Hannah Kent is an award-winning Australian writer, known for her two novels, ‘Burial Rites’ (2013) and ‘The Good People’ (2016). Her third novel, ‘Devotion’ was released at the end of 2021. Hannah will be one of the featured writers at this year’s Byron Writers Festival, 26-28 August and themed ‘Radical Hope’.
Your books are historical narratives with a sharp focus on the physical landscape and place. How does your process work? Do you begin with the characters and then the landscape?
Landscape was the starting point for 'Devotion' but in the end, it was an intertwining thing. Initially in my writing it was the people, the historical figures which pulled me in, but with 'Devotion' it was kind of flipped on its head. I knew I wanted to do something completely different, and I was also very aware by this stage I hadn’t set a book in Australia, and one of the reasons why I hadn’t was because I didn’t really have an interest in writing about colonial Australia, mainly because I was always going to have to adopt the viewpoint of a colonist, and it really didn’t hold much appeal.
But I did want to write about this place; the place where I grew up in Peramangk country, in the Adelaide Hills – a spectacular corner of the world. And being back here made me sort of rethink whether or not I would write about landscape. Maybe there is a way that I can centre landscape in a narrative that somehow still can uphold, essentially a contemporary perspective, well, I guess, my own contemporary perspective about colonisation, about other aspects of our history here which make me feel deeply uncomfortable. My process has definitely changed over the course of three books.
Your books, including 'Devotion', contain beautiful elements of lyricism and a command of language which is impressive from a younger writer, particularly when one considers the genesis of 'Burial Rite' occurred when you were 17 years of age. Were you a young person who read and read and who influenced you as a young reader?
I was absolutely that kid, who was an early reader, I don’t ever remember not being able to read. I was behind in a lot of ways as a kid but definitely books interested me and writing poetry was a huge part of my childhood and what I loved. I’ve been a reader for a long time, and it’s probably a truer love of mine than even writing. And I think that so much of my own writing has inevitably been influenced by the sorts of writers I have loved; and I have loved reading books that have meant a lot to me, that have opened my own understating of the world, and people but also how the familiar can be made strange again and can be made even more beautiful in that strangeness. I tend to read a lot of writers who have a style that I also like to draw into my writing. I read a lot of poetry too. So, yes, I was a super bookworm.
In a global perspective how do the readers receive the female characters you have created?
I feel so lucky that my books have been translated and it’s been a real joy actually to see different ways people have responded to my books overseas. 'Devotion' has just come out in Spain and Greece, and I have had lovely responses from people in these countries. And from hearing from readers, they have really connected with the idea of these women on the margins. It’s something that has really resonated with the people who have enjoyed my books.
And how has it been received in your own community, in the Adelaide Hills, where you live, and now have written about?
It’s been really lovely. I have great local bookshop here, and they have really gotten behind the book. They bring my local community together. I live still pretty much in a small community. Lots of people remember me from when I was a kid here and it’s just a beautiful thing when people are happy for a local to get to do what they love to do. One thing people have pulled me aside to say is that they are happy to see their homes, this beautiful country represented in literature because there isn’t necessarily always a lot of it; within that historical context there perhaps isn’t as much. Their immediate response to the books is the first thing that led me to want to write it, which is the landscape.
What’s a piece of writing advice you could share with others?
That’s hard because I don’t feel qualified, but I think the best piece of advice I’d pass on is to read, to read widely. I think you learn to write through reading, and you need to keep just showing up at the desk.
To wrap up - there’s great excitement about you coming to the Byron’s Writer Festival again. You are programmed for three events. Besides the great weather, hopefully, what are you looking forward to at this event this year?
One of the things I love about Byron Writers is that because of the way it’s set up you can just wander between sessions and there are always people I’m looking forward to seeing, and opportunities for discovery. I’m really hoping to catch the Poetry Showcase on the Sunday with Evelyn Araluen, and David Hallett, Sarah Holland-Batt, Thando Sibanda, Anne-Marie Te Whiu. And I’m also really hoping to catch Becky Manawatu, Jackie Huggins first thing on the Friday in conversation with Rhianna Patrick. There is so much at Byron Writers and I’m super excited, there seems to be a lot of poetry which I’m particularly excited about. Sometimes I think poetry can get short shrifted and there’s nothing better than hearing poets read their own works.
Byron Writers Festival runs at Elements of Byron from 26 to 28 August 2022. For the full program details, visit byronwritersfestival.com.
