An interview with David Sornig

Mario Pilla, otherwise known as the Achilles of Speakeasy, needed someone to interview, and wanted someone who had matched his own accomplishments or, even better, exceeded them. When his Internet adventures led him to the following description (taken from the Flinders University website), he gave up on his parameters and settled for David Sornig.

‘David Sornig's debut novel Spiel was published by UWAP in 2009. His short fiction, non-fiction and reviews have been published in Griffith Review, The Age, New Matilda and The Adelaide Review, among others. In 2008 he was the Charles Pick Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in the UK.

Before coming to Flinders in 2009 he taught in creative writing and literature programs at Deakin, Monash and Victoria Universities.’

When the two organised a time to meet, it was agreed that the interview would be a casual affair, perhaps over drinks. However, when the time came to talk, Mario Pilla found himself on the wrong side of David Sornig’s office, where the line between teacher and student manifested itself as a long and formidable wooden desk.

Q: What is the importance of literature?

A: The importance of literature is basically – says he, basically! It’s important because what it does is it lets us see possibility. I was just talking to a group of students about the difference between what-we-call literature and what-we-call genre. And literature, it struck me, is what happens when the author turns their attention to something they think is important. So we think it’s important that this particular individual author is concerned with these particular questions. It’s not following a roadmap. And genre – to a degree – is following a roadmap. Where it’s interesting is where the two… meet.

Literature is about that exploration of what is possible through story.

Q: There’s enough literature in the world that writers could stop writing, and the readers would still have something to read. Do you think it’s essential for us to continue dispensing literature?

Absolutely! Perhaps that’s why we’re seeing a proliferation of writing courses and writing degrees. People want to become writers. People are more interested in telling stories in a way that – yes, they want recognition for, but seeking out those roots of recognition are important to people. And that’s why there’s so much writing. I don’t think we have any more stories, I just think that more people are writing them.

Q: Do you – David Sornig – perpetually go around in writer-mode?

Yes. I think I’m always one step away. Except when I’m in parent-mode. But then again, even when I’m in parent-mode I’m always… at least in critical-mode. Thinking-mode. Well, I’m always in a fictional world. We’ll put it that way. I’m always in fictional words, to some degree.

Q: What books are you currently reading?

- 'The Street Sweeper' By Elliot Perlman

- ‘House of Sticks’ By Peggy Frew

- ‘All That I Am’ by Anna Funder.

Q: In your reader do you prefer to keep up to date or do you prefer to read the classics?

I was into classics for a while, but there are a lot of books out there. You can’t keep up. So you have to make a choice, at some time, between classics and what’s out there now. And I prefer what’s out there now. At the moment. I go through phases. Perhaps ten year phases. I don’t know. Sometimes what I’ll do is I’ll catch up on an author I may have picked up a book by. Ian McEwan, for example, and José Saramago. I’ll pick up on an author and then go back through the catalogue.

Q: Favourite writers? And writers who have most influenced you?

W. G. Sebald. Gosh! There are a million of them. I think every book I’ve read has influenced me. From Virgina Woolf to James Joyce, Ian Fleming, Homer... those are the standouts.

Oh, I’ll tell you who – James Lovelock, the scientist. He’s incredibly important to me as well because of the Gaia theory. So not just writers who are writing fiction but writers who are writing other things too.

Q: Do you ever develop any ‘author crushes’?

Oh yeah. I thought I was going to have a crush on Scarlett Thomas, but I never quite got the crush. I might yet still – who knows. McEwan for a while, but I think I’ve dropped him. Saramago, definitely. And Sebald. And Anna Funder. I don’t know if it’s always a crush, but I take them seriously.

Q: What encouraged you to get into teaching?

I definitely learn while I’m teaching. It’s something to do with having a group that’s engaged and that has a good dynamic. I articulate things to them in a way that I might not have articulated it to myself. It’s because they are discussing things as well. They’re challenging me to articulate things I already think. I think a lot of these things already, but they’re just thoughts. What teaching does is it forces you to turn them into a sort of narrative, or at least an argument.

Q: If you could’ve been a writer in any other era, which era would it be?

I think we live in particularly interesting times. I don’t know that it would be comfortable to live in any other era. There’s something about Europe in the 20s. Berlin in the 20s. But whether it would’ve been comfortable... I probably would’ve been impoverished and died early or something. The Reformation would’ve been an interesting time to live through as well. Any period of great historic upheaval. Of course we only see it as a period of great historic upheaval afterwards. But I’d like to live in those time with that knowledge.

I tell you when I’d like to live, in the year 2320. For no other reason than it’s in the future.

So you can see how all this crap unfolded?

Yeah! I’d like to see how this crap unfolded. I’d love a time machine. That’s my secret wish. That reminds me! H.G. Wells was an important novelist as well.

We respond to our times. Why literature is important is because we have an individual consciousness and we regard an author’s consciousness and an author’s attentions to his/her time. That’s where originality comes from. We’ve never lived through this time before. Every age, every moment is different.

