Interview with Alice Pung about Laurinda
We are delighted that one of our favourite young adult novels, Laurinda, has recently been adapted for the stage by Melbourne Theatre Company. We interviewed the author, Alice Pung, about her novel, the societal issues that it raises, and her response to the play.
It’s been nearly eight years since Laurinda was first published. It even inspired a book of short stories and has been studied by countless high school students. How do you feel about it now and has this changed since it was first published?
When I started writing Laurinda a decade ago, I wanted to capture some unsettling experiences from high school (I went to five different high schools, and I’ve visited hundreds more as an author). For example, moments where I wondered whether I was just too serious, had no sense of humour or couldn’t take a joke.
Now, a decade after I first put literal pen to paper, we have a whole language to describe structural inequality, racism, privilege and micro-aggressions. However, I still have students tell me all the time, how much they can relate to this book. So things have changed for the better in that we can now commonly identify what needs to be fixed (whereas in the past it was all on ‘Lucy’s’ shoulders), but Laurinda is still a pretty universal tale of high school suffering that transcends race and class.
A lot of Laurinda is about the difficulties of being a scholarship student in an elite school and navigating that social division. Do you think that Australia’s education system is still very hierarchical and class-based?
Yes. It is definitely and undoubtedly still unequal. I have visited schools that are probably modelled on the ethos and architecture of Eton, and I have visited schools where 400 Year 12s sit on the floor for my talks on a thirty degree day. I have mentored students who are brilliant from all walks of life, and I believe they all deserve an equal chance at fulfilling their dreams.
But the sad reality is, if you can navigate the world with ease and confidence, more doors open. Private schools have more resources and time and money to cultivate kids’ confidence, opinions and hobbies; because the parents have these things too. Many public schools still rely on the goodwill and sacrifice of class teachers who not only have to manage class behaviour, students’ rough home lives, and still teach. The parents of these kids have no additional funds or energy to put into the school. It is not fair that the education of Australian children should be decided by something so beyond their control as whether they are born to wealth and comfort – or not.
It’s so exciting when a novel is adapted for the theatre, but it can sometimes be challenging. The narrator of Laurinda is the main character telling a story to Linh, a character whom we don’t know until the end of the book. Were you worried about transposing this or any other parts of the book to the stage?
No, I trusted Diana (Nguyen) and Petra (Kalive) completely. They are the theatre experts. From the very beginning I told them I would never interfere with their creative process. They have done a stellar job – this play is completely their own, and it is fresh, original, newly funny, newly relevant and full of heart. It also has a delightful new Vietnamese flavour. I could not be happier.
You have achieved great success as a writer for adults, including being recently shortlisted for the Miles Franklin. We love your recent chapter book for young readers, When Granny Came to Stay, and your forthcoming picture book, Be Careful, Xiao Xin! Do you think you will write another young adult novel in the future? We hope so!
Of course. I think young adults are the audience with whom I feel the most empathy. They are burgeoning adults with all the responsibilities and often none of the rights of adulthood. I understand that state well. I lived it myself.
