Everyday intimacies : an interview with Fiona Wright

The 2009 Sydney Writers' Festival event 'Alleyway Honour' wasn't the first time I'd heard Fiona Wright read but it's the furthest back that memory allows. Performing with a writers' group known as Westside under the auspices of the Bankstown Youth Development Service, what I remember most about Wright's reading was the distinct way she played with the shape and texture of her poems. Words and line breaks hovered on a tightly held breath before deftly dropping to fill out a scene. The tenor of her voice gave the work heat but, critically, there was daring to it too. There was something about the delivery, and the frankness of her stare, that made even the gentlest of images feel like provocation.