29 August 2008 Melbourne Writers Festival

Stephen McGrath

My story…A Parachute Landing in Siberia…won the 2007 Age Short Story and is about the last week of a lifetime of love.  It is based on a true story of my Uncle and Aunty, where she was dying and prepared a list of her single friends for him to live with.  The husband compares their preparations with two cosmonauts who are about to re enter earth’s atmosphere.

The story is one of my favourites because of the use of comparison between two groups of people and the extended similes.  The story has all the tricks MJ Hyland, a short lister for the booker prize taught me in a RMIT course 10 years ago, the hook, the slow drip narrative, the snapshot of time, the tip of the iceberg and the literary end.  Throw in a few references to clouds and magpies and you have it.

The story was a high wire act where I balanced, span plates, juggled knifes and never fell. 

Winning the Age competition was the roar from the crowd.

I had previously won the National Dandenong Prize but the newspapers circulation created wider acknowledgement.  The Age outlined that I worked for a local Council and I got a lot of calls from people who related similar stories to me.

Winning the Age competition has bounced me back onto the high wire.  This time to write a novel. 

The story helped me convince work I needed 6 months off to write.  These 6 months start today.

The story is also a level of quality to aim for.  Of the 40 thousand words I have written on the novel to date I am confident that this is as good as the Age story.

I would like to thank David of Melbourne Books for putting himself out on the high wire through publishing Award winning Australian writing.  Supporting authors who are developing their acts and looking forward to being in print again.

Thank you.