It’s important we keep telling stories to ourselves. Do we tell truths or not? I don’t know. I like to think we do, through fiction.

Q: As much as I’d love to end the interview on that wonderful point of circularity, I’d like to know what’s on the horizon for David Sornig.

There’s a novel in the works. I’ve written a barebones draft and I’m taking next year off to work on it. And it’ll be... ace. [Laughs.] It’s about the uncertainty of the times. I think we have to be careful during times of change. We need to alert ourselves to the dangers of change. I believe change is always necessary, but there is danger in it. We won’t really know what we’re going through until after it’s happened. It’s fairly obvious that change is happening, but I’m interested in exploring what the nature of that change is.

That’s the plan, anyway. But we’ll see what happens. The future’s radically uncertain.

However uncertain Sornig’s future may be, his presence is gone from the halls of Flinders University for now as he takes time off teaching to finish his next novel.

Speakeasy Campus Event 8/6/12

I remember my very first on-campus Speakeasy event; it was in fact the very first on-campus Speakeasy event. It was held on a somewhat sunny afternoon on the lush though prickly grass of the humanities courtyard. I sat with my fellow honours creative writers, all too busy dreading the moment we would have to stand in front of our peers and read aloud what we had thus far kept to the quiet, dignified workshop table to really appreciate the quality of the non-honours BCAers (we had a superiority complex also, but don’t all BCAers?). We shared a bag of ripe, green grapes and those spicy, twisty snacks from the health food shop we were all obsessed with (is the health food shop even there anymore? So much has changed since ‘my day’, like the refectory, what’s up with that place? It’s like a prison cafeteria in there) and drank water from bottles that grew warmer as the afternoon stretched on. That was a long anecdote, but my point is, on that very first Speakeasy event, where, sans microphone we had to actually project our voices into the listless wind and hope that somewhere in that spattering of cross-legged writers someone was actually listening, and eat shared bags of grapes and grain snacks, which were no doubt tainted with the nervous sweat of our fellow superior BCAers, we could never have imagined that the event would grow and mature into the one it is today. Don’t get me wrong, I painted a much bleaker picture of the day than I intended, it was actually really lovely and I had a wonderful time, but the on campus Speakeasy event of today was for me at least, a thing of wonder.

As a long-time attendee of the Wheatsheaf Speakeasy events, I am becoming increasingly familiar with the crop of regular talent and was delighted to see Mario Pilla once again don the MC hat after his successful and very funny gig at the last public event. He was as funny and engaging as ever, keeping the course of things running smoothly while maintaining with a super casual, fun vibe, aided by the regular spruiking of the Speakeasy zine from Speakeasy’s Assistant Director, Alicia Carter, in the back-corner.

Round one kicked off with a short story by Mel Manson, who was followed by a group of sometimes lyrical, sometimes funny, always engaging poets. We heard poems about the environment and the climate crisis, bullying, and war, among others filled with delightful imagery and engaging subject matter. After a break we were treated to a surprising and rather impressive bout of beat-boxing from Jake Cefai, and more jokes from Mario. In round two laughs were provided by Peter Beaglehole and Luke Bartholomew followed by some fantastic 150 word stories by Samuel Williams. There were some great lyrical and metaphorical works such as Chris Willis’ tale about a tree’s growth as a reflection of a boy’s journey from youth to adulthood, and Miranda Richardson’s rhyming poem about the moon. Once again the break came very quickly, for me at least, who was having such a great time getting caught up in the passion and energy of these talented young writers.

Let’s, for a moment, reflect on the snacks. My goodness. I have been to an increasing number of post-grad events, each with the obligatory servings of cheese and crackers, finger sandwiches and slices of watermelon, which, don’t get me wrong, are great, but can become a bit of a bore after a while. Imagine my delight when I saw a snack table lined with mini-tubes of Pringles, Mami noodles, lollipops, fun-sized chocolate bars and cans of coca-cola. Oh My! Threasa assured us the reason for the lack of alcohol was her failure to submit a licence in time, though MC Mario was quick blame her for drinking it all herself. What really happened? I’ll let you be the judge.

Round three kicked off with more jokes from Mario before were treated to some clever 55 word stories by Jack McEntee, a very funny story about a primary school nativity play by Dominiek Neall and some great imagery in the story by Alicia Carter. We took a trip into space with a Frankenstien-esque monster aptly named Shelley, created by the very talented Lauren Fuge, and all was finally rounded off by Piri Eddy’s extremely entertaining retirement home story.

But that folks, was not all. Threasa, Speakeasy’s Director, gave out the door prizes. ‘What?’ you say, ‘door prizes?’ yes indeed, door prizes. You don’t even need to do anything but show up and you can go home with some cool gifts. What an amazing event. Can you believe that for all of this I paid only a gold-coin donation at the door? I know, right? Crazy. Seriously, what more could you ask for in a Friday afternoon for under $2?

