I was asked by Syndey PEN magazine to interview Michael Fraser, who was at the time their newly appointed President. The article would be part of a profile series in the upcoming issue of PEN magazine to announce the organization’s newest leadership members.
I only had one opportunity to interview Mr. Fraser, and my concern was to be able to compile enough information to create a compelling narrative about who he is, and why his work matters to Sydney PEN’s readership. I spoke with Sydney PEN ahead of time about some ideas I had for the interview, and we settled on a strategy together. They were in agreement that a personal narrative approach would be best, allowing Mr. Fraser to speak freely about himself and his life’s work.
An old boss of mine had this to say about interview journalism: if you’re the writer, never keep the ball, conversationally speaking. Always find ways to keep giving it back to the subject, and encourage them to run with it. You need to be more curious about what they’re interested in talking about than you are adamant about what you think the story’s going to be. Stay curious, keep giving the ball back, and if you have to ask uncomfortable questions, find out what they’d most want to tell you. You’ll get better answers.
