Tuesday 23 March 2021
12 Curly Questions with author Jamila Rizvi
I broke my nose a few years ago and had it replaced with a part of my rib. That means I now have a really fabulous party trick, where I can ask children to wiggle my nose and it doesn’t move at all.
2. What is your nickname?
Most of my friends call me Jam but my family call me Mela.
3. What is your greatest fear?
My family and I live on the edge of lots of bushland, which is beautiful but also means there are often snakes about. I am not a fan.
4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
Lots to say. Often rushed. A little bit silly. TA-DA!
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Enthusiastic. Opinionated. Fun. Empathetic. Vulnerable.
6. What book character would you be, and why?
Like every other millennial on the planet, I am an enormous fan of the Harry Potter series. Possibly because I am part Hermione because I always follow the rules, part Ron because I am clumsy and not afraid to be silly, and part Harry because my hair always falls in my eyes.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
I would travel back to 1590 and ask Shakespeare if he really wrote all those plays or if it was really his wife’s genius.
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
What do you mean lime green doesn’t look good on anyone?
9. Who is your greatest influence?
My dad. For better or for worse he is the voice in my head, pushing me to work harder.
10. What/who made you start writing?
I loved writing as a child, but the passion got lost in amongst high-school drama classes, teenage angst, and boys. I never really wrote creatively again until I landed a job at a women’s website in my twenties and rediscovered how much I love it.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Serendipity. I like the way it sounds as well as what it describes.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I could read Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay 1000 times over and still find new passages that surprise, delight, enrage and invigorate me.
Jamila Rizvi is an author and columnist, Chief Creative Officer of the Nine Network’s Future Women and co-host of The Briefing and Anonymous Was a Woman podcasts. Jamila lives in Melbourne with her husband, Jeremy, son, Rafi, and many loads of clean but regrettably unfolded washing. For more information, see www.jamilarizvi.com.au.