Memorable people and places, chance moments, and inspiring works of art find their way into the words writers produce. Authors of all stages can pinpoint things that have altered the course of their creative lives. They can often say, ‘That was where it changed for me.’
In this series, we invite authors across Australia to reflect on three turning points that have shaped them, offering us glimpses into how each writer was made.
In our first post for 2025, we welcome Jasmin McGaughey who is a vibrant and generous new voice in Australian literature.
Jasmin is a Torres Strait Islander and African American author. She is a former member of the black&write! writing fellowships and editing internships project team at State Library of Queensland. Published widely, Jasmin won a 2023 Queensland Premier's Young Publishers and Writers Award and recently co-edited Words to Sing the World Alive (UQP, 2024). Long obsessed with reading and storytelling – as Jasmin discusses below – her debut Young Adult novel comes out in July and we can't wait to read it.
The author of the dozen books in the Little Ash series, Jasmin McGaughey is pictured here with her forthcoming young adult novel, Moonlight and Dust.
A person
In my family, we say my mum got her reading obsession from my Athe, my grandfather. He passed before I was born, but my Aka, my grandmother, often tells me how much she’d have to growl him for sitting in one spot with a book in his hand. For hours! So Mum inherited this and passed it on to me. When I was small we read together – we read everything! I can’t begin a piece of writing like this without crediting her for teaching me to love books and storytelling.
A turning point was when she convinced me to start reading Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda. At the time, I’d been obsessively re-reading another series and refused to believe anything would be as good as it. But Mum said there were a million books out there I could love and she got me the first book in the Deltora Quest series. Like many children I devoured it. And I still vividly remember my realisation: there was an actual, real possibility to stumble across more books I would love. That I could find something to steel my mind and body into adventure for my whole life! Very nerdy, I know.
Little Jasmin deep in thought in a study nook. She thinks this photo was taken at a public library on the Gold Coast. Image supplied.
A moment in time
A moment that changed things for me is a memory of my sibling and I helping each other fall asleep when we met at our dad’s place every second weekend. We had two single beds in the middle room, and we’d lie awake, telling each other fan fic stories about the characters and stories we loved – anything with vampires, dragons, and magic – while slipping real people into the story too. I also made up stories for my young siblings, telling them adventure tales to help them go to sleep – stories with characters who looked and lived like them. It was this effortless, collaborative, fun storytelling that cultivated my love for it.
So many things in my childhood contributed to my love of books. But it was my time as a black&write! intern at State Library of Queensland that put me on the physical path toward publishing. Here we had conversations about the writing and publishing industries, about culture, and my feelings and reactions to it. I learnt by doing and watching and listening. I didn’t feel alone because I was part of the Black community and others in the writing industry. Feeling this strange flutter in my chest that I belonged with people like this and in a workplace like this is not something I can properly describe.
Jasmin reading a snazzy octo-pop-up at home when she was a girl. Image supplied. (Did you know the first pop-up book was made in 1855 – with many prototypes before that date?)
A book
I’ve cheated a bit by mentioning other books in the above questions. I think most stories can make tiny little changes in the reader's path or in their heart. But it was in Butterfly Song by Terri Janke that I first saw a Torres Strait Islander character in a novel. That was the first book I read that featured the islands and Cairns. Butterfly Song was published twenty years ago, in 2005, and follows a young Island woman, Tarena, who finishes her law degree and takes on a family law case. It is a story that weaves through time and journeys across the mainland and the islands. I will never forget it, and I will always be grateful for that book.
My debut YA, Moonlight and Dust, comes out 1 July 2025 – and I’m beyond excited (and scared). It’s a speculative fiction novel about sixteen-year-old Zillah who returns to her hometown for her final year of school. But it’s here she discovers Moondust – a magical elixir that gives classmates powers for a day. Her personal life is in turmoil with her big sister in hospital, and Zillah must work out if Moondust and the power it brings is good or bad.
Jasmin McGaughey is a Torres Strait Islander and African American writer and editor. She is the author of the Little Ash series presented by Ash Barty and illustrated by Jade Goodwin. Jasmin started her publishing journey as a black&write! editor intern while she studied a Master of Writing, Editing and Publishing followed by a Masters by research, investigating fantasy literature written by people of colour. In 2023, she won a Queensland Premier's Young Publishers and Writers Award. She has written for Overland, Kill Your Darlings, SBS Voices and Griffith Review and recently co-edited Words to Sing the World Alive. Jasmin's always loved storytelling, and she is proud to be able to work and learn in this field. Our thanks to Jasmin for sharing her words with us.
Comments
Your email address will not be published.
We welcome relevant, respectful comments.