Saturday, November 29, 2008

Hyland flings

Kerrie of Oz Mystery Readers and Mysteries in Paradise puts me in the way of two entertaining interviews with Adrian Hyland, author of Diamond Dove (called Moonlight Downs in the U.S.).

Hyland and his debut novel have long been favorites here at Detectives Beyond Borders, and I also reviewed the book for my newspaper. I thought I knew everything about author and novel. I was wrong.

The first interview is courtesy of Barbara Fister, who asked students in her international crime-fiction class to submit questions for Hyland. The result yielded some lively and surprising answers, of which my favorite is Hyland's disarmingly straightforward explanation for why he wrote in the voice of a young half-Aboriginal, half-white woman:

"I originally wrote the story from the perspective of a young whitefeller coming up from down south, discovering his roots, etc. However, whatever I did to it, it seemed too autobiographical – a roman a clef – and nothing could be more boring (especially to me) than me."
Fister also links to Hyland's conversation with Stuart MacBride in Shots Ezine, a discussion made especially enjoyable by MacBride's freewheeling interviewing style. The chat includes, among other things, an amusing riposte from the Australian Hyland to the Scotsman MacBride on the subject of dialect and slang.

MacBride's fiction has a harder edge than Hyland's, which makes this funny, enlightening interview a productive exercise in boundary-crossing. Don't miss this entertaining and instructive opportunity to watch a couple of writers sitting around talking.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

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6 Comments:

Blogger Sucharita Sarkar said...

Fictional crime and the logical intricacies of whodunnits are indeed a 'paradisal' refuge from a city torn apart by senseless terror. Thanks for the interesting post and the link.

November 29, 2008  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Good god, what a tragic reason for your city to make into the world's headlines. It would be nice to think that these interview's might provide a moment's respite and maybe even provoke some laughter.

November 29, 2008  
Blogger petra michelle; Whose role is it anyway? said...

Hi, Peter! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! *laughing* Yes, I have a few I'd love to have visit, myself. :))

November 30, 2008  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Yes, the style of interview made for a colorful discussion. Hyland's use of Australian slang comes up often in interviews with him, but never before quite as colorfully as in this one, as far as I know.

November 30, 2008  
Blogger Susan Bearman said...

It's always fun to hear writers talk about how they got there from here. I especially like "nothing could be more boring (especially to me) than me."

Isn't that why writers write and actors act — to explore being different people?

December 02, 2008  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

You make essentially the same point Adrian Hyland does. I led my review of Diamond Dove/Moonlight Downs with something he had said about there being no corner of the world that a writer should hesitate to explore. In his case, I think this refers especially to a white male Australian writer's decision to write in the voice of a half-Aboriginal woman.

December 02, 2008  

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