Sam Elkin is a non-binary transmasculine writer, event producer and co-editor of Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia (Allen & Unwin). Born in England and raised on Noongar land, Sam now lives on unceded Wurundjeri land. Sam’s essays have been published in the Griffith Review, Australian Book Review, Sydney Review of Books and Kill Your Darlings. He hosts the 3RRR radio show Queer View Mirror and his debut book is Detachable Penis: A Queer Legal Saga (Upswell Publishing) is out now. Sam uses he/him or they/them pronouns.
Ahead of his Own Voices Writing Workshop with us here at Writers Victoria, Sam shares insight into his long love of reading, the importance of authentic representation and a little bit about his next book.
Tell us more about your latest project and what inspired you to write it.
My debut book is called Detachable Penis: A Queer Legal Saga. It’s about my experiences transitioning while working at the LGBTIQ Legal Service in St Kilda. I wrote it because I wanted to illustrate the power dynamics in the rainbow community, the challenges of lived experience lawyering and working in the not-for-profit sector. I was also interested in conveying my ambivalent feelings about transitioning, and my sense of melancholy at seeing parts of the lesbian community campaign against trans rights.
Don’t be worrying about capturing the glint in their eyes before you’ve sketched out their arms, legs and head. Or, in other words, write a shitty draft that outlines out all the beats you need to hit for the whole story to work before polishing the details.
What role have books played in your life?
I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that S.E Hinton’s The Outsiders saved my life. I read it from cover to cover over and over again in bed for weeks after my dad kicked me out of home at age 12 for stealing. Since then, books have helped widen my perspective, connected me to history and showed me that the world doesn’t have to be this way.
Whose writing do you admire?
I absolutely loved Torrey Peters’ Stag Dance, particularly the titular novella. Her ability to tell an immersive, spooky trans tale set in a pirate lumberjacking outfit in 19th century after mainly having written contemporary realist fiction really impressed me. I also read a lot of history and am loving Robyn Annear’s Nothing but Gold: The Diggers of 1852 right now.
Self-doubt seems to be part of being a writer. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to another writer about how to overcome it?
In my first week of my visual arts degree, our life drawing teacher gave us advice that I always think about when I’m starting a first draft; don’t be worrying about capturing the glint in their eyes before you’ve sketched out their arms, legs and head. Or in other words, write a shitty draft that outlines out all the beats you need to hit for the whole story to work before polishing the details.
When you are from a marginalised community, especially one that is under daily attack, one can feel a strong moral imperative to represent your community in a wholly positive light. This is the anathema of good writing. Our job is to show that we are human, not that we’re saints.
What does your writing process and routine look like?
I can juggle writing book reviews and short essays with the demands of my day job, but to start a bigger, novel length project, I need time away to read, write and think more deeply. Then I can come back to my ordinary life and keep chipping away at it. I write first drafts of everything by hand on a tablet and edit on a computer. I relish being edited. I’ve learnt so much about writing from the process of being published in literary journals. I also love doing writing courses and often come away from them with new material.
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re currently working on?
I’ve just started working on a historical novel about Edward De Lacy Evans, a 19th century Bendigo gold miner, often described as Australia’s first trans man. It’s a real stretch for me, and I am completely terrified.
What are you hoping participants of your workshop will take with them?
I’m hoping that people will be inspired to write their own quirky stories and unique perspectives. I would love to add in one more piece of advice from my life drawing teacher, which was ‘draw what you see, not what you think you see.’ When you are from a marginalised community, especially one that is under daily attack, one can feel a strong moral imperative to represent your community in a wholly positive light. This is the anathema of good writing. Our job is to show that we are human, not that we’re saints.
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