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Irini Savvides and her brutal critics – (clockwise from left) Katie Hodgson, Rhiannon O’Donoghue,
Jessica Thompson, Irini and Sharlyn Momsely
Drama teacher, Irini Savvides, has just written her first novel for that most brutally critical of
markets – teenagers. Chris Hook spoke to the brave writer/teacher
Teenagers can be the most brutal of critics, but that makes writing for them all the more satisfying, says Irini Savvides,
whose debut teen novel, Willow Tree and Olive, has just hit the bookstores to critical acclaim from all – including kids.
Irini is a thirty-something English and drama teacher at Westmead’s Catherine McAuley
College, who recently had the satisfaction of having her book lauded by reviewers and educators alike. And, more to the point, the kids loved it too.
“One of the loveliest things is kids coming up in the
playground and saying, ‘Oh, Miss, I read your book and I loved it’, says Irini. “And they just don’t have to (say that).
“I walk around on cloud nine all day. It’s been very moving and very nice.”
Irini’s novel tracks the journey of an Australian girl of Greek extraction, called Olive, in her final year of school. Like any adolescent, Olive is trying to deal with friends, teachers and family, while also
trying to reconcile her Greek heritage with contemporary Australian culture. The usual tumultuous complexities of a multicultural adolescence are further complicated for Olive when a long suppressed trauma leads to
a major life crisis.
The story had simmered in Irini’s subconscious for some time, she says. “Then about five years ago I spoke to someone about the storyline and they said, ‘Why don’t you just write it?’ It
was bubbling away slowly, so I thought I needed an external timeline to get it finished.”
The timeline came along in the form of an MA in creative writing at Macquarie University – a version of the novel
became her thesis. The only drawback was her tutor telling Irini – in the second week of the course – that, statistically, her chances of publication were small.
But Irini was not deterred.
“For me
that was putting a red rag in front of a bull. I was determined … I wanted to tell this story. That was why I did the Masters to begin with. I didn’t know if the story would see publication, but I was determined to
at least have it written.”
Irini found her role as a teacher also spurred her on.
“I think (teenagers) are undervalued. They get all this bad press. People say, ‘oh, you teach, you poor thing’ (but) I
don’t feel like that about it. It was a conscious choice. I could have done anything.”
Irini has a lot of concern for her youthful charges and this is part of what her book is about.
“There are a lot
of teenagers who go through a lot of things. (They need) a picture that is hopeful because they get a lot of bleak pictures.
“But I know so many stories of teenagers who have made it because they have belief
in themselves. They do heal. So I wanted to write that story.”
Katie Hodgson, a Year 10 student, concurs with Irini on this – this is also the empowering message of Irini’s novel.
“It shows how
people can cope with all sorts of things in life. (How) everyone’s unique, regardless of their background, and that if we believe in ourselves we can go far.”
One of the big themes Irini explores in her
novel is what it is like for a person to be caught between two cultures, looking for her own space. For Irini, born in Australia to Greek-Cypriot parents, this aspect of her tale has a very personal resonance.
“But that was a long time ago now for me,” says Irini. “and I was very conscious of how today’s ‘stories’ about this issue are quite different to the ‘stories’ when I was teenager. When I was growing up ‘wog’
was a word used as an insult, whereas now it’s a word people bandy about and they’re proud of it, even though it still has derogatory overtones.
“One of the things I was concerned about is … that
‘difference’ doesn’t have to be the cause of dissent. It can be a blessing because you can have the best of both worlds.”
This idea of twin cultures also resonates with some of Irini’s students.
“I
really liked the book,” says Sharlyn Momsley, one of Irini’s Year 11 English students. “The culture sort of reminds me of my own culture, the Filipino culture.”
Classmate Jessica Thompson agrees: “I come
from a Maltese background, similar to Greek, so I could really relate to a lot of things … I have these family gatherings and they are family gatherings. I mean, the whole country’s invited.”
Another Year 11
student, Rhiannon O’Donoghue, was seconded by Irini to help her keep the teen characters’ language on track and relevant when she was writing the book.
It was “sort of bizarre” having one of her teachers
write a book for her age group, but the book works, says Rhiannon.
“It’s a really, really good book and it represents youth very well.
“The thing I like most about the book is the way it was written
and its relevance to an Australian audience. It’s a struggle to find cultural harmony … but when (Olive does find it), it shows that Australia is really quite ethnically diverse.”
Willow Tree and Olive has
been well received by mental health practitioners, as well as educators, and has been recommended as a Year 10 syllabus book. Sales of the book have been good with the book now in its third reprint since publication
in March.
So, is full-time writing Irini’s goal now?
No. Her vocation as a teacher seems fixed.
“I’m reticent not to teach because I’m worried that if I’m writing for teenagers and I’m not
part of their world anymore, then what I write would be really inauthentic. People have to be real to you.”
And there’s the feedback too. “I think the kids are really honest. So if they say, ‘Miss, I didn’t
really like that’ then you know you’re off-track and need to try other things. But if you don’t have that feedback, then you just get a big head and (can) go off on your own … and that’s inappropriate.”
Irini already has another book ready to go. Called Big Fat Black Moustache, this new work deals with a boy who wears dresses and a girl with a moustache.
No doubt it will be as well received as Willow Tree
and Olive by Irini’s eagleeyed young audience when it hits the shelves next year.
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