Tara June Winch

2008/2009 Literature Protégée

After a Year with a Master

Tara June Winch Talks about Her Year as a Rolex Protégée

What interested you most about participating in the Rolex Arts Initiative?

The idea that really struck a chord with me was the relationship between mentor and protégé, this idea of passing knowledge from an older to a younger artist. Also the esteem in which the Arts Initiative is held. And, especially, the opportunity to work with someone as knowledgeable as Wole Soyinka in the field of literature.

Are you benefiting from the mentorship?

I’m getting a lot out of it. My world view has opened. My reading has also opened things up – Wole’s work and then more African writers; and I have had his suggestions on Kafka, Hemingway, Shakespeare and Greek literature that I hadn’t read at all before. Now I can see the parallels with Greek tragedies and Shakespeare’s tragicomedies and Aboriginal stories about my country. It’s really exciting to discover.

Are you writing at the moment?

Yes, and it [her second novel] is supposed to be finished by now! And I’ve signed a contract for it. It explores the inner truth of one’s own belief, one’s own culture.

Does having Lila, your daughter, around affect the way you see things as a writer?

Yes, definitely. I think it’s made me more compassionate, more sensitive to the small things, the slow things and the importance of the relationship between one generation and the next, and how important it is to pass on love and positive life force. And it’s made me more aware of time and of my own childhood, and how we learn and grasp things, it’s made me more aware of so many things.

How do you see yourself in terms of indigenous Australian writing?

I am an indigenous writer, but it doesn’t mean that I am a cultural gatekeeper. What I write is indigenous literature, and I enjoy writing about my people. And I think you can’t really write an Australian novel without it being indigenous.