Capital Yarns – Q&A

Capital Yarns is a project by Canberra lawyer, Sean Costello. The website allows the public to suggest 3 random things and Costello weaves them into a story set right here in our nations capital. I spoke with him about the project and his recent book release.

Anja Kokkonen: How did you come up with the idea for Capital Yarns?
Sean Costello: So, it sort of started when my kids were very poor at going to sleep at night, both of them sadly. A few years back we came up with this idea in our family, that they give me three items and then I try and make up a story on the spot at bed time to help settle down. It seemed to work and they liked the stories and I always meant to try and write them down afterwards but I never got around to it.  I really liked the idea of somehow committing to doing a bit more creative writing a year or so ago and so I thought that would be a good model to use. To say via social media if people want to do the same thing, give me three items and I can craft a story for them.
AK: How many stories have you written so far?
SC: I think it’s probably around 40 at the moment, they are not all online. Around 15, I think, made it into the book and I just released one last week for Easter.
AK: The requests that you get through social media, are they mainly from Canberrans?
SC: Yeah, mainly Canberrans. A few expats, if I’m using the right word, who have moved somewhere else in Australia or overseas but usually they have some connection to Canberra.
AK: How did you create your online presence?
SC: Canberra’s social media community is pretty friendly and welcoming, so I sort of just put myself out there and said here I am. Not surprisingly, family and friends were the first to request stuff. But I was lucky enough to be involved in something the Visit Canberra guys did  last year called 101 Humans. I got connecting blocks of really amazing creative people who are doing some cool stuff in Canberra, so that has assisted in a roundabout way.
AK: There has been a lot of redevelopment in Canberra recently, is this reflected in some of your stories?
SC: I’m certainly trying to, I guess, promote to the rest of Australia some of the more interesting things and unexpected things happening in Canberra. I think the New York Times called it the hipster underbelly of Canberra. You know the side that is not the stereotypical suits, eating in Kingston and Manuka and working on the hill. There are so many more cultures and subcultures happening in the city. And I think part of that is generations like you and I who were born here and grew up here and want our city to keep developing and getting more interesting.
AK: I read a quote that you said “every lawyer is a frustrated novelist”, is there an influence from your work or is this more of a creative outlet?
SC: *laughs* Or a masterchef! Look, I really like the work I do, it’s awesome but it doesn’t have much creativity to it, so having a creative outlet is really nice. I’m also very mindful of not crossing that boundary and obviously there has been a bit of chat around the last few years about how can public servants juggle wanting to have some sort of social media presence personally. So I’m very mindful about having a very clear line and not ever writing about stuff that’s directly related to my work at all.
AK: Do you have a favourite story that you’ve written?
SC: It sort of changes and they are favourites for, they may not be the best written, but being given challenging subject matter or challenging items and actually being able to do something with them. I quite like the roller derby story called She just because it sort of captures a bit of a sub culture in Canberra. Canberra still has a very flat sort of structure, we don’t have a lot of classes or hierarchy or people who think they are more important than others. It’s a community that values the fact that everyone is pretty even no matter what you might do. So if you could have a roller derby player in a mask who could be someone very powerful or prominent in the city and I don’t say who that is and I leave it to the reader to speculate who that might be.
AK: On the website the stories are aimed at both adults and kids, is this the same with the book?
SC: The book is basically adult stories. There is a couple in there, my kids are always trying to grab it and read it, two that they are allowed to read. They are 5 and 8, the two they are allowed to read are one called Brumbies and the Unicorns and another one called Anzac Day. Adults have said they liked them but they’re sort of kids stories as well. The other ones are more adult focused but I have done a lot of kids stories. I don’t know if I’d do a book again but if I did, I think it would be a collection of kids stories.
AK: Where is the book available?
SC: Paperchain in Manuka, Dymocks in the city and most of the national institutions. National Library, Museum, Portrait Gallery, National Gallery,  they’ve all stocked it. I haven’t in any serious way seen if anyone out of Canberra has noticed it, its a very Canberra centric book.
Written by Anja Kokkonen