Thursday, April 19, 2012

'Floundering' - Romy Ash at Avid Reader


Oh dear, oh dear, where to begin?! I just got home from another INCREDIBLE night at Avid Reader. Oh, such evenings unfailingly leave me with such feelings that I just want to guzzle the awesomeness of the world.

Tonight was the launch of Romy Ash’s new novel ‘Floundering’. I’ve read about 20 pages so far and I’ve already stumbled into an emotional attachment - the two young boys in the book are mesmerisingly portrayed. I can feel something harrowing is coming, and I’m thirsty. It’s a thing. I mean, the book makes you thirsty, it’s kind of a recurring theme but also a plot point but also head-exploding-symbolism-for-a-billion-different-intense-things. I guess that’s why I think she’s an incredible writer. Must just be some kind of bi-product of the words making my head explode. You know?

One of the most interesting things Ms Ash spoke about was how she didn’t want any “bad guys” in her book. I mean, the people in Floundering make mistakes (read: I’m looking at you, Loretta) and they aren’t small mistakes. Some other people are not exactly normal either, and yet all individuals are handled with such respect and delicacy that you aren’t given the easy road out by being able to hate the villain of the piece. What does that even mean? It means that Floudering is particularly harrowing. The interview was recorded for RN too – so tune in if you missed it. My tumblr has a picture of the evening too - you know, the whole real-time instagram thing. (Read: mostly I take douchey pictures of food.)

  


Ms Ash herself seemed honest and clear, albeit a little bit shy. She spoke plainly about her admirable achievements and when I was getting my book signed she found it very difficult to accept my compliments. It was lovely. You may know her from the incredible food blog ‘trotski & ash’ or perhaps the food column of Yen, or maybe from her contributions to (among other things) Frankie or The Big Issue and if you’re a fan of Four Thousand then this is what you should have seen a week or so ago and then written in your Moleskine and then turned up to tonight.

The great thing about Avid Reader is that it’s great and the people there are great. Floundering is the book for my next Young and the Restless book club meeting, and I have a feeling opinions and sentiment and discussion will be in a state of overflowal, so I’m going to take my idiosyncratic nerdy notes and report them back to you after the 3rd of May.

You know, just in case you aren’t already convinced. To buy and read this book. One more reason? Support Australian authors, people. Because it’s the right thing to do and they’re fucking fantastic.

Also - tonight I ran into 2 cool people. 1: Benjamin Law who will be teaching me lots of incredible things at this session run through the Queensland Writer's Centre, and who has a pee-my-undies hilarious twitter account full of great things from our silly sunny country. 2: Angela Goddard who is one of the curators of QAGOMA and who is currently running the stunning "Modern Woman: Daughters and Lovers" exhibit that we all have to go see when it opens on the weekend. 

See! Where was I supposed to start?! Some very zazzy stuff going down in Brisbane tonight. Oh yes.

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