Episode 37
“…Creative writing is very difficult, because it’s so unique. And to make it good writing, it has to be very unique to what that person can do, and that no one else can. So it’s got to be like their iris or their fingerprints. Something very unique to them.
And at the same time, every different story they write is going to have different challenges and require a different process.”
Christine Leunens earned a Master of Liberal Arts in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard Extension School in 2005, and later, a PhD at Victoria University of Wellington in 2012.
Her debut novel, Primordial Soup, published in 1999, was a critical success. Since its first publication in 2004, her novel, Caging Skies became an international bestseller and was later adapted to stage and film. Taika Waititi’s film adaptation, Jojo Rabbit, won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay in 2020. It also won the Humanitas Prize for writing intended to promote human dignity, meaning, and freedom. Christine’s 2021 bestselling novel, In Amber’s Wake, is currently being made into a film. Her novels have been translated into 25 languages.
It was an honor to speak to Christine about how her Extension School courses played a major role in her development as a writer, how it feels as a writer to have your work adapted into another medium and then takes on a life of its own, and the challenges and pitfalls of the current publishing landscape for budding and aspiring writers.
Join us for this engaging talk!