Booktalk: Interview with Tracy Gilpin
South African journalist-turned-author, Tracy Gilpin, chats to Women24 about her debut novel, Double Cross.
Capetonian Tracy Gilpin has become one of the first South African authors to be published by the new international imprint, Black Star Crime.
Tracy studied journalism, is the author of a non-fiction book, and has written more than 30 short stories. An ardent member of Greenpeace and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Tracy is a passionate activist at heart.
Here she chats to us about her debut novel, Double Cross.
You were a journalist before you became a full-time writer. At what point did you decide to become a writer?
Becoming a writer was never a conscious decision. I made up stories about absolutely everything long before I learned to write. I don't believe anyone becomes a writer.
Writers are people who are wired in a certain way. I never have to brainstorm for ideas. It's simply a case of developing into plots the ideas that occur to me because I see stories all around me, in everything.
Was the urge to write a novel always there?
I remember sitting cross-legged on the kitchen table at the age of about six or seven, telling my nanny and sister some long convoluted tale I made up as I went along. Novels were a natural progression.
Dunai Marks, the main character in Double Cross, is an ardent activist who finds her boss and mentor murdered in her office. Did your own activism play a part in developing this character?
Yes. Crime is mostly motivated by a desire for money or personal gain. The idea of ideology as a motive for crime is fascinating.
It's far more interesting to write about a character who is prepared to commit a crime for what they believe is a 'good cause' than a person, devoid of conscience, who kills for let's say, a cellphone. As heinous as both crimes are, the former is far more complex than the latter.
In a crime-ridden country, peaceful resolution is rare to find and violence seems to beget violence. What are your thoughts on the moral dilemmas around this?
South Africa would have no democracy today if groups had not engaged in a violent anti-apartheid armed struggle. I believe pacifism versus armed conflict needs to be thoughtfully debated far more than it is at present. There are no easy answers; it is one of the greatest dilemmas facing humanity.
Pacifism is the ideal, the best way forward for the enlightened evolution of our species, but there are too many examples – Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone – where decisive military action would have saved many lives. Instead UN Peacekeepers stood by helplessly while hundreds of thousands of civilians were massacred. Peace must first be attained before it can be kept and sometimes the only way to do this is through military intervention.
I do not agree with one country invading another but one possible solution is for the UN Security Council to expand its mandate from one of only peacekeeping to one of peace-enforcing where absolutely necessary.
You make a number of references to Pippi Longstocking? Who is she and what does she mean to you?
The series of Pippi Longstocking books, written by Astrid Lindgren, was a publishing phenomena in the 1970s and 80s that caused controversy around the world. The stories were about the adventures of a 9-year-old orphan who was unconventional to say the least.
Pippi was an eccentric feminist and storyteller who threw out societal convention and managed to be incredibly funny while doing it. She influenced the way I view my gender and the world around me.
Can you tell us about the writing process behind Double Cross? What made you choose to write a crime-fiction novel?
I wrote Double Cross while working fulltime so it was a little disjointed at times and took a bit longer than the second book. I wanted to write crime fiction for the same reason I think actors like to play the baddies – because you get to plum the depths of the human character. And of course as a South African I was surrounded by strange and beautiful settings, rich and unusual characters and far too much real-life crime.
Will we see the return of Dunai Marks in future book projects?
Absolutely. Double Take, the second in the Dunai Marks series, revolves around a refugee whose children go missing four months after arriving in South Africa.
It is only Dunai Marks who is prepared to step into the xenophobic mess that exists in our country, to help her find her children. It is due for release in March next year and I am busy with the third in the series.
- Women24