12 Curly Questions with author Anita Selzer

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you. 

As a child, I didn’t read much regretfully, but have tried to make up for it as an adult.

2. What is your nickname? 

Ani is my nickname that my family call me.

3. What is your greatest fear? 

I fear readers will not see the layers of my writing and discern the many themes underlying I Am Sasha, published by Penguin, 2018.

4. Describe your writing style in 10 words. 

It is economical, simple in narrative, primarily written from the heart.

5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer. 

Heartfelt, emotional, expressive, optimistic, uplifting,

6. What book character would you be, and why? 

I would like to be David in I Am David, by Anne Hone, because he is so intelligent, resourceful, innately kind and intuitive.

7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why? 

Jane Austen’s writing period in the early 1800s so I can immerse myself in her lifetime.

8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now? 

Read, read and read.

9. Who is your greatest influence? 

I can’t identify one – a wide range of reading from biography to philosophy to women’s history.

10. What/who made you start writing? 

I sent an extract from my PhD to Cambridge University and asked if it could be turned into a book. The answer was no, but from that I was invited to write a book on girls’ education in Australia. I loved the craft of writing and that got me started.

11. What is your favourite word and why? 

One is too hard to choose, but I like loquacious because it sounds so complex.

12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

It is too difficult to select one: The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy; Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen are some I wouldn’t want to miss.

Anita Selzer writes non-fiction for children and adults. Her interest is in women and history. She has written about Australian sportswomen who achieved at high levels including the Olympics: athletes, basketballers, golfers, hockey players, netballers and swimmers; girls’ education in Australia; governors’ wives in Australia; and the pastoral pioneers of Como House. Before becoming a writer, Anita was a teacher of English and Politics and completed Masters and Doctorate degrees in Education, focusing on gender and history. Anita is married with three children and lives in Melbourne. See www.penguin.com.au/authors/anita-selzer.