This week on Let’s Talk – Black Arts, Rachael catches up with writer and poet Sharlene Allsopp to celebrate the release of her debut novel, The Great Undoing. Sharlene was born and raised on unceded Bundjalung Country into the Olive mob. She studied writing and literature at the University of Queensland and loves her role as a tutor with the ATSIS Unit on campus. She was a 2020/21 fellow with The Wheeler Centre’s Next Chapter program, during which she completed her novel The Great Undoing, due for release on January 31 (less than a week away)in February 2024 with Ultimo Press. She has been published in Griffith Review, Jacaranda Journal, Portside Review, and Aniko Press and is the University of Queensland’s 2021 Ford Memorial poet.
In this warm and rich conversation, Rachael & Sharlene talk through this incredible debut novel, and the challenging, joyful, overwhelming process of writing a book. Sharlene introduces us to Scarlet Friday, the character she couldn’t let go, and invites us into a dystopian surveillance future where all identity information is encoded in BloodTalk, so that nations know where everyone is, all the time…at least until they don’t.
Listen in to this brilliant conversation, and head along to the official launch of Sharlene Allsopp’s The Great Undoing at Avid Reader in West End on the 9th February.
