2. What is your nickname?
Abro, or as my high school jumper had embossed FABROLOUS.
3. What is your greatest fear?
Snakes - yikes! Or, not having access to a waterway for an indefinite period of time. I need my oceanic fix.
4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
Whimsical, heartfelt and harvested by metaphors of the natural world.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Passionate, curious, sentimental, oceanic and cosmic.
6. What book character would you be, and why?
Geppetto from The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. I feel that my life experiences have been analogous to a block wood, from which I have carved out my picture books. As Elegy for an Elephant is released, like Pinocchio I watch it become its own life force in the world.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
1897 - the year Monet painted his ‘Nymphéas’ (Water Lilies) series. Painting the reflections of clouds and flowers floating on the pond of a private garden in the French countryside town of Giverny - what a time it would have been!
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
Never lose your childlike wonder of the natural world. And sample every ice-cream flavour life offers opportunities for.
9. Who is your greatest influence?
Elizabeth Gilbert. Big Magic, eating, praying and loving.
10. What/who made you start writing?
Deltora Quest - the writing was so immersive and transporting, I felt I fell into another realm of jewellery and dragons.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Divinity. The more I say it, the more I feel surrounded by the divine.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Rick Rubin's The Creative Act.
Ryan Abramowitz is a Melbourne-based artist, writer and storyteller who draws inspiration from the natural world and our relationship to it, especially human experience, between and beyond sea and stars. Combining a Bachelor of Design (Honours – University of New South Wales) and a Master of Management (University of Melbourne), Ryan has worked in marketing, brand experience and communications across corporate, freelance and not-for-profit settings. For more information, see https://narrativesofnature.com/.
