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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Rosamund Brennan

Craig Silvey: ‘Boys want to feel as though their experiences and inner world are validated and important’

Australian novelist Craig Silvey at Booyeembara Park, Fremantle, Western Australia.
Australian novelist Craig Silvey at Booyeembara Park, Fremantle, Western Australia. Photograph: Tace Stevens/The Guardian


It’s a blustery morning at Fremantle’s Booyembara Park. Rain hammers down in sideways sheets, and the horizon is a blurred smudge of green and grey. Hardly ideal conditions to interview author Craig Silvey; we can barely hear each other over the downpour.

“Lovely day for a walk!” Silvey shouts from beneath his polka-dot umbrella. He points to his sodden shoes with a grin. “I’m squelching. Should’ve worn some gumboots … we’re like Shackleton out here,” he laughs.

On sunnier days at “Boo Park”, as Silvey calls it, the 43-year-old and his partner, Clare Testoni, stroll the lake with their four-month-old twins, Hazel and Stella, while their three-year-old daughter, Matilda, hoons around on her push-bike.

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