Spotlight On: Sam George-Allen

 

Sam George-Allen is a Brisbane writer and musician. She is a co-founding editor of Scum Magazine.

 How old are you?25What state or territory do you live in?QueenslandWhat kind of writing do you do?Longform non-fiction and memoir, especially about sex, women and magic.What are you currently reading?Sex At Dawn, by Cacilda Jethá and Christopher Ryan. It is only ok.How did you begin writing?In a professional sense, I started out by writing music journalism (very badly and for free). I studied writing at university which opened other opportunities and once I recognised that what I really wanted to do was tell true stories, I focused on that. In a more general sense, I've been writing down nonsense ever since I could hold a pen.How do you remain motivated?Competition.Where do you find inspiration for your work?In the work of other women. Every creative woman I know is amazing and hard-working and hugely inspirational.  Do you think where you live in Australia has influenced your writing?Maybe not where I live right now, but where I lived in my late teens, definitely. I finished high school in Cairns and the surrounding tropical North Queensland terrain made a big impact. There is something spooky and strange about all that cane and humidity and sticky brown rivers. No wonder I ended up writing about voodoo.What is the best and worst piece of advice you've been given as a writer?The best: It's okay to take time off, and it's okay to not be working on something all the time.The worst: Write what you know. How will I ever learn anything?What piece of published writing are you most proud of? Why?I wrote it so long ago, but I still really like this thing I wrote for Kari Gislason's travel blog. It's called 'Letter From Mt Fuji' and it's about visiting a lake near Mount Fuji to watch the sunrise. Even though there is a lot I would change in this piece now, it's still one of the first things I wrote where I sound like "me".http://aremyfeetintheway.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/letter-from-mt-fuji-by-sam-george-allen.htmlWhat is your goal for National Young Writer's Month?To participate in some invigorating discussion with writers I really admire (pretty much everyone involved, tbh).Is there anything else you would like to tell us?I'm very chuffed to be a part of such an exciting event!Where can we find out more about you?My personal website is https://samgeorgeallen.wordpress.com/ but it is so rarely updated it barely merits mention. Better to find me on Twitter @samga and Instagram @jamjarmelon. Photo by: Alan Weedon