Perth Writers Festival - Part 1

Losing It - Julia Lawrinson

It’s been a little while since I’ve blogged and it’s taking me forever to read books at the moment, but I managed to get myself down to the Perth Writer’s Festival at UWA yesterday. I attended The Devil in the Details and Not Just for Kids seminars but for this post I’m going to focus on the latter.

It’s becoming clear that young adult fiction is reaching audiences outside of its initial target age group and that it’s not just being read, but devoured. YA authors Amanda Betts (chairperson), Julia Lawrinson, and Vicki Wakefield led the discussion and questioned why people of all ages are reading teenage fiction. Before the discussion I thought about this and it ultimately came down to YA being relatable (everyone has been a teenager amiright?) and that it can be so fast paced, so vibrant, and so full of possibilities for authors to explore and to push the boundaries. The Not Just for Kids seminar definitely confirmed this and then some.

All I Ever Wanted - Vicki Wakefield

The session started off with Julia Lawrinson reading a humorous sex scene from her latest book Losing It, which follows the story of four girls who want to lose their virginity before Schoolies Week (for non-aussie readers this is essentially a celebration week full of parties for students finishing their final year of high school). Besides a few others, and myself, most of the audience consisted of people in the 30+ range and they were in absolute hysterics at this awkward fumbling scene like you would not believe. I think that Vicki Wakefield accurately narrowed down the popularity of YA to four words: Hope, Heart, Humour, and Horniness. While not all YA has every single one of these elements, I think it’s fair to say that it’s a category that enables people to engage with a text that can freely explore so many avenues, and can play with the characters and the audience in various ways.

Another factor as to why YA is so appealing to adults is because when they, themselves were teenagers, a category of books designated for their age group simply didn’t exist. And in a way it enables older readers to feel nostalgic and remember what it was like when they were a teenager, because being a teen is full of so many potential firsts – whether it be a first exam, first job, first kiss, or first girl/boyfriend. It’s also a period in time (even though we don’t necessarily realise this until we’re older) that in a way we are free due to their being less responsibility and stress from “adult thingz”.

Ultimately, the categorical name of “young adult fiction” is a marketing ploy to try and attract a specific target audience, or rather the audience that marketers believe would most enjoy these books, when in fact, people of all ages can enjoy them. I don’t doubt that there are plenty of teens that would rather read so-called “adult” books; therefore it’s only fair that there would be plenty of adults interested in so-called “teen” books. Read YA with pride people!

Why do you think YA is so appealing to older readers ? Comment below or tweet me @faultystairs :)

Where are my DVD extras?

If I get extremely fanatical about a book or television program, I generally want to get my hands on as much extra and exclusive content as possible. Whether it be a written letter from one character to another or video diaries recorded by cast members - I want to read it, see it, and get all the feels. That is the life of a fan.

At the moment, I'm currently experiencing a post-Merlin depression (yes I know it's been over a month since it ended but I'm trying to pretend that that didn't happen). If you're a Merlin fan and have stuck with the show despite its sloppy and repetitive plots (it's still good shhh) then you may be aware of such glorious content as the cast's video diaries. From singing to pranks, and an extraordinary amount of sarcasm - the antics that the crew gets up to is hilarious. However, I would never have seen any of this unless the kind people of the internet uploaded copies of them onto YouTube because ~wait for it~ they aren't available on the DVD version that is for my region. In other words, if I'm not apart of the domestic market then my worth as a viewer is significantly decreased.



Considering that most of the content I engage with is from either America or the United Kingdom, it is consistently irritating to discover that exclusive content is only available in the country of origin. This applies to both DVD box sets and extra online content (let alone the extraordinarily long delays between the day a program airs overseas and the day it airs here). It seems to appear that fans outside the immediate domestic market are invalid or not worth making the extra effort to provide the same exclusives. Even though I am aware that Australia is probably considered a small market and that content producers would be unlikely to make an overwhelming profit here - when we unite online we are still fans. We are still fans that want to connect with the same information that people in other countries are able to access. We are still fans that care about the development of the story-line and the characters. We are still fans that want to be valued and respected as consumers. And yet we consistently have barriers put in front of us to tell us otherwise.

I haven't even explored digital piracy in this post (a whole other topic), but my point is that we deserve to be respected as an audience. So, we may be outside the US or the UK, but that doesn't mean that people don't want to engage with the same material. I want to be able to visit the local shops and know that the DVD box set that I pick up has the same stuff that is being offered overseas.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Comment below or tweet me @faultystairs :)