ALICE KUIPERS, author of Life On The Refrigerator Door, chats with CHAD PARKHILL on the eve of the 2008 BRISBANE WRITERS FESTIVAL.

CHAD PARKHILL: Life on the Refrigerator Door has a unique conceit: a novel composed entirely of notes between a mother and daughter left on the refrigerator door. What lead you to this kind of epistolary structure for your novel?

ALICE KUIPERS: I like to give myself constraints – it helps me to be more creative. With Life On The Refrigerator Door, part of what I was doing was see if it were possible to reveal the intimate lives of two characters using only notes. Notes struck me as particularly challenging because so much has to be assumed by the reader – the characters are in the same place, so place is never mentioned; the characters already have an intimacy, so the reader has to fill in the white space of that intimacy (of the page) with their imagination. The question, ‘How much do I need to tell in order for the story to be exposed?’ was challenging. Tell too much, the story is turgid, tell too little and the work is baffling.

CP: Many readers of your novel have commented about the length of the work, and the fact that it is marketed as both a serious ‘adult’ book and as young adult fiction, much like the crossover book hits The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time and Harry Potter. Do you see it as ‘proper adult’ fiction, or young adult fiction, or both? Were you aiming for that kind of crossover book success?

AK: I’ve been writing for ten years now, and this is my first published book. I guess with Life on the Refrigerator Door, I was aiming for publication, but I didn’t really think it would happen. The young adult/adult labelling comes from marketing divisions; I have little to do with that side of the book world. The book has been published in 28 countries and some have marketed it as adult, some as young adult, some as both. I just marvel at the fact it’s been published at all. And, yes, it is really short. Some readers like that, some readers want it to be longer. Although there aren’t a huge number of words, I comment in those few words that most of us don’t make enough time for the important things in life. It may be a facile thing to comment on, but that doesn’t make it less true. It’s true in my own life, and the most gratifying reader responses that I’ve had are the ones where readers have read the book and immediately resolved to spend more time with their mum, dad, friend, etc.

CP: Your partner, Yann Martel, is a very successful author in his own right, and it seems that couples who are both authors face certain challenges, and have some interesting power relationships. For example, Graeme Gibson gave up writing fiction, while Margaret Atwood not only keeps writing strong fiction but in fact used the title of his last, unfinished novel, Moral Disorder, for her own recent collection of stories. How do you manage the kind of tensions that emerge when both partners in a couple are writers?

AK: Yann is indeed very successful and super talented. I love living with another writer. We talk about books and argue about language and read each other’s work and play word games. All very boring to someone else, but enjoyable for us. I didn’t know about the title Moral Disorder. Yann and I talked about it over breakfast this morning. He and I were interested that Margaret Atwood would use Graeme Gibson’s title. I can see why she did – it’s a great title and if he wasn’t going to use it …

CP: Finally, how do you feel about the literary festival circuit? Are you excited to be here for the Brisbane Writers Festival? How do you feel about the fact that writers’ festivals have transformed the literary lifestyle from one of quiet introspection to one of public performance?

AK: I’m pretty sociable so I like coming to festivals and meeting readers, seeing new places, getting out of my own head and little office … I’m particularly pleased to come to Brisbane because the festival is well structured with lots going on and I hear there’s good climbing by the river. I’ll spend my time doing my events, teaching my class at the CYA Later, Alligator conference, listening to as many of the other writers as possible, and then I’ll slip off to the river and investigate the climbing situation.

ALICE KUIPERS will appear at the BRISBANE WRITERS FESTIVAL on Thursday September 18, Friday September 19, and Saturday September 20 (see this weeks' Ex Libris column, inside Informer, for more information about the Brisbane Writers Festival). Her novel LIFE ON THE REFRIGERATOR DOOR is published by Pan MacMillan.

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