Indira Naidoo is one of Australia’s most popular broadcasters and authors. During her thirty-year award-winning journalistic career, she has hosted and reported for some of the country’s most distinguished news and current affair programs, including the ABC TV’s Late Edition and SBS TV’s World News, and she is currently the host of ABC Radio’s Weekend Nightlife. A passionate advocate for environmental and food sustainability issues, she is author of the bestselling The Edible Balcony and The Edible City, has designed award-winning gardens and helps community groups build their own food gardens. She is a sought-after speaker and facilitator, and is an ambassador for Sydney’s homeless crisis centre the Wayside Chapel.
Today, to celebrate the upcoming release of her new book, The Space Between the Stars, Indira Naidoo is on the blog to take on our Ten Terrifying Questions! Read on …
Indira Naidoo
1. To begin with, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?
Born in Pietermartizburg South Africa. Raised in Zambia, England, Tasmania, Zimbabwe and South Australia (are you still with me?).
2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?
12 – International tennis player (I thought I had a killer forehand at the time).
18 – Foreign Affairs diplomat or Ambassador ( I secretly wanted to be a spy).
30 – I wanted to be an author actually (News anchoring was the fall back job. Not a bad fall back job actually).
3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you don’t have now?
I didn’t support euthanasia. I do now.
4. What are three works of art – this could be a book, painting, piece of music, film, etc – that influenced your development as a writer?
Film – Cinema Paradiso (what magnificent storytelling with the most romantic of endings and my favourite film score).
Music – The theme for the ABC’s AM current affairs show. Listening to it every morning made me want to become a journalist and writer.
Book – The Very Hungry Caterpillar – the joy that book gave me was something I wanted to recreate for others.
‘There is no more important role in our culture than storytellers — particularly the writers who tell us the stories we don’t want to know.
5. Considering the many artistic forms out there, what appeals to you about writing a memoir?
No one knows you better than you, right?
6. Please tell us about your latest book!
My latest book is called The Space Between The Stars. It charts how a wise-old tree and the magical bits of urban nature within my reach — from feathers, to puddles to clouds — helped me heal and find the joy again, after the tragic death of my youngest sister.
7. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?
I hope readers will realise that they are not alone in their grief — it’s a universal experience. And a loss — no matter how big — doesn’t have to cause a tear in your universe. The joy is always waiting for you just around the corner. Let nature show you the way back to it.
8. Who do you most admire in the writing world and why?
Writers are storytellers. There is no more important role in our culture than storytellers — particularly the writers who tell us the stories we don’t want to know.
9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?
To always be true to myself. Believe me, it’s bloody hard!
10. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Read. Read. And then read some more.
Thank you for playing!
—The Space Between the Stars by Indira Naidoo (Murdoch Books) is out on the 29th of March. Limited signed copies are available while stocks last!
The Space Between the Stars
Limited Signed Copies Available!
After her younger sister died suddenly, broadcaster Indira Naidoo's world was shattered. Turning to her urban landscape for solace, Indira found herself drawn to a fig tree overlooking Sydney harbour. A connection began to build between the two - one with a fractured heart, the other a centurion offering quiet companionship while asking nothing in return.
As Indira grappled with her heartbreak, an unnoticed universe of infinite beauty revealed itself...
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