My Culture Hits: Prima Facie Author Suzie Miller

In Service95 Book Club’s series, My Culture Hits, Suzie Miller, author of Prima Facie – which is adapted from her internationally successful stage play of the same name – shares the songs, artworks and films that influence her as a person and a writer

The Music That Soundtracks My Work… These days it is certainly Rebecca Lucy Taylor (aka Self Esteem); she did the music for a play of mine, and I fell in love with her work the minute I heard it. It is demanding and strong. Self Esteem does not compromise and is sexy and confident while also being feminist. 

The Film That Had The Most Impact On Me… Recently: Blue Bayou, which is about a Korean/American adopted character and the racial stereotypes he experiences as he tries to create relationships and work in the US. I wept as I watched it on the plane.

The Theatre Production That Influences My Writing… There are so many but Robert Lepage’s Far Side Of The Moon was a play I saw very early in my career that worked magic on me in terms of enticing me towards writing for theatre. This was a play about a man grieving his recently deceased mother beautifully juxtaposed against the concept of space travel. It was an exquisite piece filled with tiny moments of unbearable vulnerabilities and some surprises that truly showed how theatre can create magic.

The Art That Has Inspired Me Most… Sculptor Louise Bourgeois – her work is strong and thoughtful, and has a woman’s sensibility and sensitivity.

The Cultural Icon I’d Most Like to Meet… Irish writer Claire Keegan. Her small book Foster moved me like no other. I read it with a sense of impending doom, only to want to embrace the main three characters afterwards for the beauty of humanity that is possible.

The Toughest Part Of Moving From Stage Play To Book Form… It was actually a wonderful experience. I had the chance to include all the things I had to cut from the stage play; the hardest part was leaving the main character behind.

The Fictional World I Want To Live In… I read Jane Eyre when I was ten and I was mesmerised. I don’t really want to be in Jane’s life of torture at school or even later, but I would love to climb up to the attic and meet Bertha. The woman in the attic who was Mr Rochester’s wife. The novel by Jean Rhys Wide Sargasso Sea told from Bertha’s point of view was a brilliant realisation of a silenced character and answered all the terrified questions I had at ten.

Suzie Miller is the author of Prima Facie, out in hardback from Hutchinson Heinemann