Photo: John Bartlett: Capturing Life’s Complexities Through Pen and Paper
Discover the Inspirations Behind His Acclaimed Novels and Poetry
John Bartlett discusses his creative journey, blending personal histories with broader narratives to craft compelling stories and authentic, relatable characters.
John Bartlett, a luminary in the world of literature, has established himself as a master of narrative, weaving intricate and profound tales that resonate deeply with readers. His journey from the serene Clare Valley to the tumultuous backdrop of the Southern Philippines has infused his writing with a rich tapestry of life experiences. As a former Catholic priest turned writer, Bartlett’s transition into the literary realm in 2000 marked the beginning of an illustrious career, producing an impressive oeuvre that includes three novels, numerous short stories, non-fiction works, and six poetry collections. His authorship demonstrates notable versatility and depth.
His poetry, celebrated both in Australia and internationally, has earned places in esteemed anthologies such as Poetry for the Planet and has garnered accolades like the coveted 2020 Ada Cambridge Poetry Prize. In 2023, his compelling poetry collection, Excitations of Entanglement, was followed by the evocative pamphlet, In the Spaces between Stars lie Shadows, showcasing his continued evolution and experimentation with the poetic form. Bartlett’s works, steeped in personal and historical narratives, elegantly explore the complexities of the human condition.
In this insightful interview, readers will glimpse the inspiration behind Bartlett’s enthralling novel Estuary, where familial stories transform into epic narratives, and his experiences in politically charged settings, such as the Philippines, that shape his storytelling. His ability to breathe life into characters like Leila and Seth, making them profoundly authentic and relatable, highlights his craft’s meticulous and empathetic aspects. We invite you to dive into the world of John Bartlett, where historical and personal intersect to create tales that leave lasting impressions on the soul.
What inspired you to write complex and intertwined storylines in Estuary?
There are basically two dominant storylines in Estuary, one based on the life of my mother’s sister and the other influenced by the story of my great-great grandfather on my father’s side of the family.
My aunt Eulalie was a musician, artist and writer but suffered from mental health issues which in the 1950s and 1960s were dealt with by her being locked away in an ‘asylum’ and treated with Electro-Convulsive therapy, which in her case destroyed her creative life.
My great-great grandfather, Thomas Bartlett, who came to Australia with his family from England in 1840, settled around the River Murray and worked both land and his own quarry from the river’s sandstone cliffs to supply many buildings being constructed then in the nearby growing city of Adelaide. His labor would have dislocated the original Indigenous inhabitants, the Ngarrindjeri, from their land and also from their culture as happened in the rest of Australia because of the colonization by the British government.
These two family stories provided plenty of drama for my story of Leila, musician and artist with her nephew Seth, and allowed me to let my imagination take flight to create a new story based on historical facts.
How does the history of South Australia and Victoria influence the themes of your novel?
As I have suggested the early written history of these two states of Australia showed that settlers often ignored the prior ownership of the Indigenous people and were responsible for stealing their land and destroying their culture and in many cases guilty of the murder of many Indigenous people. This loss of culture is enduring to this day.
My great-great grandparents settled around the Murray River and especially in Murray Bridge where I too grew up and they were very much involved in that early settlement, especially in the Catholic church, built with stone from my great-great grandfather’s quarry.
The stories of the Chinese miners who arrived in Robe, South Australia also impressed me. From the 1850s they were dumped in Robe and around 17000 of them were forced to walk all the way to Ballarat, which was then one of the main goldfields of Victora. It was a trek of 500 km. Many of them of course perished on the journey. Seth’s ancestor was one who made his way successfully to Ballarat.
Can you share the challenges you faced while writing Towards a Distant Sea in a politically charged setting like the Philippines under Marcos?
Towards a Distant Sea is basically autobiographical so the challenge was really to recall, as accurately as possible, all the relevant events during my years there and how to integrate my own personal memories with the other stories I witnessed or heard about and then to weave them into a coherent and seamless story.
By the time I started writing this story in 2000, Marcos had been banished from the country and so in telling this story there was no likelihood of political recrimination. During the Marcos years however, it would have been considered seditious and impossible to publish locally.
How do you approach creating characters, such as Leila and Seth, that feel authentic and relatable?
This is of course a major challenge for any writer and involves inhabiting a character totally. In the early stages it may involve writing notes about the character as if writing a biography of them, looking for characteristics that may never appear on the page but crucial to what makes this person authentic. Over many months I felt totally infatuated by the characters in my story, almost as if I was having a relationship with them. Sometimes it felt as if I was ‘stalking’ them.
And of course, it’s crucial in creating any character that they must appear as flawed and therefore become easier for us to relate to.
In your collection of short stories, All Mortal Flesh, what connects the stories thematically or emotionally for you?
I guess the most critical characteristic that connects these stories, and the characters, is their fallibility, that we all share this weakness of our own mortal flesh. Characters in these stories make terrible mistakes, find themselves in impossible situations or otherwise lose control. These stories strive to explore all the frailties and quirkiness of the human condition.
How has your experience as a blogger and essayist shaped your fiction writing over the years?
I think for me there is only writing and its many forms interconnect. I now write fiction, non-fiction and these days mostly poetry. All my writing is an attempt to explore the human condition in different ways. Writing non-fiction, with its more structured style, carries over into creating good structures for my fiction. In whatever form of writing I’m concentrating on, I strive to connect personally with readers, allow them to connect with my characters or to express ideas or emotions with which they too may identify.
Whether it’s essay writing, blogging or writing fiction and poetry, I always want to reach out to readers and touch them in one way or another.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors who are crafting historical or intergenerational narratives?
This writing demands that the author has a wide knowledge of the historical period but allows imagination to wander widely, not necessarily tied to absolute historical facts.
