Featured Interview With Brett Hetherington
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Canberra, Australia. Since 2006 I have lived with my wife Paula and our young son Hugo in the Barcelona region of Catalonia, northern Spain. Before that we lived in England and also Japan.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
That´s an excellent question for a writer. I think I must have been only three or four years old. My mother used to read to my twin brother and I a lot – things like the Little Golden Book with stories like Scuppers, The Sailor Dog and I loved anything by Dr. Zeuss when I was young. I started keeping little diary-ish books when I was about 12 but only got serious about it in my mid 20s.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
George Orwell, Paul Theroux, Primo Levi, Carlo Levi,Don Watson, Slavenka Drakulić, Paul Auster, Antonio Muñoz Molina, Rory Maclean,Joanna Bourke, Eduardo Galeano, Bob Dylan(!) They all inspire me in different ways.
I have to read a lot of fiction for my work as a reviewer but a good travel book will always win me over.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Remade Parent, a non-fiction book is my latest publication. It took over 8 years to write alltogether.
This book deals with the problem of “Why We Are Losing Our Children & How We Can Get Them Back .” It combines my personal experience as a parent and a teacher of secondary schools for 15 years (in 4 different countries) with concrete ways of helping mothers and fathers recognize how, why and where their parenting is under the greatest pressure.
I also explain the deeper reasons for men too often failing in their role as fathers and looks truthfully at the current phenomenon of many mothers increasingly “opting out” of being genuinely involved in their children’s lives.
Finally, I offer an optimistic picture of ‘The ReMade Parent:’ the carer we all have within us, waiting to be awakened – a new kind of thoughtful, understanding, and physically present parent. One that will provide the “continuous care, concern and affection” that our children need now more than ever.
Buy the book on Amazon.
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