Today we have the fabulous Goldie Alexander on board to answer some curly questions about her brand new venture SHAKESPEARE NOW!
Q.1. Shakespeare Now!
is a fascinating concept. How did you first come up with the idea?
In a previous life, I taught these plays to secondary school
students and spent most of my time ‘in translation’. There have been countless
previous versions both on stage and in film. Novels by well-known writers have
appeared in the last few years. I wanted to show how contemporary these
characters and plots still are to younger
readers and place them in recognisable settings. Five Senses Publications were keen on the
idea so I spent the last three years hard at work.
Q.2. Some people think of Shakespeare as
Literature with a capital L. In my opinion, he was really a writer of popular
fiction. Can we have your take on this?
Definitely, a writer of popular fiction picking up on
attitudes, themes and language of his day. But if attitudes and themes don’t
change, language does, and that’s why some people have problems. Of course his
poetry is timeless, and we can’t hope to emulate that in any way.
Q.3.
Shakespeare’s plays play with universal
themes. What drew you to the three plays you chose to modernise?
I changed the magical island in ‘The Tempest’ to The Trytth
Chronicles’ because science fiction is popular with young readers. The themes
of betrayal, alienation, and good versus evil, are universal.
‘Macbeth’ became ‘Gap Year Nanny’ set in suburban Melbourne.
The themes of hubris, ambition, and narcissus-ism are relevant to our local
politics and business magnates. But these days you don’t have to kill rivals to
ruin them. Running alongside Stuart
Macbeth’s story, I also followed Merri, the Macbeth’s ‘gap year nanny’, growing
maturity.
‘Romeo and Juliet’ turned into the time-warp ‘Changing
History?’ Note the question mark. Is altering history ever possible? When Taylor finds herself transported from
Melbourne 2017 to 1928 Berlin she is protected by Jewish Rom and gentile Juliet,
a couple who adore each other but both
families forbid them to marry. This story was influenced by the discovery of an
old building in Mitte Berlin once known as ‘The Hummingbird Theatre and
Restaurant’. This way I could use my love of history and point to some of the
events that led to Hitler’s rise in power, the Holocaust and WW2.
Q.4. Who is your
favourite character in Shakespeare Now! and why?
Don’t have one. I
love all my characters, including the bad ones like Caliban and Stuart Macbeth,
even Lorna Macbeth and she is pretty horrible. If I didn’t, I couldn’t write
about them.
Q.5. Suppose you, as
a reader, have just read Shakespeare Now! and are writing a review of one of
the books. What would you say in that review?
‘A brave attempt to make Shakespeare relevant to both young
readers and adults using past, present and future settings and recognisable
characters.’
Q. 6. How involved have you been in the development of your books? Do
you have input into the cover/illustrations?
Far more than I have ever been. These covers were
illustrated by the extraordinarily gifted Paul Taplin. When a friend hinted
that these covers were ‘too different from the usual,’ I replied
‘Exactly!’ Otherwise I am dependent on
my publishers for outlay and design. I wouldn’t be any good at those.
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Q 7. What’s the best aspect of your writing life?
The process of creation and finally ending up with something
that might work after a million
re-edits. Though the process can be unbelievably frustrating, I wouldn’t spend
my life any other way (except maybe as a film critic?)
Q. 8. —the worst?
That blank screen. And rejection letters. Even the most
experienced writers get those, though they usually remain quiet about receiving
them. But I always mention this to ‘newies’ as I think it motivates them to
keep writing. I also run Writing Memoir
workshops for seniors. Watching their delight at something they have written
gives me enormous pleasure.
Q. 9.What do you wish you’d been told before you set out to become an
author?
I was told but didn’t
really believe it. That writing can be heartbreaking and I soon found that it
certainly can be. I discovered that I needed an alligator’s skin to take the
knocks and rebounds and a soft heart to empathise with other people and
characters enough to write about them.
Q.10.What’s the best advice you were ever given?
Edit, edit, edit and re edit. LIVE a little and READ!!! I
read about 100 books a year and still that’s not enough. Lots of young writers
write thinly disguised semi autobiography, and then get stuck. It’s never the
first book that counts, rather the second!
Q.11 What’s your top tip for aspiring authors?
One word: PERSEVERANCE. And try and write every day, if only
a sentence. Practice makes perfect.
Brief bio:
Goldie’s 90 books and prizewinning short stories appear both
in Australia and internationally. Her ability to bring both the past and other
worlds to light, touches the hearts of both adults and children. She writes in
almost every genre for both adults and
young readers and has won many awards for her novels and short stories. Her ‘My
Australian Story: Surviving Sydney Cove’ is used in almost every primary school
as well as being publishing in New Zealand and retitled in the UK as
‘Transported’
Recent books for
older children include “The Youngest Cameleer’ - how Moslem Cameleers helped
find Uluru, ‘My Holocaust Story: Hanna’, now published in Canada and the sci fi
‘Cybertricks’ which won a 2016 Notable. Other recent novels for young adults
include ‘That Stranger Next Door’, and ‘In Hades: a verse novel’ short listed
in 2015 for an Aurealis Award. She
speaks in schools, tertiary and community centres, festivals and also run
classes in creative and memoir writing for adults as “Mentoring Your Memoir”.
Shakespeare Now!
will be launched on the 22nd September 2018 at Readings Kids at 2.00 315 Lygon
Street,Carlton, Vic 3053
https//goldiealexander.com/blog
https://twitter.com/goldiealexander
Instagram: Messenger: etc
A Rainbow of Fun is certainly fun. It's the story of Penny, a young pig who lives with her parents and grandparents. Penny is a happy, secure little pig, but she's also a rebel. Pigs love pink, you see but Penny is different. Penny loves LOTS of colours.
