Q&A: Taranaki writer Emma Hislop talks about her new book

New Plymouth author Emma Hislop, (Kāi Tahu), will have her debut collection of short fictionFiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places in ways that are imaginary or inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a narrow sense, "fiction" refers to written narratives in prose – often referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short stories.[4][5] More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games...., Ruin, and other stories, published by Te Herenga Waka in March. She is now working on her first novel. Why did you decide to start writing? Writing is my way of working things out. I write to work out how I feel about something. When I was accepted into the Masters Creative Writing course at the International Institute of Modern Letters in 2013, I started writing seriously. I started writing stories about things that interested me or made me angry, and the things I was frustrated about. All my rage about marginalized individuals and communities being silenced, due to power and race and intergenerational trauma went into these stories. Anything can happen in fictionFiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places in ways that are imaginary or inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a narrow sense, "fiction" refers to written narratives in prose – often referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short stories.[4][5] More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games..... What inspired you to write this book? I love short fictionFiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places in ways that are imaginary or inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a narrow sense, "fiction" refers to written narratives in prose – often referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short stories.[4][5] More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games..... During my MA year, you could choose to write short stories or a novel, and the idea of a novel terrified me. I always wanted 13 stories to make up the collection, and I just kept writing until I had that many. What surprised you the most while writing the stories? How long it took, and how many revisions the stories went through over time. I started writing in 2013. Admittedly I had a baby, moved cities, was studying and had a chronic illness during this time. How has writing these stories […] Emma Hislop's collection of short stories – Ruin and other stories, will be published in March.