Shirley Le's Funny Ethnics

Final Draft - Great Conversations

The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.

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Shirley Le is a Vietnamese-Australian writer from Yagoona. She is a Creative Producer at Sweatshop: Western Sydney Literacy Movement. Shirley’s writing has been published in Kill Your Darlings, The Griffith Review, Meanjin and several Sweatshop anthologies. My old bio used to say (Shirley is currently working on her debut novel with Affirm Press.) but now it’s out and we are talking about Funny Ethnics

Sylvia has just dropped a bombshell on her parents; she’s dropping law to focus on her writing. It’s a blow few parents are equipped to take and Sylvia’s parents are only too quick to remind her of their struggles fleeing Vietnam for a better life in Australia.

As Sylvia’s father points out the perilous future awaiting artists (he’s not quite so polite in his phrasing) Syliva takes us on a trip through her life and the perennial clash between her dreams and the expectations of her family and community.

Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople

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