5 minutes with ... MELINA MARCHETTA

Thirty years after its release, the Australian author reflects on her seminal novel, Looking For Alibrandi – and the impact it’s had on her life.

Looking For Alibrandi was released 30 years ago!! How does it feel to have written a book that still has such an effect on people?

I never imagined it would have this longevity. But best of all, I can enjoy it now in a way that’s different to when its success intimidated me back in 1992. I’m loving the stories that friends tell me about the first time they read the novel.

Why do you think the story still resonates today?

I’d say it’s because Josie is so relatable. She’s the underdog, she’s trying to work out who she is, she’s the person who wants to buck the very system that she’s desperate to become part of.

And she’s 17. So I’d say it’s something that many of us have gone through at one time in our life.

Did you ever think it’d achieve the success it has today?

Not at all. I calculated back then that I knew 200 people in the world and I felt it would relate to that amount of people. I do remember being very proud of it and knowing it would touch a nerve, but its success has certainly gone beyond expectations.

The book would have no doubt opened many doors for you. What are some of your fondest ‘pinch-me’ moments from your career?

They are actually the small and profound ones, but sitting through the first screening of the film with my mum and dad was wonderful. My dad has passed away, but I’ll always remember how proud he was of its success, and its cultural impact.

Who’s been the biggest, or most surprising, fan to reach out to you to tell you they loved the book?

Someone behind the gates of the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre. She was a refugee seeking asylum and wrote to tell me that after reading Alibrandi, she was able to imagine a Sydney

without the barbed wire. It was very profound and I think often of where she may be today.

What does your daughter Bianca think of the book?

I have an almost 11-year-old and she’s not allowed to read it yet, however I took her to see the Belvoir production and she made the rudest sound during the kissing scene! She tried to borrow the novel from the school library and was rightfully told that she’s not old enough! She was outraged, despite the fact that we have many copies at home.

Describe your life while you were writing the book...

I was living at home with my parents, working as a typist in the legal department of a bank and then in a travel company and then in my second year of uni. That’s how long it took to write and get accepted and edited and then released.

You also wrote the screenplay for the film. What was your fondest memory about that?

I have many! My nonna’s house was used for Josie’s grandmother’s house and I remember watching them film Tomato Day with members of my family. My grandmother died years ago, but we all have that house in the film to remember her by.

Would you change anything about the story today?

In 2022, I’d say that gender identity and a different sort of cultural identity would be explored.

I know you’re asked this a lot, but what would we have to do to get a sequel out of you?

The answer to that question may break some hearts.