In this guest post by Susanne Gervay, an Australian children’s writer, Susanne shares information about why she’s written her books.
My parents were post war Hungarian refugees who found home in the ‘new world.’ There were good times but also hard times. My parents wanted to protect us from the past, but war and migration were silent passengers in our house. Silence is a scary thing for children and for family. It was scary for me.
I write to drive away the silence; to understand my journey, as well as reaching out to young people and adults. I search for ways that the passengers can speak. With humour, bitter-sweetness, sadness and joy, my writing seek a voice and hope.
The refugee experience slips into so much of my writing. My young adult novel Butterflies was written to celebrate differences and all we can be. I was flown from Australia to New York to speak at the World Burn Congress about the power of Butterflies to inspire. It was a great honour to be on a faculty with Kim Phuc, the girl running from the napalm bombing of her village in Vietnam (Nick Ut Pulitzer Prize winning photograph 1972) and a UNESCO Peace Ambassador.
When I wrote Butterflies, I unconsciously incorporated the silent passengers in my story. Butterflies embraces an Italian girl and mother as they seek belonging in a new land. Language, culture, isolation, finding home are integral to Butterflies. Kim Phuc has slipped in the USA edition of Butterflies (to be published by Kane Miller, September 2011).She’s not in the Australian edition.
My recently published children’s book Always Jack (HarperCollins Australia) carries the Cancer Council’s yellow daffodil in a rare endorsement. After speaking in New York, Kim Phuc and the refugee journey became a significant part of my new book. Jack’s friend Christopher whose parents escaped from Vietnam are now integral to Always Jack.
‘Susanne Gervay has written another cracker. Her prose is tight, funny and engaging. Written in the present tense, the story has an immediacy that transports the reader right into the room with Jack. Gervay has a track record for tackling some difficult subject matters. This time around she delves into cancer, blended families and the Vietnam War. She does so, however with alacrity and sensitivity, drawing the reader in to Jack’s internal world, to experience his emotional ups and downs with him.
The book deals with loss, death, ageing, fears, friendship, community and hope. It is about pulling together and resilience in the face of doubt. Susanne writes about ordinary life with humour and a freshness that makes this book a delight to read.’ MAGPIES Review Magazine
My young adult novel That’s Why I Wrote This Song, with its multiplatform integration of my daughter Tory’s songs, “Psycho Dad” and “I Wanna Be Found,” gives voice to young people. Tory’s vocals, lyrics and music drive the story of four girls and a brother, their relationships with their fathers, the good, the bad and the psycho, friendships, love, hopes and dreams set against the music scene. The fourth girl Irina is from Russia, bringing the refugee story into the lives of the other girls and community. However, it’s not Irina’s story alone, it’s ‘our’ story:
Irina speaks quietly my father has changed since coming here. He misses Russia but he loves this country, more than you could ever know. My mother doesn’t. She’s frightened.’
‘Do you love it here?’
‘Yes.’ She sits up. ‘I do.’(Chapter 16).
Recently I spoke at the Nami Island International Children’s Book Festival in South Korea as part of the IBBY-United Nations international publication of Peace Story. Twenty-two children’s authors and twenty-two illustrators from twenty-two countries were invited to write and illustrate for this unique anthology. Respected academic author on Irish children’s literature Valerie Coghlan and Irish Laureate for children’s literature Siobhan Parkinson were the co-editors of Peace Story.
My story ‘To East Timor with Love Australia’, illustrated by the award-winning Frane Lessac, opens the anthology, a story that reaches into the heart of loss of homeland through war, but also hope for the future. The Peace Story collection ends with a beautiful verse story, ‘A Plum for Peace’ by Pam Munoz Ryan and illustrator Eric Rohmann.
The silent passengers of my childhood have at last a full voice in my first picture book, Ships in the Field. It will be published February 2012 by Ford Street Publishers and illustrated by Anna Pignataro whose parents were post war Italian refugees. This has been a book in my heart all my life. Through the beautiful and emotive picture book format, it distills the essence of my growing up. ‘Ships in the Field’ is my story, the story of refugee children and parents. It’s our story where the silent passengers speak and the community embraces us all.
Susanne Gervay
J.L. Powers’s note: Check out this interview with Susanne Gervay on ABC (like BBC) radio.
1 comment for “Writing Breaks the Silence”