A Journey Through Laughter, Loss, and Love
Megan Albany reflects on her debut novel, The Very Last List of Vivian Walker, blending humour and tragedy, her creative process, and the extraordinary beauty of ordinary life and family.
Megan Albany is a storyteller of remarkable depth and versatility, weaving humor and humanity into the fabric of her work. A proud First Nations Kalkadoon woman, Megan’s debut novel, The Very Last List of Vivian Walker, has captivated readers and critics alike with its unflinching exploration of life, death, and the messy, beautiful moments in between. Praised for its sharp wit and emotional resonance, the novel has been described as “heartbreakingly funny” and “unforgettable,” earning accolades from literary heavyweights and everyday readers alike.
Beyond the page, Megan’s creative talents extend to the stage, with a one-woman theatrical adaptation of her novel touring Australia to rave reviews in 2023. As a journalist, editor, songwriter, and now a PhD candidate working on her second novel, Megan continues to push boundaries, using her voice to shine a light on important social issues. In this interview, she shares insights into her creative process, the inspiration behind her work, and the delicate balance of humor and tragedy that defines her storytelling.
How has your experience as a songwriter influenced your writing as an author?
I have always written something, whether that’s poetry, songs, journalistic articles or even, yes I admit it, lists for my husband. I think writing is how I get out my daily word count, although I probably still manage to get in my ten thousand words a day with my girlfriends on top of that! I figure because I am so good at my words, they count towards my ten thousand steps.
For me, songwriting is something that happens in the moment, as a blurt of emotions that come tumbling, hopefully vaguely musically, out. I guess that’s how I approached The Very Last List. Whether I’m writing a novel, a poem or a song, I just sit down at either the piano or my laptop and see what comes out. I think also, when I finished writing The Very Last List I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to my characters so it seemed only natural to write them swan songs and that’s where The Soundtrack came from.
Can you share more about the inspiration behind your novel “The Very Last List of Vivian Walker”?
I had the great privilege of spending time with an incredibly funny friend of mine while she was dying. Not only was she very funny but her family were super funny as well with the blackest of humour. I guess I got to see the importance of a good belly laugh and what a salve that can be during the hardest of times. Also during the ten years leading up to my writing my novel I lost a lot of close friends and family. Apparently, I’m bad luck, or I like to pretend I’m so funny they all just died laughing. But the other thing that became apparent to me during that time is that just because you are dying or someone you know is dying, that doesn’t mean you are going to be well behaved. In fact, certainly with my friends, it was often quite the opposite. Hollywood would have us believe that stress make us rise up and be heroes but the truth is, more often than not, we just become crazy people who take all that stress on our nearest and dearest.
How does Vivian Walker’s list of essential things to do reflect her character and priorities in life?
Vivian’s priority, like most women’s, is keeping those around her safe and protected. Unfortunately, she doesn’t do that like a 1950s housewife but more like a lunatic slash banshee. If her family won’t listen to what Viv knows is good for them, she’ll do whatever it takes to give them the domestic survival skills they will need after she’s gone. Her list making is a finely honed skill developed after years of taking on the lionesses share of responsibility and feeling like she’s the only one her family can rely on. Viv is exhausted but even after her cancer diagnosis she can’t stop her habit of a lifetime despite knowing her lists will be completely ignored or at best, not followed correctly. Although bludgeoning her family into submission can seem harsh from the outside, for list-making, is her misunderstood love language.
In what ways does the novel balance humour and tragedy, and how does this affect the reader’s experience?
I think as a writer I just feel mean if I make people cry and then don’t at least have the decency to give my readers a laugh and a little respite at the end. I hope it in some way reflects my reader’s own experiences with death and dying, so if their family has been badly behaved instead of looking like Oprah married to Dr Phil, they don’t feel so alone. Death is such a taboo subject in western society which can make it feel like an incredibly lonely time. I don’t think it has to be this way, especially as there are very few of us who will escape it, present company excluded. I hope The Very Last List reflects a good wake, where we get to cry but also to laugh about all the quirky, weird, annoying habits our dearly departed had. It’s people’s so-called faults we often miss the most.
How does the book explore the theme of finding extraordinary moments in an ordinary life?
For me personally, ordinary life is extraordinary. The fact that we can live with someone for twenty years who still can’t master putting the toilet seat down, just shows humanity’s capacity to endure. Surely there can be no greater act of love than sitting for hours in an uncomfortable hospital chair, watching someone sleep and surviving on a diet of nothing but out-of-date vending machine food.
What role does Vivian’s family play in her journey, and how do they contribute to the novel’s exploration of life and death?
Life and death go hand in hand, we don’t get to have one without the other. Neither do we get to have our family suddenly become their best selves just because we are dying. They may for the first two hours or two weeks if we are lucky and then, they just start to get back on with their lives, because how else do you live when someone is dying? For Viv, like all parents, the hardest part of dying is letting go of her son Ethan, which is why she needs to try to control her husband Clint until her last breath. If her lists finally do their job, then maybe, just maybe, both Ethan and Clint will be ok after she is gone. I think her family, in particular her mother-in-law and sister also show how death puts things into perspective. In the end it doesn’t matter who was right or wrong or won the argument. As long as we have someone by our side when it counts, even if they are being incredibly annoying and acting like idiots, that’s all anyone needs to feel loved.