Author Interview with Amy Matthews
Amy Matthews is one of those rare writers who does it all and makes it look easy. She’s an award-winning author with multiple pen names, an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Flinders University, and a proud South Australian who finds joy in long, lazy beach days, slow lunches with loved ones, and the kind of storytelling that’s equal parts heartfelt and sharp.
Her latest novel, Best, First and Last, brings together three women from one family each grappling with heartbreak, in a chaotic, funny and expectedly healing hike through Peru. The story has already struck a chord with readers for its honesty, warmth and humour, and it’s clear that Amy brings the same qualities to her work off the page. Whether she’s rewatching Anne of Green Gables, recording her two new podcasts, or cheering on emerging writers in her classroom, Amy’s love of storytelling shines through everything she does.
You write under multiple pseudonyms, including Amy Barry and Tess LeSue. How do you shift gears creatively between your different author identities and genres?
I think I do it because I’ve always read widely – growing up, I’d be just as happily reading Solzhenitsyn as Sweet Valley High. I’ve never really understood why people think reading one genre (like romance) excludes you from reading the others, and in my experience, readers read everything they can get their hands on. We just love books. As a writer, I’m just as free ranging as I am as a reader. My imagination just doesn’t want to be confined to a single genre. I’ve written general women’s fiction, literary fiction, romance, and historical romance. What I love about writing the Amy Matthews books is the emotional depth and being able to go deep into grief and family entanglements; what I love about writing the Amy Barry books is the Technicolor fun of them.
Shifting gears is easier than you might think, because they’re both authentically me, just me in different moods. The major difference between them is voice and tone, which is so starkly different I never get them muddled. I think it keeps me fresh having more than one – I’m always happy to throw myself into the arms of the next book, because the next book is always so different to the one I just finished. The only time it gives me a headache is when I’m editing an Amy Barry while trying to write the first draft of an Amy Matthews, or vice versa.
What's your favourite spot in South Australia to unwind?
I can tell you exactly my absolute favorite spot and the way you structure your day to enjoy it! My favorite way to unwind after I submit a book is to drive down the coast to McLaren Vale. Start with a slow morning at the beaches of Port Willunga or Aldinga, with a walk and a coffee, then I’d head to Samuel’s Gorge for a lazy wine tasting overlooking those stunning gorge views, then I’d be off to lunch at Pizzatecca. That should be lazy too – everything should be lazy on an ideal day off. After lazing in those gardens, eating burrata and pizza and tiramisu, I’d head back to the beach to swim the
late afternoon away. Then I’d stop at Silver Sands Surf Club for a drink to watch the sun set over the ocean. The key to this whole day is to take people you love and to just spend every slow minute enjoying it with them. There’s really nowhere more beautiful than South Australia – we’ve got sea and sands, hills and vales, and the peninsulas and great northern plains. I love living here.
Given your academic background at Flinders University, how does teaching Creative Writing influence or shape your own writing process?
Teaching Creative Writing has been an incredible gift. I’ve had the chance to really study the craft for more than twenty years now, which is rare and wonderful. I’m immersed in writing all the time, both good and not-yet-good. You can learn a lot from reading unformed and unfinished work. And I’m constantly surrounded with passionate, enthusiastic students who are dreaming big and full of the love of writing. As everyone can imagine, there’s a point at which writing becomes a job as much as (or more than) a passion, and it’s nice to get a daily reminder of the joys of writing, as you see other people relishing their work. It’s also nice to get a reminder of how hard it is, and how much of a journey it is, and to recognize that you’ve come a long way on that journey. Every day I see my own knowledge and skill in action as I try and articulate it to help other people, and that’s really gratifying.
Are you currently binge-watching any shows, or have you read any books recently that you can’t stop recommending?
I’ve been on a complete re-watch of the 1980s Anne of Green Gables mini-series, and its sequel, and I’ve been re-reading the books too. Partly for a book project (shhhhh) and partly because I just feel like living in that world right now. I want to wander the cherry-blossom strewn lanes and cross the Lake of Shining Waters; I want to sit at the kitchen in Green Gables and at the desks in the schoolhouse. I just feel a longing to experience the seasons and be in a world without technology. I want the slowness and the smaller scale of life. So that’s what I’m recommending to everyone right now!
What’s something surprising or unique you've discovered about yourself through your writing journey so far?
That I like hard work. To set the scene, I was not a good student in school. I read a lot, but I never did my homework and I daydreamed through most classes. I grew up thinking I was a lazy person. But I’m not. I was just a really bad fit for school. When I got to university, and I didn’t have to sit in a classroom all day, and then when I worked shift work and wasn’t stuck in a permanent routine, I discovered that I’m a naturally hard worker. Particularly when it comes to writing. Even before I was published, I used to set deadlines, and treat them as immovable, and I worked my ass off to meet those deadlines. That was a huge surprise. I like working; it feels good. Like a workout for the mind.
