They Speak: Jordi Kerr

Story To… contributor Jordi Kerr discovered her passion for the written word in Grade 2 and has been putting pen to paper ever since.

ST: How long have you been writing and/or creating artwork for and why?

JK: Since I was a lil’ tacker – once I stopped the daily career changes between policewoman and baby-sitter. It was one fateful day in Grade 2, during a creative writing class, that I decided I was going to be an authoress when I grew up. At the time I didn’t realise that Grade 2 was full of such important life-lessons; only the week before we’d had a class on making jelly. The reason I’ve continued writing is a mixture of stubbornness and enjoyment – I feel more alive when I’m playing with words.

ST: The theme of Story To…, trains, is quite broad. How did you decide on your subject matter?

JK: I actually got my first inspiration from a story in mX (ha ha ha!). It started out as a story of objectophilia towards the grand old lady that is North Melbourne station, but the style made it evolve into something else again.

ST: We are currently planning the next edition of Story To… What would you like to see in there?

JK: More pages! More contributors. More mirabilary works by Miss Gentle. Just more all around!

ST: What’s the best website you’ve visited in the last week?

JK: Gotye: because I’ve fallen in love with Hearts A Mess. The other songs aren’t bad either. 🙂

ST: Assuming the Australian government has a file on everyone in this country, what do you think they have on file about you?

JK: Probably that I’m wanted for HECS debt, with a footnote about being a potential troublemaker of the low-threat variety. (I inherited a conscience that objects to unnecessary violence and unnecessarily violent weapons). And if they didn’t before then I guess they do now.

Story To... contributor, Jordi Kerr

They Speak: Kelly-Anne Gentle

Designer and Story To… contributor Kelly-Anne Gentle’s fear of Parliament Station drove her to put together the inspired image for the back cover of Issue One.

ST:  How long have you been writing and/or creating artwork for and why?

KG: I have been drawing and painting since I can remember. Its so cliché to say that but it really is true. My first memory of school is sticking cotton wool on a busted-up lamb I’d drawn.

ST: The theme of Story to…, trains, is quite broad. How did you decide on your subject matter?

KG: I thought I’d have a bit of fun with it. I’m a little bit frightened of Parliament station, I don’t go there very often, so I thought it might be good to have some monsters down there – real monsters, not just those people who I move away from so they don’t sit next to me on the train.

ST: We will soon be planning the next edition of Story To… What would you like to see in there?

KG: Just more of the same awesome content! 🙂

ST:  What’s the best website you’ve visited in the last week?

KG: I just recently met the amazing Ivy Vine, so I am discovering Ivyology.

ST:  Assuming the Australian government has a file on everyone in this country, what do you think they have on file about you?

KG: That would be telling!

Kelly-Anne Gentle - a self portrait

Visit Kelly-Anne here.

They Speak: Luke May

We welcome contributor Luke May to the website and delve into a world of cockfighting, underwater tunnels and Centrelink debt.

ST: How long have you been writing and/or creating artwork for and why?

LM: I used to write in the space beneath an L-Shaped bunk, hidden by a pinned bed sheet and crouched over my makeshift desk with all my papers, books, ammunition and teddy bears. I officially published 27 books in one year – twenty-five more than anyone else in Grade 2 – bound, typed and diligently transcribed word for word from my favourite books. Unfortunately my teacher never reproached me – I’m sure there was a copyright infringement – and I thought, how easy is this! My days of writing like a maniac have slowed considerably, but hey, who can stop dreaming of the good old days?

ST: The theme of Story To…, trains, is quite broad. How did you decide on your subject matter?

LM: Trains? Shit. I thought it was about movement. You know, the place where time and space meet, find their own worm tunnel and snake around the confines of the brain. It’s lonely there on the platform and I refuse to wear headphones. Huddled in with all those people and their pods, white cords plugged into an external silence, you think of robots and deaf mutes and wonder if there were films made about this. It seems that rush hour is incredibly devoid of emotion, and I have a suspicion that everybody is holding it in under books and soft songs. Without these you are left to imagine in reverie, staring like a donkey and chancing yourself upon a dream. I walk to work now so I can prolong it.

ST: We will soon be planning the next edition of Story To… What would you like to see in there?

Poems, poems and poems. A discussion with the train driver about the merits of an underwater tunnel to Devonport. A picture of a guy in a panda suit eating pancakes. A map to a disused safehouse beneath the town hall, where the Flinders Street fiddler was once held by Victoria police on account of impersonating an Egyptian. Barry Humphries impersonating a guy in a panda suit. A train driver reading poems. An issue as thick as an Egyptian pancake.

ST: What’s the best website you’ve visited in the last week?

LM: Falcon vs Monkey – I thought it would be hard to beat an old-fashioned cockfight, but if you want to get your claws or teeth out, sink into this. These guys even sell torpedos.

ST: Assuming the Australian government has a file on everyone in this country, what do you think they have on file about you?

LM: They know I was there the night the fiddler was caught. They confiscated my passport and told me I couldn’t leave the country until I pay my Centrelink debt off. I’ve seen the file, it’s got coffee stains on it. The sheriff brought it round when he took this photo of me.

The pic the sheriff took

They Speak: Richard Ibrahim

Introducing the ever intriguing Richard Ibrahim, the first of our contributors to bare all for the newest feature of this site, They Speak.

ST: How long have you been writing and/or creating artwork for and why?

R: I’ve been artistic since I was very young, mostly drawing and cartooning. I really started in photography when I studied it at uni, about five years ago. This is my first year of working professionally as a photographer. I find photography interesting and stimulating both as an art form and a career, mostly because of its style which is both unique and also widely different because of photography’s various forms and media, on both film and digital. As to my reason for being creative, I find it the most rewarding activity because art is really an act of creation, your creating something no matter what form or style you work in.

ST: The theme of Story To…, trains, is quite broad. How did you decide on your subject matter?

R: The first thing that came to my mind was trains themselves, and also train stations. I focused on taking images of the stations and tried to get different feels. For example, I felt the image of the ascending stairs evoked a sense of discovery and also loneliness.

ST: We will soon be planning the next edition of Story To…What would you like to see in there?

R: More content, and of different styles…possibly poetry, more illustrations, and more contributors to get a wider feel.

ST: What’s the best website you’ve visited in the last week?

R: ThinkGeek – a site that sells nerdy and geeky t-shirts, presumably made by nerds for nerds. Very funny designs and a must-see for any (even closet) nerds or anyone familiar with internet culture.

ST: Assuming the Australian government has a file on everyone in this country, what do you think they have on file about you?

R: I suppose records of my university degree and attempts at staging coup de’é-tats.

Richard Ibrahim, photographer and Story To... contributor

Visit Richard at his website or blog.