Writerly Types: Farz Edraki

Farz Edraki

For National Youth Week 2014, we’ve been celebrating by posting short interview every day. Today’s interview is with Farz Edraki, radio producer, freelance writer and co-captain of rip publishing.

What is a typical work day like for you?
Every day’s different as a (fledgling) freelance writer. One day I’ll be at home researching Sydney high schools and another day I’ll be at the High Court, scrambling for comment from couples who have just found out their same-sex marriages are invalid. That’s by far one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of writing: meeting people and hearing their stories. It’s also why I love radio and happily spend half my week at 666 ABC Local Radio as a producer.

What advice do you have for people just starting out in your field?
Keep writing! Just keep writing. If it’s what you want to do, if it’s what you’re really committed to, then just do it (thanks, Nike, for appropriating an otherwise apt aphorism).

Yes, it’s damn difficult to make a sustainable income from writing – particularly if you’re just starting out. Luckily, your miserable part-time job or underwhelming uni course will make for excellent writing fodder. I used to keep a diary of funny things that happened when I ‘gophered’ for a law firm, which I later turned into a story and radio piece.

Do you have any exciting things coming up?
rip publishing, which I co-captain along with Yasmin Masri, is releasing a book of migrant memoirs in recipes later this year. It’s called Jumble, and we’ve had an amazing response from writers so far.

We love recommendations – anything caught your eye lately? Maybe it’s a book you couldn’t put down, or a film that you wanted to immediately rewatch, or a website that made it to your bookmarks.
There are so many talented authors from Canberra; it’s hard to know where to start. Definitely read anything by Rosanna Stevens, Nigel Featherstone, Zoya Patel, Andrew Galan, Christie Thompson and the Scissors Paper Pen crew.

Also, drop everything you’re doing and listen to Welcome to Nightvale. It’s a bizarre and kooky and wonderful podcast. For current affairs with a sucker-punch twist, listen to Backchat on FBi Radio.

 

You can find Farz at rip publishing, or follow her on twitter.

This interview is part of a series for National Youth Week 2014 called Writerly Types. Click here for yesterday’s interview with Yolande Norris.