Happy Mondays - Megan McGrath
- 23 Nov 2015
In this week's Happy Mondays, we talk to Megan McGrath...
What are you creatively working on at the moment?
Right now I’m travelling in Europe on an extended holiday with my partner. A lot of the creative work I’m doing over here is about perspective. I’m tidying up a few pieces I’ve been working on at home (redrafting a novella and completing a suite of short stories). I’m also plotting out my major projects for 2016. Having won the Qld Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award I’m focusing on completing my first full length work in 2016 with the assistance of a structured mentorship, and professional development with the Queensland Writers Centre.
Where would we find you on a Monday?
At home I balance my creative work with a part-time role at Brisbane Writers Festival. Monday’s are a ‘writing’ day for me and essential for setting up my week. You can usually find me with my laptop and notebooks outdoors somewhere, likely by the water. When I can’t get to the ocean I like to visit Dunlop Park and break up my time at the keyboard with laps in the pool. For me, the momentum of swimming adds motion to my work and prevents any creative blocks from stagnating. When I write, I like to keep moving, flex muscles, build rhythm, find cadence, and remember to exhale.
Favourite arts place or space in Queensland?
There are so many amazing spaces across Queensland, arts centres, bookstores, galleries. The standout for me, creatively and professionally would have to be the State Library of Queensland (SLQ) in South Brisbane. Not only is SLQ home to some of Queensland’s major arts organisations including the Queensland Writers Centre, Queensland Literary Awards and black&write!, it is also the major venue for Brisbane Writers Festival. I’ve also found that it has some enigmatic spaces for artistic performance, research (including the John Oxley Library) and inspiring places to write with some of Brisbane’s best river views from kuril dhagun (the Indigenous space located on Level 1 of our South Bank building), the River Decks and Red Box.
Favourite place to read a book?
Reading is a daily necessity for me and I do it whenever and wherever I can. I still read print books as a preference to ebooks and carry at least one with me anywhere I go. I love to read in transit, making the most of lost minutes between places. At home, I like to read at lunchtime by the Brisbane River and escape the office and the computer screen. On leisure days, I can lose two hours or more reading a book. I don’t watch much TV so my downtime is usually between the pages of a novel.
Best piece of advice I have ever received?
Persevere.
Megan McGrath is the author of the novella, Whale Station, and winner of the 2015 Queensland Literary Awards Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award. Her acclaimed short work is published in literary journals and anthologies including Griffith REVIEW, Meanjin, Tracks, Writing Queensland, One Book Many Brisbanes, Tiny Owl Workshop and Seizure journal, among others. She is a past winner of the Queensland Young Writers Award and the Queensland Young Writers Award: Maureen Donahoe Prize.
Twitter: @megansfictions
Web: megansfictions.com