In the fifth and final episode in the Point season of Elements, I talk to Kirsten McDougall about point of view and how it relates to her writing. We use as starting point for this discussion first-person perspective.

Again, I am still working out what I mean by this. I’m interested in the vantage point that we tell our work from. I’ve always called this ‘Point of View’ but I’m slowly wondering about how this term privileges sight. So, in this season I’m interested in ways of breaking this idea a little but to see if I can get at something interesting.

Some of the things we talk about are:

Here’s a link to Kirsten’s new book She’s a Killer

Here’s a link to Maggie Shipstead’s book Great Circle

Here’s a link to Olga Ravn’s book The Employees

Exercise:

Think of three people who you saw yesterday. Now write three first-person perspectives of yesterday. What does each person choose to tell you about their day?

Thank you Copyright Licensing New Zealand for funding the Elements series.

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