Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Sonya Voumard, Transit Lounge, $27.99.
“Just as history is written by the victors, stories are most often written by those with the ascendant voice. At best there is a tension, at worst a tug of war between subject and writer.”
Voumard delivers some stories where the writing was most thought provoking. She turns the analytical lens onto her own writing career, questioning her successes, shortcomings and altering incentives.
While Sonya is relatively candid when recounting stories behind the headlines — leaving some of her own, and others’, skin on the table — it is her discussion of the emotional subtleties between writers and their subjects that’s rivetting.
The daughter of a European refugee mother and a journalist father, Voumard describes with assurance her fervent but interrogative relationship with journalism and the nature of the interview.
Not afraid to hold a mirror up to her own life and practices as a journalist, she digs deep into the ethics of journalism and the use of power and sensitively explores the intertwined nature of life, work and personal relationships.
There are the insights of a career played out against the changing nature of journalism including the author’s time as a Canberra correspondent. The portraits are illuminating and caring: of growing up in suburban Melbourne, her father’s love of journalism, and a family journey to the Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre where her mother’s Australian life began and of Kings Cross.
Through anecdote and examples, Voumard shows just how differently an interviewer and subject can ‘recollect’ the same discussion.
“The power play between writer and subject over the stories produced from their relationship has important bearing on whether writers are (or are seen by their subjects to be) treacherous or truthful or fair.”
Skin in the Game is inventive, perceptive and quite enjoyable.
