‘Risky’ story explores stripper’s nightmare
The degradation of a female stripper inspired the ‘‘provocative’’ overall winning entry in the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Awards 2018.
Aucklander Fiona Sussman said she was moved to write Mad Men after media reports about the way a stripper was treated at an end of year function for the Chiefs Super Rugby team.
Sussman said her upbringing in apartheid-era South Africa inspired her empathy for the underdog.
The title references the TV series of the same name, set in the 1960s, ‘‘when overt sexism was an accepted part of the workplace’’.
She wants people to question if society has progressed since the 60s or if sexism is just better disguised.
Sussman said the subject matter was ‘‘risky’’, but she felt a strong emotional connection with the stripper. Winning the award was ‘‘thrilling’’.
The award has previously been won by Eleanor Catton, Booker Prize-winning author of The Luminaries, and Frazer Rangihuna, who has been commissioned to contribute to Pu¯ ra¯ kau: Ma¯ ori myths retold by Ma¯ ori writers.
‘‘What I’m really pleased about is this story, in particular, will find a readership and I
hope that in some small way it can be part of this conversation we need to keep having,’’ Sussman said.
One of the judges, Carl Nixon, said Sussman’s story was a ‘‘clear standout’’.
‘‘The story impressed right from its captivating, provocative opening line and didn’t let up,’’ he said.
‘‘A distinctive first-person voice that uses language both lyrically and at the same time colloquially without losing sight of the need to take the reader on a narrative journey.’’
Sussman wrote her first play, Mrs Greenfinger, at the age of seven and had ‘‘always had a love of the written word’’.
After completing a Bachelor of Arts, Sussman studed medicine because she was inspired by the doctor who looked after her father when he had stomach cancer.
She worked as a general practitioner but found it difficult to juggle the work and bring up her two children, now 21 and 23.
Her growing need for a creative outlet ultimately brought her back to writing, and she completed a masters in creative writing.
Sussman’s story is published in the Sunday StarTimes and on Stuff today. She has also won $3000, courtesy of Penguin Random House NZ, and a critique of her short story by Penguin Random House NZ’s fiction publisher, Harriet Allan.