Brisbane is a fairly drab environment, especially on my side of the poverty line. Inspiration has mostly come from other writers and their work - certainly not much inspiration came from real-life surrounds. So it hasn't been a very long apprenticeship, but it's been an intense one - most of each day has involved reading and writing. Before that I was a 'dabbler', writing short horror stories, then branching out into other kinds. WE: I've been writing in a serious way since about 2002. TR: How long have you been writing? What have been your inspirations? God willing, it'll never see the light of day. I wrote my first manuscript in about four weeks. That whole time is mostly a blur, and what I remember is embarrassing. I was half out of my mind when I was last in a share-house, fried on sleep deprivation and booze. I was fleeced in such fashion many times as a kid. WE: I'd probably run a corrupt stall in sideshow alley, one with really good prizes on the shelf which punters are never able to win. TR: If you did join a circus, what role would you play? They make great characters, because any behaviour, no matter how good or bad, seems to fit as long as they're dressed in the age-old uniform. I had fun playing around with the idea of misbehaving clowns.

Will Elliott: It may become so, if clowns read this book and take exception to my slandering of their profession! Clowns are almost a horror icon as much as ghouls and werewolves, these days. But perhaps the most dangerous of the carnival's inhabitants is himself, whenever he puts on the greasepaint. Set in a circus halfway between Brisbane and hell, our hero Jamie runs up against insane magicians, werewolves and fortune tellers. So we were delighted to read that the inaugural winner - Will Elliott's The Pilo Family Circus - is gleefully violent and perverse.

The ABC Fiction Award looks a serious and well-supported endeavour. The Year of the Fruitcake, by Gillian PolackĬlown Prince An interview with Will Elliott by David Carroll and Kyla Ward, 2006 The Time of the Ghosts, by Gillian Polack Fitzpatrickįragments of a Broken Land: Valarl Undead, by Robert Hood The Art of Effective Dreaming, by Gillian Polack

The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott