Interview with Author Debra Oswald
Take part in an evening chat with Author Debra Oswald at the Castle Hill Library on Wednesday, 9 April 2025, about her new book, One Hundred Years of Betty.
Spanning a century of upheaval, the novel follows a fiercely independent woman from wartime London to Australia, where she navigates love, loss, activism, and reinvention in her quest to live life on her own terms.
Oswald is an award-winning writer, best known for her 2021 thriller novel The Family Doctor and as the head writer of the hit 2010 drama series Offspring. She is also a two-time winner of the NSW Premier’s Literary Award, a screenwriter, and the author of two other novels.
The event will run from 6.30 to 7.30 pm and is open to the public. Tickets cost $13.30. Bookings are essential and can be booked via Eventbrite here.
The Castle Hill Library asked Oswald a round of questions about her writing process, what’s in store in her new book, and a few about hardships.
As an acclaimed playwright, screenwriter, and novelist, you must spend hours and hours writing. How do you stay focused during the writing process? Do you drink coffee or tea, do you write best early in the morning or late at night, do you listen to music or ambient sounds?
It’s not always easy to stay focused! Coffee and tea help. It also helps to start work by 8 or 9 am and then periodically go for walks to shake up the sticky thoughts in my head. Mind you, once I’m fired up about the story and the characters, I can dive into the work with new energy.
One Hundred Years of Betty teaches us how we become stronger and wiser with the hardships and experiences we endure throughout our lives. Were you given any words of wisdom or advice as a fledgling writer? What are some words of wisdom you would give to aspiring writers?
I suspect people tried to offer me advice as a young writer, but I was too caught up in my own anxieties to pay proper attention. I think all writers should read a huge amount; find smart, sympathetic friends who will encourage you and listen to your ramblings as stories develop; keep focus on the parts of the process you can control (that is, writing stuff!) and not be too distracted by external forces (how your work is received, etc.)
It’s not often that we see older women with sharp intellect and wit star as heroines in novels. What inspired you to write a sprawling story about the life of a curious and spirited 100-year-old?
I was thinking about my own mother – born the same time and place as Betty – and how much the world changed during her life. I love stories with a long sweep of time and this novel gave me the chance to explore the sorrows, surprises, friendships, romances, radical social changes, and other forces that can shape one human being’s life.
One Hundred Years of Betty reminds us that each woman has her own unique story to tell; one shaped by the social upheavals and world events around her. Was there a pivotal point in your life when you decided you wanted to write and create for a living, or is it something you slowly fell into?
I scribbled away at what I called my ‘novels’ from the age of ten. When I was twelve, I told my parents I wanted to be a playwright, and they responded by giving me an Olivetti portable typewriter for my birthday. So I suppose writing was my calling from an early age. In the many decades since, I’ve written different kinds of work – plays, TV and radio scripts, children’s books – but my drive has always been the same: to tell stories.
Your latest novel takes place on the eve of Betty’s 100th birthday – have you ever thought about your 100th birthday? What flavour is the cake? What are you doing that day? What would be on your birthday wish list?
I hope I can be like Betty if I live that long! Health permitting, I’d love to be as passionately engaged with the world as she is. Can I put in an order for a cake filled with dulce de leche? For my 100th birthday, I’d hope to have lots of friends and family gathered around me, with a slideshow of photos of dear ones I’ve lost. There would be good food and music, some dancing, and lots of laughing.
