Photo credit: Kip Scott, by permission
I first discovered A. S. (Alec) Patrić in 2012 when one of my favourite publishers, Transit Lounge sent me a copy of his short story collection
Las Vegas for Vegans and I went along to the launch at Readings in St Kilda We had a lovely evening and I left hoping that there would one day be a novel from this exciting writer, because novels are my favourite form of reading. Las Vegas for Vegans went on to be shortlisted for the Australian Short Story Collection – Steele Rudd Award in the 2013 Queensland Literary Awards, and Alec went on to publish Bruno Kramzer in the FL Smalls Series commissioned by another of my favourite publishers Finlay Lloyd and also The Rattler, an eBook published by Spineless Wonders.
But as you know if you saw my review, 2015 sees the publication of the long-awaited novel and it is a beauty. Black Rock White City is a stunning debut and it is well worth the wait:)
Since the name A.S. Patrić looks destined to become well-known to those of us who love Australian literary fiction, I invited Alec to introduce himself to readers of this blog through Meet an Aussie Author, and here he is:
- I was born at the confluence of the Danube and the Sava, in Zemun. Details that now sound to me like something from a lullaby since it was so shortly after birth that I was living in Melbourne.
- When I was a child I wrote poetry. A few short stories a little later on. I even attempted the novel, a Sci-Fi space epic, but pretty girls turned me back around to poetry.
- The person who encouraged/inspired/mentored me to write was… no one in particular. Many a musician dedicates him/herself to playing an instrument because they heard music and it blew open their soul/heart/mind. For me it was (and is) literature.
-
Alec’s desk
(I wish mine were as tidy).I write in my study, at my desk. I can scribble a few notes in a café but the only place I can really write is at my desk.
- I write whenever I can. Kids and work means I don’t get to choose my writing time. And yet I write every day. In between daily bursts of writing I’m always preparing to write.
- Research is crucial if you’re going to write beyond your immediate experience, but the essentials are already present before work starts on a story or novel.
- I keep my published works on my bookshelves with authors like Proulx, Poe, Paley, Perlman, Petterson, Pavić, Pynchon, Proust, Packer, Pushkin… the first letter of our surnames being the only thing in common.
- On the day my first book was published I was wondering what it would feel like to finally have a book published. Turns out, not much difference (after an initial thrill).
- At the moment, I’m writing another novel. It’s called Atlantic Black and is set on the Aquitania, an ocean liner sailing to Europe—over the course of one day and one night, new year’s eve 1938.
- When I’m stuck for an idea/word/phrase, I remind myself that I’m always stuck for an idea/word/phrase and being ‘stuck’ is part of the process, and what makes getting un-‘stuck’ and flowing for a few hundred words every day so damn liberating.
Alec lives in bayside Melbourne and is a St Kilda bookseller, and he blogs at A.S. Patrić where you can read even more about his remarkable writing career.
To buy Alec’s book visit Fishpond: Black Rock White City, or Transit Lounge or buy it from Alec himself at Readings in St Kilda. Tell him I sent you!
Update August 26th 2106 : Alec won the Miles Franklin Award for Black Rock White City in 2016.
ANZ LitLovers LitBlog 
Another wonderful insight. I love getting to know Aussie Authors through your questions. I am envious of these tidy desks, I must say!
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By: karenlee thompson on April 1, 2015
at 9:44 am
One day when I get time (and I have enough desks) I’m going to do a Guess Whose Desk This Is competition…
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By: Lisa Hill on April 1, 2015
at 10:18 am
Oh that would be a good one! You simply must do it …
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By: karenlee thompson on April 6, 2015
at 10:51 am
Such lyrical interview answers. Book ordered!
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By: carolinebarron on April 1, 2015
at 10:07 am
Hello Caroline, and welcome!
Your comment is music to my ears, and Alec’s too, I am sure:)
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By: Lisa Hill on April 1, 2015
at 10:17 am
Great interview, great writer, great book (I was at that ‘Las Vegas for Vegans’ launch too!).
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By: Jane Bryony Rawson on April 1, 2015
at 10:15 am
No! Really? We were like the proverbial ships passing in the night!
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By: Lisa Hill on April 1, 2015
at 4:57 pm
And I was, very very briefly, in St Kilda for Sunday breakfast and a waterside stroll. I did not see a book shop but thought on you and on the wonderful Adrian McKinty and all other Melbourne writers.
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By: Carol S on April 1, 2015
at 10:57 am
Excellent interview! I loved Black Rock White City so much – it took me a while to read it because I had to stop reading it at nights. I couldn’t sleep afterwards :)
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By: Michelle on April 1, 2015
at 1:15 pm
Great interview.
Wonderful to equate becoming an author to a musician inspired by the music of others. I would think that this is common but I cannot recall having heard it before.
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By: Brian Joseph on April 2, 2015
at 8:06 pm
It’s nice, I agree:)
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By: Lisa Hill on April 2, 2015
at 9:01 pm
[…] You can read my review of this sensational book here, and find out more about him at Meet an Aussie Author. […]
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By: A.S. Patric wins 2016 Miles Franklin Award for Black Rock White City | ANZ LitLovers LitBlog on August 26, 2016
at 8:42 pm
Great to hear and see you in the clip. It is wonderful that a truly gentle sensitive Aussie’s work has been recognised . It is also wonderful that he achieved it in loving his craft. For me also the fact that Readings my favourite haunt has been recognised for its standards and quality of bookselling is great news for us of us who love books.
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By: Jane Devilliers on March 10, 2017
at 7:31 am
Hello Jane, thanks for your comment. I saw Alec in the clip on Lateline last night (9/3/17) too and I am so excited about his new novel coming out!
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By: Lisa Hill on March 10, 2017
at 8:17 am
[…] of life. As a very small boy, he migrated to Australia from a nation called Yugoslavia. (See Meet an Aussie Author). Now that same place is the Former Yugoslavia, and the part of it where he was born is a nation […]
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By: The Butcherbird Stories, by A.A. Patric | ANZ LitLovers LitBlog on January 24, 2019
at 1:48 pm