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The darker facts of life

May 20

Much-loved children’s author Morris Gleiztman will be in conversation with Sophie Cunningham during the Sydney Writers’ Festival this coming weekend (see our events page for details). Gleiztman was interviewed in Meanjin (Vol 67/4), where he spoke about his Holocaust novels Once and Then and the darker side of children’s fiction. Here is what he had to say about his young characters:

Felix and Zelda’s friendship, the ten-year-old boy and the six-year-old girl, for me is the absolute heart of these two books. Sometimes I get strange looks when I say that for me these are not stories about human hatred and cruelty and genocide, they are primarily stories about love and friendship. It was a very conscious decision to write about these things in the context of the complete opposite. The best our species is capable of surrounded by the worst we’re capable of. I wanted Felix and Zelda’s friendship to cross the Jewish–non-Jewish boundary that condemned so many millions and that literally became a matter of life and death. Between these two kids it isn’t important at all. Though in another sense it is, of course, because when Zelda starts identifying as Jewish she doesn’t fully understand the implication of that, but she loves Felix and she wants to be what Felix is. So through her love she places herself at great risk.

You can read the full interview here.

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Comments

by ella
26 Nov 09 at 14:00

hey morris your books are awsome

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