October 5, 2016

Young author’s debut novel inspired by magic of Indonesia

Creative Writing graduate releases Troppo

The idea for Madelaine Dickie’s first novel came about as the best ideas often do – while she was on the road.

Then a Creative Writing student at the University of Wollongong (UOW), Madelaine had just returned from a surfing trip to Sumatra, in western Indonesia, and realised she had the genesis of a narrative.

More than eight years later, that seed of an idea has grown into Troppo, a sharp, insightful look at an Australian expat straddling the cultural divide in Indonesia.

It is a story of black magic, big waves and crazy expats, Madelaine said, a story that allowed her to combine her love of travel and her love of writing.

“I started writing when I was at UOW as an undergrad,” said Madelaine, who graduated from UOW in 2012 with a double degree in Journalism and Creative Arts.

“I had just returned from Sumatra and I knew I had the place for a story, but I didn’t realise it would be a novel. It was a bitterly cold winter in Wollongong, so I was largely writing Troppo to escape. Every time I sat down to write, I was transported to the balmy, tropical setting and a challenging country.”

Although it took Madelaine the best part of a decade to write, she described the process as a “compulsion”, which propelled her through numerous rewrites and juggling the writing process with full time work.

After winning the Prime Minister’s Australian Asia Endeavour Award in 2011, Madelaine spent a year writing and studying in a fishing village in West Java, an invaluable experience that allowed her to immerse herself in the country and the culture.

It added a sense of realism to Troppo, which depicts the rich tapestry of Indonesia’s intoxicating culture and political landscape through the story of Penny, a young surfer who has landed a job managing a resort.

Madelaine said she is captivated by the country’s blend of the political and personal, which adds a layer of complexity to every experience.

“I think whether you live in Indonesia or whether you just go there for a beach holiday, you can’t help but be drawn in to the bigger cultural and political issues that are at play,” said Madelaine, who is fluent in Bahasa Indonesia.

“In the time I lived in Indonesia, I surfed on reefs that were home to asylum seeker boats that barely made it offshore, let alone to Australia. I surfed off the coast of the notorious Nusa Kambangan, the island where the country’s executions take place.

“Indonesia is the kind of place that always makes you think about the big picture. I’ve always been profoundly curious about that relationship between culture and place.”

Her year in Indonesia was formative in every sense, but after returning to Australia, Madelaine was forced to balance the draft manuscript with typical office hours.

“I would get up at 4am and write for three hours before going to work,” she said. “It’s difficult but I think you can do it if it’s not long term. Writing for me is a compulsion. I’ve always written. Even if I wasn’t a published author, I would still have that urge to create and to tell stories.”

Madelaine, an avid surfer and traveller who now lives in a remote community at the northern tip of Western Australia, initially decided to study at UOW because it was the closest university to the water, she said with a laugh.

But she believes her experience at UOW was essential in helping her to hone her writing skills and put her on the path to becoming a published author.

“There’s a lot of discussion around whether there is value in studying creative writing. For me, it was incredibly valuable and it really enabled my writing to mature,” the 30-year-old said.

“The sheer content that you have to create in the course forces you to constantly work on your craft. I’m a much better writer for studying at UOW.”

In 2014, Madelaine won the prestigious TAG Hungerford Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript, which saw Troppo land at Fremantle Press. It was published earlier this year, a huge achievement for the young author.

The book was recently launched in Wollongong and Madelaine was touched by the amount of people from the local community.

“A couple of my UOW lecturers came to the book launch, and I think that has been one of the really great things about UOW, those connections,” she said. “All my lecturers are published writers so to have their support is incredible.”

Now working on her second novel, which will be set in Western Australia, Madelaine is still in awe to see her treasured manuscript, her eight years of work and passion, alongside her favourite authors on the shelves of bookshops.

“I still find it amazing that Troppo is on the shelves. Every time I see it in a bookshop, I feel like this sense of pride and disbelief.

“I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to say I was a published author.”