Which book would you place in a Street Library and why?
Well, I’d put any good book in a Street Library. Anything I thought was worth reading, worth passing on. A good book is like a brilliant new idea or a great joke – you want to pass it on, have it travel far and wide.
What book would you like to find in a Street Library and why?
Oh, I’m hoping to be surprised. The thing about Street Libraries is their openness, their democratic nature. Which is probably a nice way of saying how completely random and unpredictable their contents are. It’s nice to be ambushed by a book you hadn’t expected or known about. That sense of discovery – all libraries are great for that.
What book(s) are you currently reading?
I just read a big thumper of a novel called Homeland by Spanish author Fernando Arumburu about the traumatic aftermath of domestic terrorism. It’s a story about the ripples of connection and destruction within families and communities struggling to overcome fixed ideological positions.
Have you come across a Street Library – if so where was it, and when?
I live in a pretty remote place, so for me any Street Library this has to be a vicarious experience. But my mum gives me updates about one in Sorrento in Perth’s northern suburbs. And I keep hearing about a very cute one in White Gum Valley, near Fremantle.
Please can you share with us one of your favourite quotes (from a book or writer) and explain why this resonates with you?
I can never go past the poet and painter William Blake: ‘For all that lives is holy’. It’s only six words from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell but they’re words to live by, I think.
