The Writers: Ellen van Neerven-Currie

Our writers are stupendous individuals from all different parts of the world. As a celebration to writing as an art and the artist that join us here at The Write Group, we will be interviewing and profiling all our word-artists to pick their brains about the workings of their world and more specifically, writing as a whole. Meet 21-year-old Ellen, a Brisbane based writer that writes shopping lists, short stories, poems and will be completing her first novel in May!


About you:
Preferred Name or pen name?
Ellen van Neerven-Currie

How did you find The Write Group?
From a friend

Who is your inspiration or motivation?
I take a lot of inspiration from music: Bob Dylan, Regina Spektor, Hayley McGlone, Stephen Jenkins, Adalita Srsen from Magic Dirt. I always think about these guys writing novels. I try to read as widely as possible. I think reading something different, like a verse novel, really helps to loosen your own writing. My favourite writers generally start with W for some reason.

Dream job? 

I have a pretty sweet job at the moment (http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/whats-on/awards/blackwrite) but I watched a doco recently on street artists Ghostpatrol and Miso and I thought now that's a good life.

Spell check or dictionary? 

Macquarie dictionary, but it is always on the other side of the room.

Your thoughts on...

Upside down smile or frown?  

Upside down smile. As a writer you learn to put a positive spin on things. My work was rejected, but...

If clouds could talk, what would they say? 

Follow me.

Favourite 5 words and why?

• swoon - I love the sound, there's something romantic about it.
• dogged - very visual descriptive.
• jarjum - which means child. It's a cute word.
• uninhibited - it looks a bit clunky on the page, but sounds good.
• transient - I go pass this on my bus.

Contact!
Where can we see your work? Facebook add me

Thanks to Ellen for your time; we look forward to hearing about your adventures!