A new face for Jose

Creative Writing

Professor Nicholas Jose, who recently joined the University of Adelaide as Chair of Creative Writing in the School of Humanities, is about to release a murder mystery, Original Face.

Part thriller, part satire and a very engaging murder mystery, the story starts with the skinning of a man and the disposal of his body at a rubbish tip.

"I had a Chinese friend who was a taxi driver. He was intelligent and well connected, but his passengers made judgements about him because of his what he did for a living and the assumptions they made about his understanding of English," Professor Jose said.

"He became invisible to them. As he drove politicians and business people across Sydney, they would talk openly in front of him about all manner of affairs, assuming he did not understand.

"In the end, his knowledge of so many things that were going on in the city was amazing because he was able to put together all the pieces from his many influential passengers.

"But all the clues are there if you see them, and he inspired me to put a taxi driver at the centre of Original Face because they are in the perfect position to see all the different communities in a city and how they interact as they cross the city carrying passengers from location to location."

Original Face is Professor Jose's seventh novel and the fourth dealing with Chinese subjects, reflective of the time Jose spent in China, both teaching and as Cultural Counsellor at the Australian Embassy in Beijing from 1987 to 1990.

Original Face is published by Giramondo Publishing and has an RRP of $27.95.

Story by Lisa Reid