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Cairo by Chris Womersley Q&A: 23 March, 2017

"The warmth of Womersley’s writing allows for such interplay between fiction and reality: real-world references do not feel contrived; rather, they’re satisfying and authentic, bringing the reader in closer to Tom’s close-knit cohort. Cairo is smart, thrilling and extremely well written – a fantastic read." – Alan Vaarwerk

Chris Womersley is the author of the novels Cairo, Bereft and The low road, as well as numerous short stories and occasional reviews and essays. Cairo was long-listed for the Dublin/IMPAC Award. Bereft won the Indie Award for Best Fiction, the ABIA Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and The Gold Dagger Award for International Crime Fiction. The low road won the Ned Kelly Award. His fourth novel, City of crows, will be published in September 2017. Chris lives in Melbourne.

Chris will join us for a Q&A on Thursday, 23 March between 8 and 9pm. Please leave any questions you have below. (And discuss his writing at your leisure!)

Want to buy Cairo? Receive 10% off when purchasing it from Readings at State Library Victoria. To receive the discount online, enter the promo code BOOKCLUB in the promo code box during online checkout. To receive the discount at our State Library bookshop, simply mention the Thursday night book club at the counter.

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Hi there - we’d love to hear your answers to these questions which are particularly interesting to writers on Tablo - there's a few so much appreciated!

- All of your books are utterly different and compelling. Is it difficult to keep coming up with stories and then decide on the ones you want to follow through?

-   With Cairo, did the idea for the story come first and dictate the style?

- I also loved your earlier novel Bereft and thought a review saying it was 'gothic, crime, ghost, thriller' was a great description - but more generally classifications can be loaded (and dictate so much). Have you ever disagreed with your publisher in terms of the way your books are classified?

- You’ve been published elsewhere in the world including France – do you find readers in other countries respond differently to your books?

- What advice would you give a new writer? Anything to do or not to do?

- Is there anything a writer can do her/himself to help promote and market their books?

- Who are some of your favourite writers you’ve learnt the most from (and what)?

Many thanks kind sir + can't wait for the new book!

Hi Jemma. There are threads common to all my novels, I think, but it's true they tend to veer all over the place. Basially, one of the pleasures of being a novelist is in finding something in which to be interested and following my nose until a story emerges, Spanish Flu, art forgery, witchcraft. That said, there's often a long period of reading and pondering before I'm almost forced to stop procrastinating and get down to writing. There's often a lengthy period of trying to figure out what *kind* of book I want to write stylistically - in terms of mood and feel and tone. With Cairo, I knew I wanted to write a sort of romantic coming-of-age style piece and that, in turn, dictated the period and then the story followed on from that.

I've never really worried too much about the ways in which the books are classified, to be honest but you're right in saying they can be loaded. I think that often the best books are hybrid creatures anyway. As a writer I'm something of a magpie and willing to borrow anything from anywhere if I feel it might work for the book in question.

Yes, I have a few readers in France and, particularly with Bereft, the French were astounded that Australians fought in WWI! For many of them, Australia is quite a mysterious country. The French, as you know, take literature pretty seriously and it's certainly great to have a readership there.

As for advice. It's always tricky and depends on the person. Read a lot and widely is always the first thing. Keep a notebook. Jot down words or conversations or incidents that interest you. Stories are everywhere when you refine your antenna. Rather than seeking to emulate writers you admire, try and figure out what they evoke in you that you, in turn, might try to evoke in a reader - whether it's fear or compassion or sorrow. I love a lot of different writers and have had crushes on writers from Marguerite Duras to Anthony Powell.

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