The Stella Interview: Lisa Jacobson

The Stella Prize chats with Lisa Jacobson, author of The Sunlit Zone.

Lisa Jacobson

“I was the kind of kid who marvelled over columns of words in those boring purple spelling books in primary schools circa 1970”

Favourite heroine in literature? Favourite villain?

It would have to be Jo March from Little Women. I love her passion for books, her refusal to be anything other than she is, and her love for Professor Bhaer and his book-lined rooms. Favourite villain: possibly Milton’s Lucifer from Paradise Lost because fallen angels are just so interesting. Oh, and Lady Macbeth, eternally washing those blood-stained hands.

What’s the most beautiful word in the English (or any other) language?

Impossible to select just the one. Horse, boat, pier, cathedral and âme, which means (in the French) both ‘soul’ as well as a small delicate piece of wood placed inside a violin to enhance its sound.

How do you know when a story is finished?

When I find myself fiddling around with dots, semi-colons and commas.

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