Melbourne-based writer Paul Mitchell has published two books of poetry, Minorphysics and Awake Despite the Hour. His short fiction collection Dodging the Bull was published by Wakefield Press in 2007. Journalist, fiction writer and poet, Paul’s work has appeared in Black Ink’s Best Australian Stories & Poems, Scribe’s New Australian Stories, HEAT, Meanjin, Overland, the Age, the Big Issue, Crikey and more. Collaborating with musician Bill Buttler, Paul has also produced a spoken-word CD As if nothing is happening. And it is.

Paul chats with Overland about his short story, ‘The Long Way’; about iconic rock ’n’ roll, emergency fire-fighting stalwarts the CFA and FJ Holdens; about the power of music and the dangers of obsession; about what inspires him as a writer, the percolation between inspiration and the act of creation; his experience with the long form and his love of the short story, and what he’s up to now.

[O]ften I go into character through what people say, that seems to be the major way I go in – it’s through a line … a throwaway line that someone offers … and that’s where it sort of starts to build, from there. I go into character from there and then the story emerges from the character. Or it’s through things I see that for some reason just sit with me for a long time and then from there a piece of writing will come …

Overland is pleased to be able to share with you a short reading of the story by the author:

To read more, get details of his latest adventures and to buy his books, visit Paul at his blog.