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GRAHAM AKHURST NCOB WRITER AND AUTHOR MS ERINA HITCHINGS
Graham Akhurst (NC 1995-1999) is an Aboriginal writer from the Kokomini of Northern Queensland. He has been widely published in Australia and America for poetry, short fiction and creative non-fiction. Graham has been awarded the W.G. Walker Fulbright Scholarship, the Nomad Two Worlds Foundation Indigenous Arts Scholarship from the American Australian Association, and an Australia Council of the Arts Professional Development award to complete an Master of Fine Arts in Fiction at Hunter College, CUNY. Graham was also an Associate Lecturer in Indigenous Studies at UQ. As well as these many accolades, his debut novel, Borderland, will be published in 2022 with Hachette Australia. While currently living and studying in New York, Graham generously offered his time answering questions about his schooling, career and upcoming projects. What was your time at Nudgee College like? I started at Nudgee College in 1995. Our family had just relocated from Singapore where my father was working as a pilot for Singapore Airlines. Having then been away from Brisbane for four years, I had no friends that first day of school in Year 8. I felt incredibly alone, but that didn’t last long. I met a few fellows who have become lifelong mates. And the things those mates have done since Nudgee College. Matt Hughes has travelled the world as an architect, building hospitals and homes for the needy and working with the UN. Pat Doody is an engineer working on some of the biggest mining sites in the country. And Simon Mumme ended up in communications and finance and lives in London. Simon
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was also the one who gave me a copy of The Catcher in the Rye for my 18th birthday, introducing me to what’s possible with voice on the page. So, for me Nudgee College was about community. Those people I met that have continued to be part of my life. But that’s not all. I might consider myself a writer these days, but my greatest memories at Nudgee College are on the sporting field. Don’t get me wrong, I was no superstar, but that didn’t matter, such was the culture of a fair go at the school. I languished in the F’s for footy, and some might think that must have made us a terrible team. They would be wrong. Because we won. A lot. We thumped every team we played in the under 14’s by margins that were something out a dream. Ridiculous 50 and 60 point wins and more. I remember several times as a second rower catching the ball from kick off and running it under the posts. We won a couple of games by 100 point margins and ended the season undefeated. Matt Hughes was with me on that team and we still yarn about it every now and then. What did you like most about your Nudgee College education? It was thorough. I had a good solid foundation to build off in terms of future success. Were you interested in becoming a writer while at school or did you have a different career path in mind? I believe I wanted to be in business or finance at that young age. Probably because I watched too much television.
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