Ben Apfelbaum

DYMOCKS LITERARY LUNCH : TRENT DALTON INTERVIEWED BY CASSIE HAMER

Two wonderful authors, Cassie Hamer and Trent Dalton
The handshake book signing
Another captive Dymocks Literary Lunch
Trent Dalton interviewed by Cassie Hamer

Trent Dalton has published several successful novels and one of his most popular Boy Swallows Universe has been made in to a Netflix series starring Simon Baker which is currently streaming.

Ably interviewed by novelist Cassie Hamer and when she and members of the audience posed questions to him, Dalton handled them as if he had received a delicious cookie. He further radiated a boyish, youthful pleasure at being given the opportunity to promote his latest LOLA IN THE MIRROR.

In brief, LOLA IN THE MIRROR tells the story of teenage Lola who is on the run with her mother from the authorities. When Lola is burgling a home she sees herself reflected in a mirror wearing an expensive red dress. Dalton also revealed that the enigmatic Lola’s identity is only revealed on the last page.

Before continuing with his remarks, Dalton apologised to the audience that he was now going to a very dark place – his childhood and teenage years.

In his own personal story, Dalton recalls that his mother had been released from prison to rejoin her four sons  and her  violent husband.

In one incident, when his mother hid in a telephone box trying to call from help, her husband found her and tried to strangle her with the telephone chord. Dalton, with a wry smile, noted that young boys grew up to be tall, strong youths. When the father sought to carry out another round of abuse the four brothers, with one  on each limb, laid in to him, then threw him out of the house, ensuring that he  never could return again.

As a boy, when violence was all around him, Dalton would look in to a mirror, imagining what he could become.

Thus when Lola looks in to a mirror she sees a woman who has maximised her potential and been successful in her life.  Thus  when the young Dalton forges his hopes and dreams  in to his mirror, this was  the inspiration for Lola’s reflections, both literal and metaphorical.

Dalton was asked and yet again profusely thanked the Literary Luncheon guest for her question which was the fact that LOLA IN THE MIRROR  was the third in series of  a trilogy commencing with the novel Boy Swallows Universe.

As a father and husband  with a young family he noted happily that he extracted himself from a sort of hell to a kind of  heaven, being and doing what he loved best – his family and  writing.

Text and photos by Ben Apfelbaum

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.