Meet the Author: Julia Lawrinson
Meet Dr Julia Lawrinson who is many things, presenter, teacher and consultant, living on Whadjuk Noongar Boodjar (Perth, Western Australia). She delivers a wide range of author talks and workshops for people of all ages, as well as presenting interactive workshops to help participants learn practical techniques to strengthen their writing and boost storytelling skills – a learn-by-doing approach. She writes policy and legislation in her day job. . In between all this she writes novels!
When writing for children and young adults Julia’s themes are friendship, overcoming challenges, history, and learning about yourself. Her books include Mel and Shel, Maddie in the Middle, City of Light and Bye Beautiful. Visit her website to find out more about her work and her books.
She is one of the brilliant writers on the 2026 Book Links Award for Children’s Historical Fiction shortlist this year with her book Trapped! The Entombed Miner of Bonnie Vale.
The judges said of her book: ‘A little known event in Australia’s history is brought vividly to life by Lawrinson’s insightful language. Real characters come to life on the page revealing issues and concerns just as important now as they were then. Clever pacing and suspense build tension to culminate in a heartfelt finish that is immediately satisfying. Careful research informs the sensitive writing which immediately engrosses the reader.’
She found time in her busy schedule to talk to StoryLinks about her book.
Why write for children? I write for children because they are such keen readers – it is a delight writing for an enthusiastic audiences. I also try to write the kind of books that I found intriguing when I was a child, and I loved reading books about real life, so that is why most of my books are either realist or historical fiction.
Why write historical fiction? I have always been fascinated by the past, and especially the relatively recent past. I would ask my mother over and over about her stories about the dunny cart man, having your bread and milk delivered by horse and cart, and about what she wasn’t allowed to do when she was a child – like wearing shorts out the front of the house, or speaking at the dinner table before you were spoken to. I think it is important for us to understand what happened in earlier times, and to appreciate what has changed for the better.
Tell us about the choices you have made in writing Trapped. First of all, how did you hit upon this particular true story to focus on? Finding this story was a very happy accident. In 2022 I was in Coolgardie for Children’s Book Week, and after my morning sessions, the librarian took me into the Coolgardie Museum. It had a whole room dedicated to the story of this Italian miner who had been caught 1000 feet below ground during a flash flood in March 1907. The story written out on these long panels, and everyone who was there was captivated, moving quietly from panel to panel. We all wanted to know whether this man would survive in a time before electricity and modern machinery.
Then I read on one panel that the miner had five children, and the oldest child was 12. My imagination was sparked. I took some artistic licence and made the child a boy and brought him to Australia – but the rest of the story is absolutely true, with a lot of direct quotes which were from newspapers at the time.
Did you have any knowledge or first-hand experience of mining before writing this story, for example, family members or ancestors who were involved? Not in mining, but I have relatives who lived in Kalgoorlie and worked on the railway. (I have also heard whispers about female relatives working in other industries there, but I have yet to find out whether the rumours were true!)
Also, my stepmother is Italian, and her mother (who died at 103) used to tell me about how cruel the Aussie kids were to her and her siblings when they arrived in Australia with no English.
You have clearly researched significantly for this novel. Can you talk us through your research process? Doing research is my favourite part of writing – I love history and love learning about how people lived and thought in the past.
For researching Trapped! I used a combination of newspaper articles, a brilliant and very detailed book called The Entombed Miner by Tom Austen, and the State Library Western Australian collection, where I got accounts of what school life was like in 1907. I also bought The Temple Reader, which was a book used in schools with short stories, poems, and excerpts from ancient history texts and the Bible.
You have cleverly crafted your words into short phrases and stanzas with minimal punctuation. Talk us through the process of arriving at the decision to present it in this way. Was it more difficult to write in this style? This style was a first for me. I started off writing the story of Trapped! in regular prose. I went between the main character of Joe and the rescue of his father from the mine. As the story went on, I got bogged down in the details of the rescue – partly because it was all so interesting, and I had so much information from all the research I had done. So then I tried to work out what the main story was: what was essential, rather than just fascinating. Before I knew it, I had all these short sentences.
I sent it to Cate Sutherland at Fremantle Press, and she loved it, so I kept going.
Are you planning any more historical fiction books?I would love to – I am waiting for the next story to reveal itself!
Wonderful! I look forward to your next book, historical or otherwise, I am sure it will be fascinating reading. Thank you, Julia, for talking to StoryLinks.
