#LoveOzYAbookclub author interview Feb 2019 – Demet Divaroren (LIVING ON HOPE STREET)
Hello again, and welcome to this year’s first author interview! It’s great to be back in action on #LoveOzYAbookclub, and I try to provide an author Q&A (and sometimes an author FB chat) whenever we start a new title each month.
Demet Divaroren is a Turkish-Australian writer who moved to this country when she was six months old. She’s a Melbourne-bases author, editor and writing teacher, and her work has appeared in Griffith REVIEW, Island magazine, The Age, The Big Issue and the smash-hit AFL story collection, From The Outer, and she is co-editor of the CBCA-shortlisted anthology Coming of Age: Growing Up Muslim in Australia. Her debut novel ‘Living on Hope Street’ won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award (YA category) in 2018
And Demet has kindly agreed to answer some of our questions today on #LoveOzYAbookclub, which also makes her a good sport 🙂
Hi Demet! Writing superstitions – do you have them? What are they?
No time for superstitions. I make a beeline to the laptop once toddler is napping and DO NOT BREATHE.
Your book has been the basis for the development of a themed dinner. What’s on the menu?
Entrée: Mrs Aslan’s lentil soup and cheese börek. (She’ll sweet talk you into eating a whole tray of her beloved pastries so be on guard).
Main: Lamb roast and veggies.
Dessert: Gugulethu’s Nutty Squirrel ice cream.
One curious or unusual thing about you that most people don’t know…
I have a strong sense of smell, especially when it comes to cooked eggs. I hate the smell that lingers on plates, on cutlery, in the sink – no amount of scrubbing gets the smell out. It’s disgusting. So I eat eggs with disposable cutlery and plates.
Your hot take on what you think the hot trends for YA fiction will be in 2019:
Dark fantasy and contemporary YA. As long as there are human beings on this earth, there will always be stories exploring the darker side of humanity, the world and the hope that lives in the darkness.
Why write for teenagers?
Books heal. Books connect. Books are still helping my inner teen make peace with herself.
Thank you! And thanks for getting your sillies on with #LoveOzYAbookclub J
xxEllie