Thanks to the hard-work and dedication of Threasa, Alicia and the Speakeasy committee, writing at Flinders campus is not just alive, it’s thriving. It’s pumping its fist into the air and screaming ‘Hallelujah, Praise the Lord’ or some secular, but equally zealous alternative. The enthusiasm of these young writers is infectious. In fact, I think I came down with a downright, dirty case of Speakeasy writer’s fever, which if left untreated can result in bouts of delirious scrawling at obscene hours of the morning followed by intense periods of self-loathing, but, if managed correctly, can turn into a truly beautiful thing. Which is what these guys are. They are beautiful, disease-carrying, truth-sayers. Or something. I truly wish we had this kind of event when I was in first year. So come along, get in, catch yourself some Speakeasy fever. It’s way better than Chlamydia, I promise, well ... assume.

By Lauren Butterworth

The Readers on June 8

The last on-campus event in June introduced us to some lovely new readers, along with the ole'  regulars. Let us reflect upon our fine line-up:

Mel Manson first enrolled in a Bachelor of Environmental Management here at Flinders, where she met some lovely people, and wrote essays on demographics and politics - until she realised that other people at the university were having fun
and were in significantly less danger of ever becoming politicians. Mel is now a 3rd year BA-English major.

Benjamin Westaway grew up in Adelaide and became interested in writing in year 10 when a friend introduced him to a book called Ice Station by Matthew Reilly. Benjamin writes historic poems in his spare time and is working on a novel titled Soul Weaver.

Charles Chiam is an Creative Writing Honours Student from Malaysia. He is a believer of fairy-tales and lover of happy endings and miracles. He sees fantasy and sci-fi as a holiday away from reality, and has recently got interested in acrostic poems.

 Cara Ferguson is a reclusive being, who tends to forget that the outside world exists. But when she does venture outdoors, she finds that sunlight is really quite palatable. 

Sean Stockham has overcome great obstacles in his life - the stigma of good looks, getting stranded in a strip club... accidentally - and he is now on his way to achieving an admirable modesty.

Carmel Williams didn't provide a bio. (But we still love her.)

Peter Beaglehole is taking Honours at Flinders University, he also performs as a musical comedian. 

Luke Bartholomew loves art, and Miranda. In no particular order.

Luke Bartholomew doesn't love needles, and the act of inserting one into one's skin. He does however, have a great story about it!

 Miranda Richardson is a third year BCA: Creative Writing student who loves art and people. She is currently on a lame diet free of all semblance of flavour so that she can stop feeling sick all the time. She misses chocolate. Oh, so much. 

Chris Williss did not provide a bio. (But we still love him too.)

 Justina Ashman is a second year creative writing student. Her notable achievements include getting out of bed this morning and bathing regularly. Her life consists primarily of sleep, two minute noodles and poor decisions. She aspires to be the kind of person who finishes the things she starts.

Alicia Carter is nearing the end. She can see the light a mere semester away. When she's finished her undergraduate in Creative Writing she plans to return to the real world, having come to the chrysalis of university as a bookworm dabbling part-time in the construction of stories, and left as a beautiful butterfly. 

Jack McEntee is a mythical being. Or at least he would have been considered as such, until the advent of the scientific method; either way he is a hulking mass, known, colloquially and scientifically, as a giant. Luckily his kind heart and honeyed words eased his passage in a superficial world.

 In her spare time, Dominiek Neall enjoys a fierce game of croquet. Currently, there are 157 registered croquet players in Australia, and Dominiek is ranked as the #156th. She sits one place above Squiggles the dog from Wollongong who is frankly, more interested in chasing after the balls than actually hitting them. However, with the right training he is sure to improve. But Dominiek is not deterred by this, and is in fact thinking of taking her talent someplace bigger. Watch out “Australia’s Got Mallets”! Dominiek is on her way.

 

Tamara Milne aka Tami is a pretty rad and super modest third year creative writing student in the Bachelor of Media. Being short, red-haired and of Irish-Scottish decent she has a lot of opinions, and, occasionally, these opinions creep down from her brain onto the page. As this will be Tami's last speakeasy event before she jets off on exchange to Scotland, she wanted, in lieu of her impending absence, and in light of operation 'infiltrate the world', to entrust just a few of these opinions with you today.

Samuel Williams didn't provide a bio. (We may not love him anymore.) 

Lauren Fuge is a tiny collection of organic molecules, living on a speck of dust caught in a sunbeam, in a quaint corner of an average galaxy. To navigate this strange mess of existence, she writes.

 

 Piri Eddy is currently studying honours in creative writing at Flinders University. As well as writing, Piri is a musician, actor and sometimes-comedian. You can see him perform alongside his band Chapman Street at the Cavern Club on June 15th. For other Piri related things, check his infrequently updated blog at tumblr.com/canilickthis.  

Finally, Mario Pilla was our fabulous MC.




















And now for the happy snaps! Look at all the happiness!

    

'Twas a fine evening ... If you want to get in on the writerly fun, come to our next event!