SHANKARI CHANDRAN

The winner of last year’s Miles Franklin Award follows up with a novel about seeking refuge

What is Safe Haven about?

It’s a love story and a murder mystery set in an offshore detention centre. At the heart of the novel, there’s an asylum seeker who’s faced with deportation, a community that rises to protect her and an investigator who uncovers secrets that could divide a nation. Safe Haven is about displacement and seeking refuge – but, ultimately, it’s a story about finding home – and the lengths you’ll go to find safety and love.

Did real events inspire the novel?

I was inspired by Priya and Nades Murugappan, the “Biloela family”, their resilience and their community’s campaign to bring them home, although my fictional plot diverts significantly. I was also inspired by the story of Para Paheer who fled Sri Lanka, was rescued from a sinking boat by a gas tanker and then detained on Christmas Island. Ali Corke, a teacher in Apollo Bay, Victoria, became his pen-pal and ‘Aussie mum’.

Did you feel a weight of expectation after winning the Miles Franklin?

Thankfully not! I’d finished the second draft of Safe Haven before I knew I was longlisted, and the final draft was submitted before the announcement.

Is there a book that made you love writing?

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird – it inspired and moved me. It reminded me I love the pursuit of justice and that storytelling can create change.

What’s the best book you’ve read? Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire – it’s perfect in every way.

A book that had a pivotal impact on your life?

Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things; Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women – I wanted to be Jo March.

The book you couldn’t finish?

Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children – I’ve started it six times.

A book you wish you had read but haven’t got to? Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See.

The book you are most proud to have written? Song of the Sun God.

What do you re-read? Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove; John le Carre’s The Constant Gardener.

What books are on your bedside table?

Holly Ringland’s The House that Joy Built; Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove (it’s my comforter); Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold; Christos Tsiolkas’ The In Between.

What are you writing next?

I’m not sure, but I trust Holly and Fredrik to help me.

Safe Haven by Shankari Chandran, Ultimo Press, $35