Translated Interview with Selma Sakić
We spoke with the author of Croatian-New Zealand story of brave women and secrets
In her debut novel New Zealander P. J. McKay tells the story about a woman from Korčula and her daughter Luisa, and we talked with her about why her story started on an island on the other end of the world
Selma Sakić and Pip Mckay.
We often say travelling can enrich our lives, open new horizons, but also change our life completely, taking it to a completely different direction. New Zealander P. J. McKay experienced the latter, but in a very unusual way. In her youth, in the late eighties of the last century, she travelled across Europe with her friend and visited former Yugoslavia. The encounter with communism and the hint of war were shocking to young P. J. McKay, but in spite of everything, she was particularly impressed by Dubrovnik.
Journey from her youth will change her life, but only a few decades later, after she wrote the novel “The Telling Time”. The story of Croatian immigrants in New Zealand, of women who have to hide dark secrets and of complicated family relationships, has just been published by Znanje publishing house, and writer P. J. McKay visited Zagreb. We got a chance to talk to her about the book, but also about her life journey, from career in science to a novel about Gabriela from Korčula and her daughter Luisa.
She fell in love with Dubrovnik while travelling former Yugoslavia
The trip from 1989 had a deep impact on her because Yugoslavia was a completely different country than any other she visited so far. She always loved to write, so she kept her diary during that trip, and that diary would later prove be very helpful for her book.
“My friend and I were on a backpack trip around Europe in 1989 and we came to the former Yugoslavia. We were very young and naive then, and we were looking for some new challenges. We first came to Macedonia, and only later to Dubrovnik, which I fell in love with. Fortresses by the sea, streets and stone - because of all this it seemed to me as if we had come to some place out of this planet. I knew it was one of those places I would never forget. When I started thinking about writing a novel, I considered different places where I would place the story and then decided on Korčula, which is very similar to Dubrovnik. I wanted Gabriela, the main character, to come from a small island town to New Zealand, also an island”, the friendly writer told us at the beginning of the conversation.
Gabriela took her secret from Korčula to New Zealand
Stradun, Dubrovnik.
Writing a book is a demanding job and McKay did a lot of research for her novel, with the help of the Croatian community in New Zealand. She associated with Croats, listened to their stories, participated in gatherings and concerts, and enjoyed Croatian food. As she told us, she got familiar with stories about the history of her country and Croatian immigrants who started coming in the 1920s. Through the stories of their beginnings, she realized how difficult it is to make a life in a distant land. But she realized that all of these people still feel a deep connection to their country, and the nostalgia is so strong that it is passed on even to generations born in New Zealand.
“The Telling Time" is a novel about two different generations, about a mother and daughter, their relationship and secrets from the family past. It is a story about complicated situations and complex characters, which the author tells with complete understanding.
From science to novel
P. J. McKay began writing her novel after returning to Croatia in 2014 and working hard on research. But interestingly, she was still involved in food science at the time, which has actually been her job for years. “Time of Discovery” is her literary debut, and she decided to dedicate to it after her sons grew up and thus provided her with the necessary time. “I’ve always loved to write, but I never thought I’d be able to write a novel”, she said, but added that she always loved detailed descriptions, even when she was writing scientific reports.
Although writing a novel might sound like an easy and somewhat romantic task, it is still a lengthy process, which P. J. McKay put a lot of effort in. She wanted to write, so she decided to do something about it. The first step was a course in creative writing. The mentor told her that it was important to find a topic she wanted to talk about and a strong foothold in her own experience. She remembered her youth and the moment she found herself in an extremely sensitive situation due to a reckless decision. It was the vulnerability she felt then that served as the backbone of the story. Although she was still involved in science, an inner voice didn’t let her give up on this idea. In 2016, she enrolled in creative writing course at the University of Auckland and devoted herself entirely to writing, and it was there, as she points out, that she learned how to structure a novel and do the best job in telling a story - the story of Gabriela and her secret, but also of her daughter Luisa, who will come to Yugoslavia thirty years later to explore her roots.
The story connects Croatia and New Zealand describing the difficulties of immigrant life. There is a possibility it will get a sequel, as the author herself says, "I have a sequel to the story in my head, but I have to sit down and work. I feel Luisa deserves the second part of her story,"
P. J. McKay added at the end: "This book celebrates women by showing how strong they had to be, especially in the 1950s when the political situation was unfavorable for them in both the former Yugoslavia and New Zealand. It also celebrates women's friendship, mother-daughter relationship, and women's determination and endurance in general”, P. J. McKay finally said to her readers.
