Who is Pip Smith?
It depends who’s asking! To my kids I’m a somewhat tired and occasionally fun Mum who wears glasses that are constantly begging to be stolen and/ or thrown behind the couch. To my mother’s cat I’m a terrifying biped who should be hidden from at all costs.
To my younger self I am not as bohemian as I was supposed to turn out, and to my partner I am always commuting to work. I am a writer who was supposed to be an actor, the manager of a creative writing school, a poet, novelist, teacher. In a former life I was a songwriter.
What would you do differently from what you do now?
Transcend time and space so that I can give my children, partner, writing, interests, and students all of myself equally. I would live in the blue mountains with a view over a valley, host writing retreats and grow a bush foods garden.
I would approach all the mundane tasks in my life with the curiosity and complete lack of respect for Newtonian time that my children have and not worry about getting things done to a schedule or ever getting anywhere on time.
Who inspires you and why?
My kids, because they find joy in the tiniest of things. Volunteers who create time for those in need for no monetary or self-serving reward.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
Write a novel that is full of life and light and curiosity and passion and empathy – a provocation, to help those set in their ways find a new way of thinking about things they believe they already know.
Favourite holiday destination and why?
Definitely Christmas Island, especially during the red crab migration! There, the diving is some of the best in the world. You can sit on a rock in a pitch black cave and watch bioluminescent shrimp nibble your toes. It boasts a fascinating melting pot of Malay, Chinese and Anglo-Australian culture, and enormous, bleating seabirds in the rainforest trees that line the terraces of the island.
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
I’d take them to the Leura Cascades in the Blue Mountains, because it is otherworldly and magical and you might hear a black cockatoo shriek like a pterodactyl in the canopy overhead.
What are you currently reading?
I’m currently reading Watching Over Her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea, about a short-statured sculptor living in Italy in the early 20th century and the wilful and eccentric love of his life, Viola.
What are you currently listening to?
Ummm… do you want me to be honest? Because my Spotify account will probably tell you I’ve been listening to a Paw Patrol playlist, but I promise it’s not me. When I’m driving alone I’ve been listening to The Time Traveller’s Guide to Restoration Britain by Ian Mortimer and learning all kinds of strange things – like that if kids didn’t smoke a pipe during the designated smoking breaks at Eton they would get whipped.
Happiness is?
Writing something I didn’t know I was going to write until I wrote it, lying with my kids in the hammock in the sun, refusing to attend to domestic chores for 5 minutes, seeing my partner do what he was supposed to do: play guitar on stage, 100% in the zone.
What does the future hold for you?
I hope it holds adventure, a chance to explore a part of the world that is new to me, more chances to be part of a community of writers and artists and thinkers. I hope it holds moments of deep connection with friends I have not seen since kids & Covid changed the way people gather, and that there are plenty of moments of surprise and laughter and tenderness.
Pip is the Author of The Pull of the Moon – which is published by UWA Publishing and available from all good book shops across the Country. For more information, visit: www.uwap.uwa.edu.au for details.
Image: Pip Smith – photo by Lucy Parakhina