A BRAIN tumour might be considered a major stumbling block in life, but for a Yarraville author it has led to a successful career.
Diagnosed in 1997, Christopher Morgan had surgery to remove the tumour. It was only after that that he discovered the ability to write longer stories than the shorter ones he had previously dabbled with. “The shift in the way I was forced to live, the way I existed … it meant I had the time to reflect more and that helped me extend the story,” Morgan says.
With his new-found passion for writing and the time to dedicate to it, he has since published four books, including two children’s novels, Pirates Eat Porridge and Pirates Drive Buses.
His second adult novel, Currawalli Street, was officially launched at The Sun Theatre last week. It tells of a group of neighbours from the pre-war era of 1913 to the grim times of the Vietnam War in 1972. Morgan says he structured the story to reflect the “echoes” of life.
“I wanted to highlight the fact that things don’t change like the structure of the houses and the environment of the street, even though the people change,” he says.
“I suppose I realised that in the street where I live, I’m affected by the same things in the same way as a person who lived there 100 years ago did. Bricks and mortar stay the same and human reactions and emotions stay the same.
“None of the people in the book do anything terribly outlandish. The story is a ‘meditation’ of a street rather than an adventure story.
“That was one of my discoveries when I began writing it and it became a sort of backbone to the novel – ordinary people do extraordinary things in the course of the day without knowing it.”
Reflecting on how the brain tumour has affected his life, Morgan says: “It was so long ago now and I’m so used to living with the results of it. Most of the people I know don’t know me any other way.
“It’s hard to define what it causes and what affect it has on my life nowadays. I see myself as just the way I am.”
