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We’re thrilled to share our August Member Spotlight features Chris Hammer! Chris was recently announced as the winner of the ACT Book of the Year Award for his novel, The Seven.
Chris Hammer is a multi-award-winning author of crime fiction. His first book, Scrublands, was an instant bestseller when it was published in mid-2018. It won the prestigious UK Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey Award for a debut crime novel in 2019 and was shortlisted for various awards in Australia and the United States. It has now been adapted for screen and premiered on Stan in late 2023. His follow up books – Silver (2019), Trust (2020), Treasure & Dirt (2021) and The Tilt (2022) – are also bestsellers, and all have been shortlisted for major literary prizes.
Before turning to fiction, Chris was a journalist for more than thirty years, dividing his career between covering Australian federal politics and international affairs. He reported from more than thirty countries on six continents with SBS TV, while in Canberra his roles included chief political correspondent for The Bulletin, senior writer for The Age and online political editor for the Sydney Morning Herald. Chris has also written two non-fiction books, The River (2010) and The Coast (2012).
What inspired you to begin a writing career?
For many years, I found the prospect of writing tantalising, but not realistic. I believed it was something that other, more talented people, could do. So I became a journalist instead. That led to the opportunity to write two non-fiction books for Melbourne University Press – The River and The Coast. In writing those books, I discovered not only that I could write a publishable book, but that I loved the process. I was hooked!
After those two books, I ran out of money, so I went back to journalism. I found I missed writing, but I lacked the time and resources to write any more non-fiction, so I thought I’d try my hand at crime fiction, something to do in my spare time. That book evolved over the years into Scrublands, my first crime novel.
So, to some extent, I’m an accidental novelist.
What does it mean for you to have The Seven shortlisted for the ACT Book of the Year Award and the 2024 Indie Book Award for Fiction?
Writers tell ourselves that prizes don’t matter, and it’s certainly true that winning a prize isn’t (and shouldn’t be) an objective in itself.
However, all writers feel some level of insecurity about their work. It’s just too difficult to remain objective about such an extended and personal piece of work such as a novel. So being shortlisted for a prize comes as a sort of validation: other, more objective, better informed people think your work has merit.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
That it’s possible, not just for other people, but for me. That the joy of writing, the work itself, can translate into a career.
Which Australian authors/illustrators have been influential for you?
Peter Temple was my writing tutor, when I was an undergraduate studying journalism in the early 1980s. He was a brilliant stylist as a non-fiction writer and, subsequently, as a crime author. His final books – The Broken Shore and Truth – transcend crime fiction, and demonstrate how much more can be done with genre. Reading those books inspired me to try crime fiction.
Why do you think it’s important to be a member of the ASA?
Authors work in a gig economy. We’re price takers, not price setters, vulnerable to the whims of the market and of publishers. So it’s important to have someone independent looking after our collective interests, whether that’s fighting for a better deal with Public Lending Rights or fending off the threat from AI or giving advice on publishing contracts or setting rates for public appearances.
