Warburton author Robert Hillman and his latest book, The Rugmaker of Mazar-E-Sharif. By Monique Ebrington
ACCOMPLISHED Warburton writer Robert Hillman spoke of his latest book at the Yarra Junction Library this month.
The Rugmaker of Mazar-E-Sharif, published in May, is the biography of asylum seeker Najaf Mazari.
Throughout his prolific career as an author, Mr Hillman has written fiction and biographies.
His travels as a teenager first sparked his interest in the Middle East, giving him an empathy and understanding of the people from the region.
“I travelled through the whole Middle East as a kid, when I was 16, 17 years old. I worked there, lived there and fell in love in the Middle East,” he said.
In more recent years, the plight of people from the Middle East seeking asylum in Australia struck a nerve and writing their stories was his way of addressing a problem he couldn’t turn his back on.
“I was very aware of terrible things going on in integration policy and Australia,’’ Mr Hillman said. “Every time I read the paper, I thought, God, maybe something’s happening here, in my country, that I’ll always be ashamed of. I thought, this is what I could do – I could tell Najaf’s story.
Mr Hillman says he doesn’t take the process of writing a collaborative biography lightly and to him, it’s not a business venture.
“For me it wasn’t business, it’s something you have to dedicate a year’s worth of work together. If you’re going to enter a relationship as intimate as telling someone’s story, you have to like each other,” he said.
Mr Hillman is currently winding up a national book tour for The Rugmaker of Mazar-E-Sharif and plans to enjoy Christmas and summer before thinking about his next book.
