Congratulations on winning Zealous Stories: Short Story! Burial Rites is a story about a married couple’s relationship, about grief and how suspected infidelity can alter and plague behaviour — but it’s also a story about the necessity of writing. Tell me, when and how did you have the idea to write this story?
The idea for this story came about a few months ago after clearing out my wardrobe where I found an old jewellery box. It was only written recently because I was unsure about how to approach it. I like my work to have a certain universality – so everyone can connect with it on one level or another – which is why I wanted to tackle broad themes like infidelity and grief. The story has really helped me work through my own grief and has reminded me, much like Magpie is reminded, of why we write in the first place: we write because we need to, because it can help us come to terms with difficult truths.