Ingrid Brett Profile

Talented young Canberra-based writer, Ingrid Brett, is making a name for herself. Last year the 16 year old won the National Youth Week Write It competition  in her age category for her story entitled Leadership is a sacrifice.  It was a wryly amusing take on the given theme of leadership, in which a young girl takes herself way too seriously as a leader of a water balloon team competing against the boys. For most of the story, the reader is under the illusion it is set in a war zone.

Next she placed third in the national John Marsden Prize for Young Australian Writers, 2012, for a poem entitled My Name is Growing.  The poem was the sad
and touching tale of a robot impressed with artificial intelligence and a human personality who was not loved and recognised as human. Her stories have also been short-listed in several other contests.

Her latest project is a novella- a story based around the relationship between her main character, a zombie, and a young boy he takes a paternal interest in. Set in the future, in a world largely inhabited by the walking dead, she weaves a dramatic, intriguing, touching, unearthly, yet riveting human interest drama amongst the people of the world of the dead. Having had a sneak preview,  I can heartily recommend it. The novella has a fantastic premise and the writing is beautiful. The novella is about two-thirds of the way through. Ingrid expects to finish it in the next couple of months, and wants to polish it later this year, when her study load lightens. She is currently looking for a publisher.
Ingrid is a remarkable young women with many talents. Very articulate and very opinionated, she takes a strong interest in politics and the law, and absolutely loves writing. She is also very smart- she will be completing year 12 this year despite being only 16 years of age.  She is majoring in English and Legal studies, and also studies art and history out of interest.  Her mother says her talent for the law and writing showed early on, with her topping her classes in high-school when legal matters were being studied in commerce and performing excellently in her creative and critical English work. Ingrid has also contributed to many political/legal forums. Some of the comments she contributed to a public discussion forum were quoted (though unattributed) in a submission to parliament on same-sex marriage last year.

I asked Ingrid about her remarkable successes and talent, and she just shrugged. I asked her if there were any authors in particular who she liked who had influenced her and her response was ” Not particularly, really. All authors influence me because I see their method of work beneath the story itself and sometimes I like what I see. ”

She sees herself as shy and a bit awkward in social situations, with a few close friends and many acquaintances.  I found her to be pleasant, intelligent, passionate about what and who she cares about, and a massive Dr Who fan who can write in Circular Gallifreyan, the language seen in the series.  She is also  someone who possesses a sharp, and sometimes sly, wit, and a wicked delight in puns. The reason for that she says, is that they are ‘punny.”