A writer creating wondrous worlds.
Laura Goodin is a writer of speculative fiction. Within her work she explores how different realities can mix with literature and performative arts to create the unexpected. Laura’s works, including comedies, dramas, radio plays, poetry, opera and more, have been performed in Australia, the US, and the UK.
Comets and chocolates, a Sydney Fringe Festival show written by Goodin with music by Houston Dunleavy, follows the adventures of a triple-threat talent Carlton Remick (Greg Shand) as he leaves his home of Wollongong to pursue a career in musical theatre. Knowing Goodin, the production is sure to travel in some unusual places.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer. Always a writer. For a while I thought it would take the form of being a newspaper reporter, but I ended up not being comfortable doing that, so I’ve spent my working life doing whatever I could that involved writing and still paid the bills: technical writer, editor, PR manager, etc. (In the interests of absolute candor, I should add that when I was seven I wanted for a brief time to be a jockey, and when I was nine I considered becoming a librarian. But other than that, writing was always the goal.)
When did you know you would work in the arts?
In 2007, I was fortunate to be accepted into the Clarion South Writers’ Workshop, an intense, six-week residential “boot camp” for writers of science fiction and fantasy. I went in wondering if I had what it took to be a writer; I came out pretty sure I did. Everything I’ve done since then has been to get me closer to the magic day when working in the arts pays the bills.
How would you describe your work to a complete stranger?
I write whatever it is that needs writing. It’s a broad description, but I tend to take on projects across an unusually wide range of goals, forms, and genres.
Is there a mission to your work?
I want people to finish reading or seeing or hearing a piece of mine and find themselves filled with a sense that wonder and miracles wait around every corner: that the world is suffused with glory and mystery and meaning.
What’s the first thing career related you usually do each day?
I check email and Facebook. Connections with colleagues and with the world around me are absolutely crucial to writing good work, producing good plays, and giving support to beloved friends in their own work. I’m not a “garret” writer (although I do love a good long stint in a well-appointed garret, I must admit); instead, I’m a “marketplace” writer. I feel very strongly that writing is for the community, and I must be part of the community to write with the kind of power I want to write with.
What’s the one thing – piece of equipment, toy, security blanket, – you can’t work without?
Diet Coke, or sometimes tea. That’s two, but it must be one or the other.
What gets you fired up?
Working with good people makes me not just inspired, but overjoyed. One of the best benefits of working in the arts is that you get to hang out with people who have superpowers.
What are the top three skills you need in this industry?
Persistence, humility, and reliability. It also helps if you work hard on your craft, but that’s sort of another way of saying the first three.
Where do you plan to be in three years time?
You know, I tried several times to come up with an answer to this one, and I just couldn’t do it. I have no idea where I’ll be. I have no idea what I’ll be doing. Three years ago I could not have foreseen I’d be doing what I’m doing now, for that matter.
What inspired you to become involved with the Sydney Fringe Festival?
Two years ago I had a full-length script that I really believed in, but it’s hard to get theatres to take a risk on a new piece by an unknown playwright. So I decided to produce it myself. The Sydney Fringe Festival offered the kind of support that was ideal for a new producer producing a new work. This year, we’ve got yet another new piece, a one-man musical, and again, the Fringe gives us the support – help with publicity, venue liaison, ticket sales, and so on – to get the work produced and get it seen. The Sydney Fringe is an ideal size: big enough to draw theatregoers’ attention, but not so big that one new work gets shouted down by all the others.
Comets and Chocolates will be performed at the Sound Lounge in the Seymour Centre throughout mid to late September. For more information visit the Sydney Fringe website.
The Sydney Fringe Festival runs from 6-29 September. Most tickets are under $30 and are on sale now through the official Sydney Fringe Festival website or by calling (02) 9020 69 80.
A comprehensive guide to programmed events is also available on the website. Events can be searched for through genre, location, venue or date.
(Pictured: Laura Goodin)
