Murphy has published her short fiction and poetry in various literary journals and anthologies, in Australia, India, UK and USA.
Her debut novel The Historian’s Daughter was shortlisted in the Dundee International Book Prize in 2015.
“The Historian’s Daughter is a novel about the decisions women make when they are afraid, and the consequences of living with those decisions,” Rashida said.
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READ NOW“I was interested in how perceptions of people are based on where they come from, how intrinsic racism is to the human condition and how I feel about these things as a brown woman living in Australia.
“This novel was, in part, an inquiry into the kinds of external factors that can render a generation of people homeless, and how do we, as human beings, deal with that.”
Murphy said the biggest myth about writers was that “we’ll all become famous and make money”, adding “and that it gets easier after you’ve been published.”
“If we only wrote because someone tells us we are good or someone publishes us, we would probably write once a month.
“I write because I must. I need to. Everything else, recognition, publication, acceptance, is secondary.
“Of course it’s great to be noticed, but I would write anyway. I’ve been writing since I was 13. Publication came decades later.”
Stories on Stage includes supper, book sales and signings.
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