Martine Murray left university to study art. After art school she studied more physical things like acrobatics and dance. Then she tried to join it all together in theatre. Meanwhile, she started writing just to keep track of what was going on. She spends a lot of time walking with her dog, Bear, and thinking up ideas. She has never learnt practical skills except how to cook rice. She lives in Melbourne.
When did you start writing?
‘I was writing in journals a lot while I was at art school. I also used to write on my canvasses or write on etchings and make tiny stories that weren’t really stories, they were more like sketches of moments, or reflections on the importance of knitting and whether,
right now, someone else on another planet was knitting. I didn’t start publishing anything
until 1999 and the first time I tried to write a novel was around 2002.’
What was your favourite book as a child?
‘Winnie the Pooh. I don’t know if that’s a retrospective decision because when I read it now I love it. But I do honestly remember just liking that bunch of weirdos who lived in a forest and I can see parts of me in all of them, especially Eeyore and Pooh.’
What are you reading at the moment?
‘I just finished Carrie Tiffany’s Everyman’s Rule for Scientific Living which was great. And
I’ve just started reading Beryl Bainbridge’s Every Man for Himself. Isn’t that strange, I just
noticed it looks like I’ve got a thing for the ‘every man’! Today I got Tizzie Hall’s Save Our
Sleep out of the library and will be reading that tonight because my fifteen month old daughter has just lost the art of sleeping unless she’s constantly pulling my nose.
When you're not writing what do you do?
'Eat toast. Play with dog. Chat. Think. Swim. Sing in the car. Hover around the heater in the living room.'
What are the best and worst things about being a writer?
'The best thing is also the worst thing. You do it on your own. You are God of your own world. No one tells you how to create it, you don't need paints, you don't need other dancers, you can create something exactly as you feel. The worst thing about it is you don't get to work with other people.'
Of all the books you have written, which is your favourite?
‘Maybe How to Make a Bird. Just because it’s closest to me.’
What's on your desk today?
'A bunch of iris that my friend Tirese gave me. A woolen beanie. A cup of tea. A picture of a lemon that a student from Rossbourne house drew. A stack of papers and bills and fines and letters and invoices that I haven't attended to for months. Sticky tape. The House at Pooh Corner (which I just grabbed to check the spelling of Eeyore!)'
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