 84 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: body for the arts. If you are just for inflation, 85 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:33,599 Speaker 1: the people pouring their souls into print are making less 86 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: now than they were a decade ago. 87 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 5: Some people will earn enough to make a living. It 88 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,480 Speaker 5: depends what you want from your book. A lot of 89 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 5: people will say to me, I do it for the 90 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 5: love of it. It's a labor of love. I mean, 91 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 5: don't do it just to make your fortune. I mean absolutely, 92 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 5: it is possible to make a living in Australia as 93 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 5: a writer. Not everyone is going to make the top ten. 94 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 5: The top ten is the top ten because there's only ten, 95 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 5: so you know, not everyone's going to have a huge success. 96 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,359 Speaker 5: But I know some people they just want to write 97 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 5: their book, like they have a book that they have 98 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:05,559 Speaker 5: something that they want to say. 99 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 1: If TikTok terrifies you, There's now another way to get 100 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: an unpublished manuscript into the world. 101 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,200 Speaker 5: It's called the Australian Fiction Prize. We're incredibly excited about it. 102 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 5: We're in partnership with HarperCollins. HarperCollins being one of the 103 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 5: major publishing houses in Australia, arguably the number one publishing 104 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 5: house in Australia. And the great thing about this prize 105 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 5: is it is open to all Australian storytellers who are 106 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 5: writing fiction. There's no age limit on it. You don't 107 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 5: have to be a debut writer. And one of the 108 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 5: other very exciting things about it that sets it apart 109 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 5: I think from other prizes is that your book, if successful, 110 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 5: will be published, meaning you'll be able to find it 111 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:53,600 Speaker 5: on the shelves alongside other HarperCollins writers like Trent Dalton 112 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 5: and Julia Baird and Dervla McTurnan and other great crime 113 00:06:57,320 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 5: writers like that, You'll be able to go into bookshops 114 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:02,720 Speaker 5: find your book. Hopefully you'll get invited to a few writers' 115 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 5: festivals as well and join that whole experience of being 116 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 5: a published writer. 117 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 1: And there's a twenty thousand dollar cash prize plus a 118 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: fifteen thousand dollar advance. 119 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 5: We have great storytellers in this country and we always 120 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 5: have had. We've had a storytelling culture here arguably for 121 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 5: sixty thousand years. So it's something we really want to 122 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 5: promote the idea of an Australian voice telling Australian stories. 123 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 2: Coming up. 124 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: Publishing loves a cancelation, so who's allowed to write what? 125 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: These days, The Australian's Books coverage is unrivaled in our 126 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 1: beloved review section every Saturday and twenty four to seven 127 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: at the Australian dot com dot a U. We have 128 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: author interviews, poetry reviews. 129 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 2: And much more. We'll be back after this break. 130 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: If there's a book bursting to get out of you. 131 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 1: The inaugural Australian Fiction Prize is looking for entries. It 132 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 1: has to be fiction, but it doesn't need to tick 133 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 1: any particular boxes about theme or identity. 134 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 5: Certainly, we would like the winner of this prize to 135 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 5: be a book that many people read and enjoy. We 136 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 5: won't be selecting, I think, a book just because of 137 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 5: its worthiness. We would like to be able to select 138 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:36,439 Speaker 5: something that is a really ripping read as well. 139 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: Perhaps one of the hottest ongoing debates in the literary 140 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: world is whether or not an author should write about 141 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: marginalized characters if they themselves are not from those communities. 142 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: In recent years, Australian author Thomas Kennely apologized for assuming 143 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: an Aboriginal voice in his book, a Prize nominated nineteen 144 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: seventy two novel, The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith. He said 145 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: he would not write that book today. And then there's 146 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: Helen Demdenko. She was a twenty three year old Ukrainian 147 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: Australian fond of folk dancers and traditional costumes. When she 148 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: unleashed a culture war, Demidenko wrote a manuscript which won 149 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,680 Speaker 1: the Vogel Literary Award in nineteen ninety four and the 150 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:21,640 Speaker 1: Miles Franklin in nineteen ninety five. In winning the Miles 151 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:25,719 Speaker 1: Franklin Award, Miss Demidenko joins an illustrious list of Australian 152 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 1: authors Patrick White, Thomas Kannely, Peter Careyington. And then it 153 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: was revealed she was not actually Ukrainian at all. Her book, 154 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,080 Speaker 1: The Hand that signed the Paper told the story of 155 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:41,960 Speaker 1: Ukrainian characters who she claimed were based on family members 156 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: participating in Nazi death squads and themselves being persecuted by 157 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: Jewish communists. The book had already prompted accusations of anti Semitism, 158 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: and then it turned out Demdenko's name was really Helen 159 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:01,040 Speaker 1: Darville and her parents were from Scunthorpe in northern England. 160 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 1: She claimed the whole thing, including the folk dancing, wasn't 161 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: a fraud, it was a clever marketing ploy So setting 162 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:14,319 Speaker 1: clever marketing ploys aside? Is it okay to write about 163 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:19,280 Speaker 1: things you haven't personally experienced or to adopt the identity 164 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: of someone else. 165 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:24,440 Speaker 5: You cannot put the shackles on writers. You just can't. 166 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 5: And I know that there are some people who say, oh, well, 167 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:29,080 Speaker 5: you have to stay in your lane, or you can't 168 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,640 Speaker 5: write a character with a disability unless you have that 169 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 5: disability yourself. You can't write a character who has same 170 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 5: sex attracted unless you are yourself gay. That is absolute 171 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 5: and utter nonsense. So I will never be the kind 172 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 5: of person. I will never be the kind of critic 173 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 5: that says, oh, this book didn't work because the writer 174 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:51,079 Speaker 5: should not have been allowed to write it. Anyone can 175 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 5: write anything at any time, for any reason, and may 176 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 5: you be judged on how well you pull it off. 177 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 5: My advice to young writers would be to tell the 178 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:03,719 Speaker 5: story you want to tell, and don't be cowed by 179 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 5: some of the criticism out there in the wider market, 180 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 5: because for sure, there is a lot of pressure on 181 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:11,559 Speaker 5: people not to write certain things, not to hold certain 182 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 5: points of view, not to be agitating for certain groups 183 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:17,880 Speaker 5: of people. And I think that all of that is nonsense. 184 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:21,480 Speaker 5: What is in your heart and you write what you 185 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 5: want the world to know. Let your light shine as 186 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 5: brightly as you can, because that's what the world needs 187 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 5: from you. It doesn't need the same story that everyone 188 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 5: else is telling, and it doesn't need you to live 189 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 5: in some kind of metaphorical cage where you're frightened to 190 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:39,320 Speaker 5: say what you think or what you feel, or what 191 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 5: you see or how you've experienced things. Go out there 192 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 5: and tell the best story you can tell. 193 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:57,080 Speaker 1: Caroline Overington is The Australian's literary editor. The Australian Fiction 194 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,320 Speaker 1: Prize is open until August two, and you can find 195 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: it by searching Australian Fiction Prize. 196 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:04,120 Speaker 2: For the best. 197 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:06,680 Speaker 1: Coverage of the arts in Australia and breaking news around 198 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: the nation. Join ours subscribers now at the Australian dot 199 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 1: com dot au. 200 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us on the front. 201 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:18,320 Speaker 1: Our team is Joshua Burton, Kristen Amiot, Stephanie Coombs, Tiffany Dimack, 202 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: Jasper leek Leat Sammagloo and me Claire Harvey.