In this session, I will talk to Alli about her debut historical fiction novel At the Foot of the Cherry Tree, how her script writing influences her novel writing practice, and the inspiration behind her debut. I first heard of Alli through a close friend who'd worked with Alli before during a writing course. With lots of positive and rave reviews about her writing practice, I just knew I had to meet her! Plus, historical fiction - everything I love!

ABOUT ALLI

Alli Parker is a Japanese-Australian author and screenwriter, with a background in script editing and script co-ordinating. She lives on the stolen land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. In 2023, her debut historical fiction novel, At the Foot of the Cherry Tree, will be published by HarperCollins Australia, a novelisation of the true story of Australia’s first Japanese war bride and Alli’s grandmother. She co-wrote episodes of crime drama series Jack Irish, romantic thriller series Secret Bridesmaids’ Business and mystery telemovie series Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries. In 2020, she began running note-taking and script co-ordinating workshops to train others in these roles. In 2018, she undertook a three month script placement at Echo Lake Entertainment in Los Angeles with the help of the Australian Writers’ Guild and Scripted Ink.