Amra Pajalic

Author

Amra Pajalic is a young novelist with a big future. Her debut novel The Good Daughter was published in May 2009 by Text Publishing. Her short stories have placed in competitions, been published in magazines, journals and anthologies. She lives in St Albans, Melbourne, with her husband, daughter and three cats.

Where were you born?

I was born in Melbourne’s Western suburbs to parents of a Bosnian background and this is the inspiration for my fiction.

What themes are recurring in your work?

As a high school student I was always reading, but there seemed to be no books that represented my story about growing up. I’m talking about coming from the Western suburbs of Melbourne. About being from a migrant background and the family expectations placed on you to be a good wog girl, while at heart being Aussie and wanting to break out of this mould. So I wrote The Good Daughter for myself and for teenagers like me so they have something to read that speaks to their experiences and that will inspire them to fight for their ‘outlandish’ dreams.

What have been the highlights of your career?

The Good Daughter won the 2009 Melbourne Prize for Literature Civic Choice Award and was shortlisted in the 2007 Victorian Premier’s Awards for Best Unpublished Manuscript by an Emerging Writer.

Where have your works been published?

My short stories have appeared in the Wordlines anthology published by Five Mile Press, Through the Clock’s Workings by Sydney University Publication, and in the 2004 and 2005 Best Australian Stories* by Black Inc. Publishing.