WA author Chenee Marrapodi goes behind the curtain of the dance world in middle-grade novel One Wrong Turn

ONE WRONG TURN Chenee Marrapodi (Fremantle Press, $16.99) “I know all about the blood, sweat and tears of ballet,” says one of the young protagonists of One Wrong Turn, the debut middle-grade novel by Chenee Marrapodi. Set in a ballet academy, it’s a book that seeks to go “beyond the glitz and glamour” of the art form, says Marrapodi — a Perth author, journalist and host of the podcast Writers off the Page who has herself been dancing since childhood. “One of the great challenges of dancing is making a performance look effortless, so it’s no surprise really that people underestimate the work and discipline required of a dancer,” she explains. “Young dancers absolutely blow me away, not just with their talent, but also their dedication and passion . . . I really wanted my novel to celebrate that and provide a window for those who are less familiar with the dance world.” Tell us a little bit about your protagonists, Amelia and Valentina? Amelia and Valentina are both 14 and have dreams of becoming professional ballerinas. The two go head to head for the lead role in their dance academy’s production of Cinderella. From the outset, Amelia is quite a prickly character. She’s hardworking and fiercely determined to follow in her parents’ footsteps and become a professional ballerina. Her ambition and dedication can easily be misinterpreted as arrogance. For Amelia, every second counts when it comes to proving her abilities and she doesn’t have time for distractions. Friends included. Valentina recently migrated to Australia from a tiny town in southern Italy. She’s grappling with a new country, a foreign language and a family that doesn’t really understand the demands of an elite ballet academy. Valentina is the ultimate people-pleaser. Like Amelia, she’s desperate to prove herself as a dancer, but family and friendship come first. Despite their differences, Amelia and Valentina are actually quite similar. They are both trying to find their place and battling expectations, pressures and internalised beliefs. These things are holding them back and until they can overcome them, neither will be able to shine on stage. Where did the idea come from to set this novel in an elite ballet academy? Despite not being anywhere near as talented as my characters, dance has always been a really big part of my life. I started dancing when I was about six years old and I haven’t really stopped since. For me, dance has always been about fun, friendship and fitness. That being said, I still took every class and performance really seriously. I never wanted to let myself or my teammates down. I gathered if I felt that way, the pressure must be even higher at an elite ballet academy, where all of the students are striving for a career on stage. There’s a natural element of competition within every dance school and a lot of vibrant personalities. Mix those together, raise the stakes and you’ve got the elements of a great story! I understand your Italian heritage also helped to inspire some elements of the book? I was born in Australia, but my dad’s side of the family comes from a little town in southern Italy, very similar to the one Valentina migrated from. I love everything about the town in Calabria — the people, the language, the food, the traditions. When my grandparents migrated to Australia they brought all of that with them, and I was lucky enough to grow up enjoying it all. In my early 20s I moved to Italy for a while by myself. I experienced the fear and excitement that comes with moving to a foreign country and the challenges of making yourself understood. Just like Valentina, I found “home” when I joined a dance school. Despite language mishaps and misadventures, my dance teachers and classmates became a second family. I really wanted that for Valentina. One Wrong Turn is a story for middle-grade readers. What appeals to you about writing for this age group? I absolutely love writing for this age group and feel a great sense of responsibility because I know how much books and reading meant to me during those years. There was nothing I loved more than losing myself in a great book, so invested in a story that the characters felt like real people. I think those tween and early teen years are when kids are really trying to find their place and make sense of the world. Quite often, fiction can help with that. Authors can explore big issues and questions, but in a more gentle manner, so kids don’t feel as overwhelmed. WA poetry anthology offers bite-sized taste of poetry “It is a book to be read in a single sitting, or one or two poems savoured in a brief interlude found in the day,” explains Roland Leach of Cuttlefish, the beautiful new anthology of WA poetry that he’s edited and published via Sunline Press. Featuring short poems — each no longer than a page — by more than 80 established and emerging WA poets, including John Kinsella, Tracy Ryan, Lisa Collyer, Caitlin Maling and Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Cuttlefish is, Leach says, “a book that can be carried around, read on a train, a couch, a beach. It is not an anthology that needs to be read formally at a desk, nor is it to be read and never picked up again. These are short poems that invite you to go back as many times as possible.” Cuttlefish is available at Lane Bookshop, Claremont; New Edition, Fremantle; Crow Books, East Victoria Park; and Open Book, Mosman Park.