{"id":4416,"date":"2021-08-13T09:25:09","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T22:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/?p=4416"},"modified":"2021-08-13T10:26:36","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T23:56:36","slug":"rapid-fire-questions-catherine-bishop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/2021\/08\/rapid-fire-questions-catherine-bishop\/","title":{"rendered":"RAPID-FIRE QUESTIONS WITH: Catherine Bishop"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h1>\n

\"RapidIn this new author interview series, we’re getting to know our authors a little better by throwing a few quick questions at them. First up to the plate is Catherine Bishop, author of\u00a0Too Much Cabbage and Jesus Christ<\/em>: Australia’s ‘Mission Girl’ Annie Lock.<\/em><\/h1>\n

Catherine takes us through what she’s currently reading, the books she wishes she wrote, and the best piece of advice she’s been given as an author.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What are you reading right now<\/strong>?<\/h1>\n

In lockdown, I am discovering fiction again: Tara June Winch gets the missionary SO right in The Yield<\/em>; the first volume of Antony Powell\u2019s Dance to the Music of Time<\/em> is so wittily written; and for pure indulgent escapism, I loved Molly Greeley\u2019s The Clergyman\u2019s Wife <\/em>(one of the better Jane Austen spin-off authors). Currently I have 3 on the go: Powell vol 2, a re-read of Alice Pung\u2019s evocative Unpolished Gem,\u00a0<\/em>and the light but fun Dear Mrs Bird<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What book has had the greatest influence on your work?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

No one book \u2013 different books do different things \u2013 some influence my ideas as a historian, others delight with a turn of phrase (which I have begun to appreciate more since I started writing), and some are provoking \u2013 because they contain arguments I want to refute or are in a style I want NOT to emulate!<\/p>\n

What do you wish you\u2019d known about writing when you first got started?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

That even when you have written one book it doesn\u2019t mean you know what you are doing! (But that doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t fun learning along the way.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What do you wish you\u2019d known about being published when you first got started? <\/strong><\/h1>\n

That it is a long process and \u2026 that the best publishers are those who are passionate about books, and that they are not the big corporate international paper factories.<\/p>\n

Best piece of advice you\u2019ve ever been given?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Write anything down on the page initially\u00a0\u2013 it can be total rubbish \u2013 the thing is to get writing. And be willing to change every word, but hold on to your voice.<\/p>\n

What book do you wish you had written?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Flippantly \u2013 like everyone, I wish I had written one that sold millions of copies, and everyone read, and then was picked up by Hollywood for a blockbuster movie \u2026<\/p>\n

Desperately \u2013 the book I wish I had (already) written is my next one … The World We Want: Creating Global Citizens at Cold War Youth Forums<\/em><\/p>\n

Admiringly \u2013 I wish I had written Womerah Lane,<\/em> by Tom Carment \u2013 or at least something in the style of Tom Carment. He manages to be meaningful and witty and entertaining all at the same time without being tedious or self-indulgent. Of course, I would need to learn how to paint first, as it is also illustrated with gorgeous watercolours \u2026 and published by another small press \u2013 Giramondo!<\/p>\n

\"Too<\/a>Too Much Cabbage and Jesus Christ<\/strong><\/em> arrives in mid-August. Find out more about the book, or sign up to be notified when it arrives here<\/a>.<\/h1>\n

Who was responsible for the 1928 Coniston Massacre in Central Australia where a police party killed 100 Aboriginal people? Not those who pulled the trigger, according to the Enquiry. Instead it was ‘a woman missionary living amongst naked blacks’. This was Annie Lock, the ‘whistle-blower’ who caused the Enquiry.<\/p>\n

\n

She believed Aboriginal lives mattered, with controversial results. This biography dives into massacres, stolen generations and the thorny problem of Aboriginal missions.<\/h1>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A faith missionary, Annie Lock fought with Daisy Bates, met the Duke of Gloucester and inspired R.M. Williams. She was shipwrecked in a pearling lugger, drove a buggy 200 miles across desert to escape drought, produced Christmas puddings in 40-degree heat, nursed sore-ridden children, hit headlines for supposedly being ‘Happy to Marry a Black’, and pronounced on Aboriginal culture and policy with erratic spelling but genuine conviction.<\/p>\n

\n

More problematically, she ‘saved’ souls, ‘rescued’ children, eroded culture and condoned Aboriginal men beating their wives.<\/h1>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A strident and divisive figure, Annie Lock was appealingly eccentric but horrifyingly complicit in Australia’s worst policies. Indigenous people variously called her ‘lovely’ and the provider of ‘too much cabbage and Jesus Christ’.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this new author interview series, we’re getting to know our authors a little better by throwing a few quick questions at them. First up to the plate is Catherine Bishop, author of\u00a0Too Much Cabbage and Jesus Christ: Australia’s ‘Mission … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-for-fun"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4v1Of-19e","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4416"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4442,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4416\/revisions\/4442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}