Isobelle Carmody

Isobelle Carmody

Isobelle Carmody and Erica Wagner

On 23 May 2012, Isobelle Carmody appeared at Readings in Hawthorne, Melbourne, to launch her new book Metro Winds, and pre-launch a re-release of her ever popular Green Monkey Dreams.  Isobelle talked about her Obernewtyn Chronicles and why it’s taken her so long to complete the series.

The allocated space was full, with people standing around the edges of the seating area well before Isobelle began speaking.

There was an online petition to bring back Green Monkey Dreams.  Apparently one person who wanted a copy dropped out of bidding on eBay at $50, and later learnt it sold for $300.  Everyone who has been waiting to get hold of this collection of short stories will be pleased to know it’s being re-released.

Isobelle talked about the genesis of the idea for Metro Winds, how this collection of short stories and a novella developed and the style of adult fairy stories it contains.  She also read portions of these fairy stories, enough to whet your appetite for more.  I’d only finished a couple of the stories by this launch, but I loved them: original, intelligent, transitive narratives about human experience and the psyche.

Her life journey has impacted upon her writing, including the Obernewtyn Chronicles.  Listen to Isobelle: if you’ve been waiting, I think you’ll be pleased to hear what she has to say.