AN INTERGENERATIONAL story of queer Western Australians has won Fremantle Press’ Fogarty Literary Award this week.
Glimmers in the Sea Glass is a manuscript written by Perth author Chuckie Raven which “celebrates the strength of queer youth” and the “importance of queer elders” in both WA’s cities and regions.
Raven describes Glimmers in the Sea Glass as having “two narratives and timelines” which “crisscross” throughout the book, following the lives of two queer people growing up in WA.
“It follows one non-binary kid called Owen who is growing up in 2024 and has just survived suicide, and they’re in a mental health inpatient unit, at the same time as coming to terms with who they are and the fact that their family doesn’t accept them,” Raven said.
“The other storyline follows Sez, who is a young lesbian woman growing up in Donnybrook in the early 2000s, and she’s struggling with her own experiences but finding her own family and figuring out what her future looks like… the stories weave together [throughout the book].
“On the one hand, the two experiences can feel very different, and it can be hard to relate to younger queer people, but on the other hand, they’re so incredibly similar… it’s the same themes of rejection, acceptance, and being true to who you are, it just plays out across years.”
• Chuckie Raven (centre) with Fogarty Foundation founder Annie Fogarty and Fremantle Press author Georgia Richter. Photo by Ryan Gibson
Glimmers in the Sea Glass also highlights the unique experiences of queer people growing up in rural areas, the isolation of which “can add a level of struggle” which Raven has observed while working in regional WA.
“You can see in this story that there’s a beauty in growing up in a country town, being so tight-knit, but there’s negatives as well,” Raven said.
“It was important for me that [this was included in the book], especially because a lot of people think that since we got marriage equality that the struggle is over, and that’s just not the case.
“I spent a bit of time in a regional town recently [in my work] for a place that does drop-in sessions for young queer people, and you can just see that they’re really up against it and they’re so incredibly strong, and I wanted to speak to that in the novel.”
The title Glimmers in the Sea Glass was based off Owen’s character who has a “really strong connection” to the sea, and also pays homage to the manuscript’s coastal setting.
“It’s also a reflection of my own upbringing, because I spent a lot of time with my grandfather walking along the beach in Fremantle and finding sea glass that appears after every storm,” Raven said.
“It’s just a little bit of magic and whimsy in the world and I wanted it to feel like that… it was trash, and it comes back as these gems… it encapsulates what I’m trying to write.
“I took inspiration from a couple of different beaches, even some as far down as Busselton, but left it ambiguous… every West Australian who can make it to the ocean has a feeling about a particular beach, and I wanted people to see their own story.”
Raven received $20,000, a publishing contract with Fremantle Press, and a $1500 writing fellowship from the Centre for Stories.
Glimmers in the Sea Glass will be published in 2026.
by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER