1982: Telling war stories

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Tags: Arts, books, summer-2010

Pamela Rushby, BEdSt, BA, MLitSt

Pamela Rushby

Pamela Rushby thinks some of the most exciting and imaginative books are written for children and young adults.

And since graduating with a Bachelor of Educational Studies (1982) and a Master of Literary Studies (1988), she has written more than 150 books and short stories with that audience in mind.

Her latest young adult novel, released in 2009, is When the Hipchicks Went to War.

Set during the 1960s in Brisbane and Vietnam, the story is about Kathy, an adventurous 16-year-old girl who leaves school to dance and entertain the Australian troops serving in the war.

Since its release, Hipchicks has been awarded the Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature as part of the 2010 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards, and has been recognised as a Notable Book in the Children’s Book Council of Australia awards for 2010.

Besides writing books, Ms Rushby has also written television and radio scripts, produced documentaries, worked for the Queensland Department of Education film unit and worked as a pre-school and primary teacher.

When searching for new topics for novels, she always chooses something that gets her thinking.

“Sometimes I’m asked by a publisher to write on a particular topic; other times it’s because I see something that interests me and makes me ask myself, ‘what if’,” Ms Rushby said.

“Then I do research and ask myself ‘what if’ some more and the story builds from there.”

In Hipchicks, what seems like the adventure of a lifetime turns into a trip filled with lessons in love, conflict, culture and war.

A Queenslander herself, Ms Rushby said her goal was to write about growing up in an interesting time.

“It’s set in Brisbane, in the 1960s; that was my teenage era,” she said.

Although she now has an impressive catalogue of books behind her, Ms Rusby still gets excited when a new one is published.

“When my first book appeared in the bookshops, I couldn’t stop going to them and looking at it. I even had my daughter take photos of me in front of the display,” she said.

Ms Rushby, who dreamed of becoming an author from the age of six, said her best advice to aspiring writers is to read.

“Read and then read some more, and when you start to write you will know how it’s done,” she said.

“Maybe other careers are safer, but you don’t want to be sitting in your rocker in the old people’s home wishing you’d had a go.”

By Allison Rock

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