‘Two Flat Whites’ chats with Rebecca Fitzgibbon. Rebecca is a writer and photographer. She has travelled the world & continues to utilise her talents for a number of newspapers & magazines. You can catch up with Rebecca at
http://www.myspace.com/spiritlust
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If you sign an autograph what do you write? And where do you call home?
At a time when I was musing adopting a pen-name, my dad impressed upon me that branding my own name would be a good idea. I took his advice and you may call me Rebecca Fitzgibbon. I live in a modern, sunny, cliff-top beach-house over-looking the River Derwent in Tasmania. I wake up to the sound of the waves, chirping penguins and brawling possums; it’s wonderful. The only thing I’d change is moving the Equator about 41 degrees closer.
In your own words, what do you do?
I’m a writer – newspaper journalist, magazine feature writer and photographer, specializing in trend watching, alternative youth culture, fashion, music, subcultures, new designers, artists and social movements and anything else slightly off-centre that my readers might be interested in.
Childhood Memories:
TV Show –
I was down with Punky Brewster, who made me want to be an obtuse arty hipster, The Incredible Hulk, who inspired me towards mild feminism, Get Smart’s spunky sidekick Agent 99, who sparked an appreciation of mod fashion and Monkey, who made me a mystic. I was into everything, pretty much, probably contributing to why I write pop-culture and youth features now.
Hobby –
Writing: I do it for a living because I love it. Dancing: my partner is a music manager and event coordinator. Singing: I co-facilitate a women’s choir. Also, having kitchen discos with my dangerously funky kids and hobnobbing with inspiring creative types.
Food –
Asian fusion, fresh fruit and veggies and organics; all that good stuff. Plus lots of coffee and expensive gin, to balance it out.
Fear –
I fear giving up because life is too challenging. Jeanette Winterson wrote “What you fear, you find,” and Frank Herbert wrote “Fear is the mind-killer.” I try to abstain, mostly.
People –
I’ve got a local community of musicians, artists, designers and other creatives, a wider circle of various travelers, ferals and freaks, a bunch of extended family in three continents and internet buddies around the world as inspiration. I spend most of my time with my laptop, so it’s lucky I got one called “Life’s Good.”
Defining moment –
My first published article (don’t remember what it was though), homebirthing my son, living in the States. I’m inspired every time an interviewee calls to thank me again for doing a story on them; that the response was awesome.
Schooling memories, chore or cherished?
Cherished – multicultural Melbourne was good for me.
From the hours of 9am to 5pm, what do you get up to?
I work from home – writing for my newspaper section, features for a few websites and magazines in three continents.
Where can people see your work?
Print magazines like Frankie, Yen, Girlfriend, WellBeing, Tasmanian Life, Conscious Living, in the States titles like newWitch, PanGaia and She Unlimited, and in the UK, Kindred Spirit. Also online sometimes at:
The Mercury newspaper
http://www.themercury.news.com.au
TheNews
http://www.thenews.com.au
The Program
http://www.theprogram.net.au
Frankie magazine
http://www.frankie.com.au
Oh and my MySpace profile, because I actually use it for work:
http://www.myspace.com/spiritlust
For love or money?
For love and money – walking a delicate balance and finding equilibrium through abundance and compromise.
What future endeavors are in the pipeline?
Working less and earning more, a few non-fiction books, and perhaps a fashion line and a sprawling mud brick, glass and timber adobe rancho in some tropical paradise – all realistic and achievable, of course.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Preparing to travel the world again.
If you could invite 3 people to chat over coffee, who would they be & why?
Kalle Lasn
who is Vancouver-based founder of Adbusters and The Media Foundation because he’s a vibrant visionary and revolutionary, who is so smitten with ideas that he trips over his words as he speaks.
Chloe Sevigny
, the actress, because I admire her craft and she hangs out with coolsie hipsters and I’m sure we’d all get along, uhm, famously.
And
Hunter S Thompson
, the legendary gonzo journalist, whom I’d ask to bring a plate to share.
Coffee or Tea?
Coffee; good and strong. Chocolate-coated coffee beans are fine too, thanks.
