Book rave: Omega Park
August 26th, 2009 § 3 Comments
I had the pleasure of reading Omega Park before it was published. Amy is an amazing writer and Omega Park is lyrical and haunting, but most importantly it tells the story of young people living in public housing. Omega Park won the 2008 Queensland Premier’s Awards for an Unpublished Manuscript and it has been receiving rave reviews. For more information about Omega Park and Amy go to her website http://amybarkeronline.com/
I’ve done a mini interview with Amy below.
A CONFRONTING TALE OF HEARTBREAK AND REDEMPTION
Omega Park is a housing commission estate on the fringes of
Queensland’s Gold Coast. Dingo Patterson and Jacob Box are growing
up and trying to survive. Surrounded by broken families, crime and
desperation, they are young men with dreams of a different life.
When a car chase ends in tragedy for one of the boys, relations
with police and within the community reach crisis point.Amy Barker tells a sobering tale of modern warfare in the suburbs
with confidence and assurance. This striking debut novel explores
how life on society’s margins can mean the end of the road for some,
and offer the possibility of escape for others.
Omega Park is such a beautifully written novel that tells the story not usually depicted in fiction. What is the inspiration behind the book?
It was the fact that public housing estates like Omega Park are for the most part forgotten by society, not to mention fiction, that made me want to tell this story in the first place. In the beginning it was quite a personal story, small in scale, drawing on my own experiences of living in public housing as a child, and the stories I remembered of those around me at the time. Then in 2005 there were riots breaking out on estates in Australia and overseas – Macquarie Fields, Redfern and Paris – where the same set of circumstances repeated, eerily, over and over. Young people from isolated estates died in police pursuits and the outraged communities blamed the police. This seemed like the only time the media, or wider society, took notice of these places. And even then I saw a lack of compassion and understanding for the residents. There was a lot of rhetoric from politicians and the press.I wanted to cut through all that and show what life for young people can really be like on these estates. So writing the police chase, the death of a youth and subsequent riots into my novel gave it a broader social context and purpose.
Was being a writer a childhood ambition, or an adult discovery? What was your journey to discovering your passion for writing?
As a child writing wasn’t exactly an ambition, it’s just what I did, from a very early age. And before I could write, I used to tell my stories to my father, who would transcribe them and distribute them amongst my family. I also loved the magic pen books, where you begin with a blank page and then when you colour in the page with a felt pen writing “magically” appears.
It wasn’t until I was studying English Literature at University that I began to think of writing as something you could pursue as a career. When I became serious about it, I went back and did a creative writing degree and started writing novels and making submissions.
What was your journey to publication?
My journey to publication was quite long and difficult. I’ve written three complete novel manuscripts and a feature film screenplay as well as countless short stories and this is my first real publication. Omega Park went through the Varuna Awards for Manuscript Development (Peter Bishop’s masterclass) in 2005 and then it would be years, a complete redraft, and many rejections later before it won the 2008 Queensland Premier’s Literary Award for Best Emerging Author. As part of that prize, I was offered a publishing contract with University of Queensland Press (UQP). The book was finally released this month.
What advice do you have for new writers?
The most important advice I would give is to persevere. Also, to tell the story you feel compelled to tell, even if it’s an unpopular choice. You must be absolutely committed to your subject matter. Once you’ve made your work the best it can be, find some readers… sometimes you just need someone else to tell you things you actually already know. Value those family members and friends who support you through the journey to publication. And always be generous and supportive of other writers. I’ve found that even if those particular people don’t return your energies, others (who may turn out to be far more helpful to you) eventually will. Despite rejections, you can’t afford to become bitter.
Thanks for the recommendation. What a great book Omega Park is! Confronting and beautifully written, it introduced me to a world that I know nothing about. I finished it this week and could hardly put it down.
I’m so glad you liked it Kevin. I love Omega Park and I’m wrapped it won the QLD Premier’s Awards and got published. We need more gritty fiction.
Between me and my wife we would have to say this is an very informative post that needs mentioning elsewhere. This is for 2 types of people: current writers who are considering a new position, and people trying to elect to become a writer.