Lia Hills

What other jobs have you had?

Like many writers, I’ve done a variety of jobs over the years, both in Australia and overseas, including university lecturer, translator, English secondary teacher, journalist, theatre director, tutor to young French barons, camera operator and grape-picker. I was also the editor for a number of years of the Moving Galleries project, an art and poetry project on Melbourne’s trains.

What themes are recurring in your work?

I have a deep commitment to exploring Australia’s fraught past and speaking to the silences that continue to shape this country. I continue to explore these key issues through poetry and fiction. I’m also interested in the way people’s belief systems hold up in the face of tragedy, and where our sense of meaning comes from – the historical, psychological, and physiological influences that affect what we believe in. How we articulate our most profound experiences in a world where old paradigms have lost their significance for so many.

What have been the highlights of your career?

During the writing of The Crying Place, I visited desert communities and began learning the Pitjantjatjara language. This direct engagement with Indigenous Australia was life changing. In 2017 I spent an extraordinary year travelling around the country speaking to audiences about the experience of researching my novel and discussing ways in which this country might begin to heal. The letters and emails I’ve received over the years from people who have felt a deep connection to my work have also been a major highlight.

What are you passionate about?

Helping this country move towards a more honest and mature conversation about its past, towards a place where the healing can begin. I am also passionate about encouraging people to explore ideas and understand that there is no age to begin or end such investigations. I believe that literature remains a vital and important means of delving into what it means to be human, and that it has the power to change hearts and minds.

Haven’t I seen you before?

My books have been nominated for a number of awards including the Miles Franklin Literary Award and various premiers’ literary awards. In addition to appearing regularly at writers’ festivals around the country, my work has been reviewed and featured in magazines and journals, including The Age, Best Australian Poems and Australian Book Review, and on radio programmes such as Books and Arts Daily. Regular updates of my appearances and new work can be found on my website