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This is a Dark Matter Zine podcast and I’m your host Nalini Haynes. DMZ welcomes back author Suzy Zail with her new book Inkflower.
Dark Matter Zine Acknowledges this recording is taking place on the unceded Country of the Bunurong Peoples’ of the Kulin Nation as Traditional Owners and Custodians of this Country. I pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
Introducing Suzy Zail
Melbournian Suzy Zail worked as a solicitor specializing in litigation. After the birth of her first child, Suzy left law to concentrate on writing. She’s an award-winning author of children’s books published in Australia, Canada and the United States. She began the harrowing journey into her father’s past when he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. He shared previously unknown details of his childhood spent surviving a German concentration camp before becoming a refugee in Australia. Her father’s story influenced The Tattooed Flower and The Wrong Boy.
Years later, the 2014 abduction of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram, a terrorist organisation opposed to girls’ education, haunted Suzie. She wondered what she could do, not just for the hundreds of terrified girls held at gunpoint but for the millions of girls scattered around the globe who are being denied an education. So she wrote the beautiful book I am Change based on meticulous research and consultation with Ugandan women.
Now Suzy is about to launch another book, equally well researched but this one is a story closer to home.
Interview prompts, notes and random facts
Tell us about Inkflower and the danger of being Jewish.
Australian author Morris Gleizman also writes fiction marketed to children and teens based on serious issues like refugees and a child with a terminal illness. Has he influenced you?
Nalini Haynes reviewed Suzy Zail’s book I Am Change, and a few years ago Suzy talked about that novel in this podcast.
Thanks
Thank you to today’s guest Suzy Zail! I have several guests lined up for future podcasts so watch this space. This has been a Dark Matter Zine podcast and I’m your host Nalini Haynes. Thank you for listening, stay safe and have fun.
Acknowledgement of Country
Dark Matter Zine Acknowledges this recording is taking place on the unceded Country of the Bunurong Peoples’ of the Kulin Nation as Traditional Owners and Custodians of this Country. I pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
(I have occasionally acknowledged Country in podcasts. This year I aim to lift my game in many areas, so I plan to Acknowledge Country in every podcast. An Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners can be done by anyone. It’s a way of showing awareness of, and respect for, the Aboriginal Traditional Owners of the land where a meeting or event is held. For more information about Country and respect for Australia’s First Nations, read this post that also has links to useful websites.)
