$125,000 reasons to be a Poet!
Grace Yee wins big at the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards — Poetic Pussycat Tale
A Pussy Cat Tale
Lady Donga Diaries
Words & Pictures — Lady Donga
Meow 240
Many schools of literary thought believe that to be a successful writer, to do well — one must consider their audience.
Well that’s not always the case dear readers.
As a non-conformist individualistic pussycat I prefer the road less traveled — to do my own thing.
MeooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooW!
Now I never claimed to be a successful writer — although there are some out there that appreciate my fine feral female feline fables.
And as a fine female feline pussycat I rarely consider my audience — I write as I please — from my own feline point of view.
So, I was happy to hear today that indeed there are some human writers that think just like me.
The name of that human is Grace Yee — Ms Yee is the poet who scooped two major prizes at the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2024 (Melbourne, Australia).
Indeed, a poetic justice treasury boost for Ms Yee that amounted to a whole lot of cash — $100,000 for the literature prize for her book Chinese Fish — a debut verse novel — a story of a multi-generational family who moved from Hong Kong to Aotearoa (New Zealand) and a further $25000 for the poetry prize.
Chinese Fish is a family drama that spans from the 1960s to the 1980s and was praised for its feminist vision — but the feminist vision theme was not in the authors thought process when writing the prize-winning work.
In fact I, Lady Donga pussycat, as the audience today — listening to the ABC Radio National with my pointy pussycat ears, was thrilled to hear that Grace Yee has a fab feline female be yourself formula for her success!
“Most of the stories centered around the women in the family — and mostly between the mother and the daughter.
“But I didn’t really step back and analyze it at all — it was just something I worked on, and didn’t think about who was going to read it,” Ms Yee said.
The radio interviewer remarked that this was unusual — a writer not thinking about who would read the work — as most writers target their audience specifically — the interviewer questioned whether ignoring this strategy helped Ms Yee’s creative process.
“Absolutely, yeah, really, because if you’re thinking about the audience or the reader you have that external editor working all the time, and that doesn’t help the creative process,” Ms Yee said.
A sample of Ms Grace Yee’s work as recalled from the ABC radio broadcast:
“I have not been out further than the shops at the end of the street on the back of his Honda 250 cc motor bike
He did invite her swimming in the pool once, just the two of them it would have been – but her mother forbids it
“Noooooo,” she said — “stay inside it’s too dark” pinch bruising her arm and dragging her off to another pink carnation Chinese wedding where she danced all night with a fumbling pakeha boy (New Zealand White Boy)
He tore her brand-new silk panty hose in the cloak room that smelt of opium and ajax while the band played the chicken dance
She stated that even if her parents did not approve, she would certainly consider marriage to a pakeha man if she were in love with him
What is the point of this anecdote — is this a story of assimilation?
“Oh God forbid…this Cherry character doesn’t seem very Chinese …put her in a Cheong Sam or have her wipe a few grains of rice from her mouth…
Or explore the Pakeha’s point of view perhaps…how does he feel kissing this exotic Chinese girl…does she taste like soy sauce?
I have never worn a Cheong Sam…and he tasted like cheddar cheese!
Well — Congratulations to Ms Grace Yee for her Poetic victory — Ms Yee sets an example for all of us writers — just to write — be yourself — and not worry too much about the audience.
Indeed, Oscar Wilde would have agreed as per his famous quote:
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken”
MeooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooW for now dear readers
Until next time
With Love — Lady Donga Diaries — © Meow 240–2024
