Member Spotlight: Elizabeth Tan

7.04.21

Our April Member Spotlight features Elizabeth Tan whose short-story collection Smart Ovens for Lonely People was recently longlisted for the 2021 Stella Prize, and won the 2020 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction! Tan's first book was Rubik, a novel-in-stories. She lives in Perth on Whadjuk Noongar land.

What inspired you to begin a career in writing?

I think I share with many other writers an early love of reading, and finding solace in books. However, I don’t think writing fully crystallised into something that I could actually do myself until I discovered fan fiction. It was a tremendously freeing way to find joy in writing and to learn how to cultivate something new and interesting from the familiar and established. 

I don’t think there was one decisive moment that led to me beginning a career in writing. I was always just looking around and finding the next step to take – going from high school to a degree in creative writing, to Honours, to a PhD, to finding homes for my short pieces, to finding a home for my first manuscript. There was always a friend or a teacher – particularly my mentor from Curtin University, Dr Deborah Hunn – who would give me little nudges to be brave and try things out, and I’m forever grateful to them.  

What does being longlisted for the 2021 Stella Prize mean to you?

It’s been such an incredible validation for Smart Ovens for Lonely People to be recognised in this way. It’s my natural tendency to dismiss and downplay my work – of course the stories in this book matter to me, but I’m always afraid to hope too hard that they could possibly matter to somebody else. While I certainly don’t think that award recognition determines the worth of a book, it does give me a bit of evidence to counter that negative inner voice.

Another really lovely thing about the Stella Prize is that nobody on the longlist walks away empty handed. Before I found out about being longlisted, I was umming and ahhing over whether it was okay to take a break from tutoring, as I’d been starting to feel burned out – the longlist prize money was a really nice practical gift that helped me cinch my decision.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the beginning of your writing journey?

I think if I were able to talk to my past self, I would tell her that you’re going to feel a lot of pressure, and you’re going to feel like you’re letting people down if you don’t say yes to everything that’s offered and reciprocate the generosity you’ve received. But it’s okay to question clauses in contracts that don’t sit right with you, and it’s okay to turn down opportunities, and you’re not an awful person if you don’t read every author who’s said a kind thing about your book. You need to protect yourself and protect your time, and you’ll find ways to pay the generosity forward in the future. I would also reassure my past self that while writing is special and important, it’s not going to be your whole world and your value is not going to be defined by it. 

Find out more about Elizabeth Tan here: http://briobooks.com.au/authors/elizabeth-tan