A Mandurah playwright, poet and author has been busy recently, being nominated for a national award and writing a play in the Perth Fringe Festival.
Louise Helfgott’s book Thistle Down Seed has been shortlisted in the University of Western Australia Dorothy Hewett Awards.
Only five novels were shortlisted out of 99 national entrants.
“If you win you’re guaranteed publication and get a $10,000 cash prize,” Ms Helfgott said.
The novel delves into her Polish heritage from three different perspectives.
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One narrative is from the perspective of her aunties and their experience in the holocaust.
“I am basing it around what I know to have happened, but fictionalising the way they thought because no one will ever know,” Ms Helfgott said.
The second narrative is her experience in Poland and the third focuses on her childhood.
“A lot of people have sadly never had the opportunity to find out more about their background,” Ms Helfgott said. “It helps you to understand the kind of person you are.”
Ms Helfgott said she initially wrote a play on her family history but was not released due to many reasons, one of which was the release of Shine, a film about her pianist brother David.
“The film was great for David,” Ms Helfgott said.
“But when that came out it actually slowed me down from writing my story.”
Ms Helfgott said she will wait to see the outcome of the literary competition late February, before she pursues a publisher.
Theplay she wrote called Light in Her Eye, that follows a girl’s search for her identity, will be at the Lady Beaufort theatre this weekend and next weekend.
For more information or to book tickets, visit: https://fringeworld.com.au/whats_on/light-in-her-eye-fw2018?venue=623%3A8
Carla Hildebrandt
Journalist at the Mandurah Mail
Journalist at the Mandurah Mail
