Member Spotlight: Lisa Fuller

5.07.23

In celebration of NAIDOC Week, this July we're shining the spotlight on First Nations creators, and we're thrilled to share our Spotlight interview with Lisa Fuller!

Lisa Fuller is a Wuilli Wuilli woman from Eidsvold, Queensland, and is also descended from Gooreng Gooreng and Wakka Wakka peoples. She won the 2017 David Unaipon Award for an Unpublished Indigenous Writer, the 2018 Varuna Eleanor Dark Flagship Fellowship, was a joint winner of the 2018 Copyright Agency Fellowships for First Nations Writers, and placed second in the 2018 Feminartsy Memoir Prize. Lisa's young adult novel, Ghost Bird, won the Griffith University Young Adult Book Award in the Queensland Literary Awards, the Norma K Hemming Award, and Readings Young Adult Prize in 2020, and was shortlisted for the 2021 Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature and 2022 Indigenous Writers' Prize at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.She has previously published poetry, blogs and short fiction. Lisa is an editor and publishing consultant, and is passionate about culturally appropriate writing and publishing.

What inspired you to begin writing?

Writing has always been part of my life, and me. According to my mother, before I knew the alphabet, I'd write squiggles down and then sit and tell her the story I'd written. Mum is a big part of that, as she is a bookworm and was always reading to us. Storytelling is a key part of my culture and community as well, so I've always been surrounded by stories. Still, growing up poor meant I never saw writing as a potential career path for me, nor did I think I had 'the talent' to be a writer (whatever that means). I walked away from it for a long time, and I suffered for that. I found my way back to writing through further study and joining writers workshops and groups. 

What do you hope readers will take away from your work?

First and foremost, I hope they're caught up in it and just find it to be a really good story. If they find connection with the characters, then I'm thrilled. And if they maybe learn something, then so much the better. A lot of the times when I'm writing, I'm thinking about me and my family, especially my niblings. I write things I wish I'd read when I was younger, things I want to say to them about how amazing they are and how I see the world. Recognising of course, how complicated life can be and feel sometimes. I guess I just hope my work helps people feel seen and heard. I'm also beyond excited when someone tells me they were genuinely terrified by my writing... is that wrong? lol 

What do you know now that you wish you'd known at the start of your career?

It's not about talent, it's about work. Writing is a trade, you have to get in there and get your hands dirty. Just write! It's the simplest thing to say, and one of the hardest to do. But you'll never get where you want to go, if you don't start. Read a lot, write a lot, let it suck, and gather people around you that you can trust to give constructive criticism. If you wait till something is perfect, you'll never get there. Ruin the blank page, scribble all over everything, make a mess, and have fun doing it!

What does this year's NAIDOC theme, For Our Elders, mean to you?

My elders are people who have always been there to guide, support and teach. They are wise people who give as much respect as they are given, and they are walking cultural institutions who carry the history of our peoples on their shoulders. They show us the way. Taking the time to celebrate them is important, because it acknowledges who they are, and what they mean to our communities. Also, I've found that more often than not, they do so much for others, but they don't do the same for themselves. We need to be supporting and caring for our elders more.

Who are the First Nations authors/illustrators you think everyone should be reading?

Every last one of them! Because we're diverse, and we all have our own cultures and histories to share, so each of our works are unique and we're working across various forms and genres. Chances are high that if you like a certain genre, there is a First Nations Australian writing in that area. As the publishing industry has become more inclusive, more and more of us are publishing, so be sure to find those first time authors (like myself) who only have one or two books out. There are a lot of lists out there every NAIDOC Week. Please make time to seek out these books and writers, but not just for one week a year. If you want a place to start, Magabala Books is a brilliant publisher of our works, the David Unaipon Award has a long history of stunning books (not to toot my own horn), and we have a lot of writers groups across the country who are publishing anthologies together. There are also a number of anthologies out there with an array of First Nations writers (exclusively or otherwise). If you're looking to sample some works and find authors you like, try: Flock, This All Come Back Now, Firefront, Unlimited Futures and Growing up Aboriginal in Australia, to name a few.

I am going to throw out a random sample of people working in various areas, but this is very limited and apologies to everyone who isn't on here. Try: Melissa Lucashenko, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Kirli Saunders, Ellen van Neerven, Gary Lonesborough, Tony Birch, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Dub Leffler, Anita Heiss, Jared Thomas, Rachel Bin Salleh, Claire Coleman, Samuel Wagan Watson, Tara June Winch, Jane Harrison, Brenton E. McKenna and so many others. 

Hear more from Lisa Fuller at our free NAIDOC Week panel, For Our Elders, on Friday 7 July, 11.00am-11.40am. RSVPs are essential.