Celebrated Australian author Nick Earls鈥� debut young adult novel After January is now complete.
First published by in 1996, After January 鈥� which follows high-school graduate Alex Delaney鈥檚 journey from adolescence into adulthood 鈥� has been re-released with the prequel, 鈥楯uliet鈥�.
鈥淚鈥檓 really glad that the two of them are together now because it feels like they should be. I鈥檓 surprised we didn鈥檛 do it before,鈥� Mr Earls said.
After January was born out of 鈥楯uliet鈥� 鈥� a short story published in an anthology in 1995 and set the year before the novel.
鈥楯uliet鈥�, a story in which Alex is first introduced, also represents the author鈥檚 first attempt at writing for the young adult market, a literary experiment which has well and truly paid off.
鈥淚 was asked to write a story for a young adult anthology and I said I didn鈥檛 really know how to do that,鈥� Mr Earls said.
鈥淚 realised I shouldn鈥檛 say no because I needed to say yes to everything in the hope that something would work out for me.
鈥淚 remembered being in the school play in my last year of school and took something from there and created a fictional story, but because I was drawing on myself for the central character, I didn鈥檛 write it the way I was normally writing at that time.
鈥淓ven before that story was published people were reading it and responding in a way that I just wasn鈥檛 used to with my writing at that stage and the character kind of stuck around in my head.鈥�
Since then, Mr Earls has had 13 books published, five of which have had teenage central characters.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a really interesting time of life,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a time of life when a lot of things can come sharply into focus, when you鈥檝e got big decisions to make about where you鈥檙e going to head and who you鈥檙e going to be. It鈥檚 a time that can have its share of anguish but also its share of opportunities.鈥�
Like many of his fictional characters, Mr Earls himself had some tough decisions to make when choosing a pathway to take after school.
While passionate about writing, he couldn鈥檛 see how to turn his stories into a job and instead enrolled in a medical degree at 宅男导航, graduating in 1986.
鈥淚鈥檇 heard my mother鈥檚 stories and my grandfather鈥檚 stories about working in medicine and about being a med student and that sounded like a good course of action and so that鈥檚 what I did,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t was good. I had a really great time here on this campus, and medicine is a job that I think would have made me happy but I just happened to really love writing.
鈥淚n the mid to late 90s, at least partly because of this book, it got to move from being a part-time peripheral thing to being what I do full-time. I鈥檓 just really lucky that鈥檚 come about.鈥�
Although unlikely to return to the wards, he said having a medical background had at times proved useful in his writing and when doing charity work for hospitals.
Mr Earls actively supports several children鈥檚 charities, work he says feels like 鈥渁 natural thing鈥�.
He was the founding chair of the Australian arm of the international aid agency War Child and is now a War Child ambassador. He is also patron of Kids Who Make a Difference and Hands on Art, and an honorary ambassador for both the Mater Foundation and the Abused Child Trust.
鈥淚n each case I鈥檝e been approached by that organisation and I鈥檝e often done some one-off thing for them and I鈥檝e been impressed with the work they do, so then when they鈥檝e asked me to take on a bigger role I鈥檝e been enthusiastic,鈥� he said.
A former 宅男导航 Alumnus of the Year, Mr Earls will participate in the Writers鈥� Hub as part of the Celebration Day on April 18.
Media: Penny Robinson at 宅男导航 Communications (07 3365 9723, penny.robinson@uq.edu.au)
