Biographers in Conversation

Peter FitzSimons: The Opera House

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In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Peter FitzSimons chats with Gabriella about the choices he made while writing The Opera House, the gripping biography of Sydney Opera House, one of the world’s most iconic buildings. 

 Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode:

  • Peter FitzSimons’s inspiration for writing the biography of Sydney Opera House.
  • Why Peter opened The Opera House with the Indigenous history of Bennelong Point, the site on which Sydney Opera House now stands. 
  • How Peter researched the book and captured vivid sensory details that enabled him to reconstruct historically accurate scenes that make you feel in the scene.  
  • How Peter grasped complex architectural and engineering concepts, then translated this complicated technical detail into a suspenseful narrative.
  • Why The Opera House includes so much dialogue and so many excerpts from parliamentary debates, minutes of meetings, correspondence and media coverage.
  • Why Peter wrote The Opera House in present rather than past tense. 
  • Why Peter made ironic comments throughout The Opera House.
  • The novelistic devices Peter employed to create a propulsive narrative that keeps you as the reader turning the pages.   

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