CDU Lecturer pens novel that brings a new perspective to female autism

Charles Darwin University (CDU) Senior Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics Dr Raelke Grimmer has produced her debut novel, a story that explores the complex nature of grief while bringing a new perspective to female friendship and autism. 

Dr Grimmer’s young adult novel, White Noise is set in Darwin and navigates adolescence, friendship, autism and grief through lead characters Emma and Summer. 

For Dr Grimmer, who also lecturers in Creative Writing at CDU, her writing journey began while finishing her PhD. 

“My PhD project was in creative writing and applied linguistics. I was doing a lot of nonfiction writing and I needed to take a break from this, so I gravitated back to young adult fiction which I had always loved reading and writing,” Dr Grimmer said. 

“I started to write the novel for fun more than anything else.”

“But once I started writing, the story just kept coming, and I found myself compelled to keep writing and see where it went,” she said. 

Dr Grimmer says her background in linguistics helped her with her writing. 

“I’ve always loved words and language and my interest in linguistics stemmed from my interest in writing and how writers craft their work together, and bend and break the conventions of language for a particular effect in their writing.”

“I think there is a perception that linguistics is about specific language rules, but so much of linguistics is about understanding how we use language and how language changes over time through the way we use it in real, everyday life.”

“I am very particular about language and the way my writing sounds on the page. I want my prose to reflect a particular sound or language I’m trying to create for the world of my book, and my background in linguistics possibly attunes me to this in a different way,” she said. 

Dr Grimmer encourages inspiring writers to find the writing process that best works for them.  

“I love the writing process. More than anything, I really enjoy the rewriting process. I write my first drafts relatively quickly, as a bare bones "skeleton" draft, to get the basic story and characters down on the page. This for me is the hardest part of the process,” Dr Grimmer said.

“Once I have that skeleton draft to work with, I spend a lot of time re-writing, draft after draft, adding depth and detail and colour. This is the part I enjoy the most. I love seeing the threads of the narrative pull together in this process and the problem solving of figuring out characters and plot.”

“It’s so rewarding to see it come together on the page, in often surprising or unexpected ways.”. 

Dr Grimmer, has been living in Darwin since 2016 and was shortlisted in the Poetry Award category in the 2023 Northern Territory Literary Awards. She is also the founding editor of the Northern Territory literary journal ‘Borderlands’ and was the recipient of an online ArtsNT Varuna Fellowship. 

White Noise is available for purchase from UWA publishing or your local independent bookshop.