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On John Marsden
On John Marsden: Writers on Writers | Alice Pung
3 posts | 1 read | 1 to read
I keep coming back to John Marsden. What makes him so fascinating to me is that he approaches writing for young adults with a whole philosophy of what it means to be a teenager a philosophy thats embedded in the two schools he runs, but also in his early experiences with mental illness and hospitalisation. His perspective raises interesting questions about YA fiction how much darkness is allowed, before you are considered a bad influence? An original and moving look by award-winning writer Alice Pung at one of her biggest influences the much-loved and hugely successful writer John Marsden. In the Writers on Writers series, leading authors reflect on an Australian writer who has inspired and fascinated them. Provocative and crisp, these books start a fresh conversation between past and present, shed new light on the craft of writing, and introduce some intriguing and talented authors and their work. Published by Black Inc. in association with the University of Melbourne and State Library Victoria. Alice Pung is an award-winning writer, editor, teacher and lawyer based in Melbourne. She is the bestselling author of Unpolished Gem and Her Fathers Daughter and the editor of the anthologies Growing Up Asian in Australia and My First Lesson. Her first novel, Laurinda, won the Ethel Turner Prize at the 2016 NSW Premiers Literary Awards.
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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
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It‘s only a little thing (I listened to the audio) but such a delight! I‘m not entirely sure what I was expecting - but what I got was Alice Pung (a bit of a legend on the #LoveOzYA scene herself) musing on how John Marsden has affected her as a reader, a writer and as a friend who reached out during a hard time in her life.

thegirlwiththelibrarybag This is a throwback to the time I went to a screening of Tomorrow When The War Began with a Q&A after. The signing line was huge - and we were near the end, but he was lovely! Happy to chat and take photos and sign what seemed to be some people‘s entire John Marsden collections (he has a substantial backlist) I took two books to be signed - one for me, and one for a coworker who wanted to go but had to work. 1y
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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
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“…I saw those pale blue eyes that had the kindness of Robin Williams and the wildness of Gustav Klimt and thought this is the pinnacle of my writing career.” - Alice Pung (on meeting John Marsden at a Writers Festival)

This made cackle 🤭

(Picture from Alice‘s book launch for Laurinda - many years after they first crossed paths)

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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
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Me when Alice said that the goodreads reviews were full of people UPSET that Ellie and Homer were not endgame : 😦🫨🫣

I think Ellie & Lee were my first ship (I don‘t think I knew what shipping was back then) I loved how the Ellie Chronicles ended. Lowkey talking myself into a Tomorrow When The War began reread here.