Geraldton born and raised actor and author Tasma Walton returns home and headlines Big Sky literary festival

Acclaimed actor and author Tasma Walton took a trip down memory lane at the weekend when she returned to her home town of Geraldton for her first proper visit in almost two decades. The Geraldton-born and bred star said it felt “very wonderfully nostalgic” to come back to where it all began for her and headline the 20th anniversary of the Big Sky Readers and Writers Festival. “I flew in overlooking the gorgeous coastline to my old beach that I always used to go to. I could spot some of the houses and schools ... you get to see the changes, you get to see what stays the same,” she said. Walton said fond memories, including lazy summer days spent swimming and bodysurfing at Back Beach, playing lots of sports, and her first after-school job paying $2.50 an hour at the Gregory Street fruit and vegetable shop, came flooding back. “It’s almost like a memory wash of just long, beautiful hot days at the beach ... to me that’s what I loved about summers here. They felt like they stretched on and on and on. I would get to read my books, go to the beach, work on my tan, come back, read some more books,” she said. The former Stella Maris student said the “stunning” foreshore was what had changed most since she was last in Geraldton. “This used to be train tracks, lots of rocks I remember, and hardly any beach and lots of stingers,” she recalled. “And Marine Terrace has had an upgrade since when I lived here. It’s very fancy.” Looking back, she recalled the “lovely” active lifestyle she grew up with. “It had that kind of double-edged sword of feeling safe because you knew everybody in the community but feeling a little bit claustrophobic because you knew everybody in the community,” she said. “In reflection, it was a beautiful, lovely place to grow up in.” Walton said she learnt a lot of resilience, grit and determination coming from Geraldton and choosing to pursue a career in the arts. “When you grow up in a place like Geraldton, it’s very outdoor-focused, very sports-focused, and whilst there was a really lovely artistic community, it never felt like a legitimate career choice to have a career in the arts,” she said. “But if you want it, you have to really fight for it and when I think about people that have come out of Geraldton like Kate Mulvany, Kodie Bedford, we’ve all had to really say ‘this is what I’m going to do’ and put our heart and soul into it to be successful with it. “But also when you come from a place like Gero you stay grounded. I think that’s a really important thing too, when you’re trying to traverse the territory of an artistic life.” Walton is riding a wave of success from her second novel, I Am Nannertgarrook, a powerful and harrowing tale about Australia’s colonial history, based on the true story of her great-great-great-grandmother. It has been embraced by readers and the literary community. This month, Walton was named the joint winner of the prestigious $100,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize. “Most authors might agree with me when I say it’s a labour of love and more often than not you prepare yourself for the bitter disappointment that nobody reads your book,” she said. “But you’re committed to telling the story, and you have to be, otherwise you wouldn’t put yourself through it. “It’s not an easy story to tell, it’s not an easy story to read, but I’m so grateful that people are taking that journey.” Writing about her ancestor made for a “more emotive creative experience”. “Because it’s held in your DNA somewhere and when you’re writing about experiences that are in the colonial records, that are not pleasant experiences, but you’re trying to bring them to life on a page, a part of you kind of lives them in a way,” she said. Walton, who launched her career in the TV show Blue Heelers in the mid-1990s before building an impressive resume spanning four decades that includes roles in The Twelve, Mystery Road, Cleverman and How to Please a Woman, was thrilled to be part of the Big Sky festival. “It’s beautiful ... I can’t believe it’s 20 years worth of having a writers festival here. I think it’s so wonderful for the community,” the 52-year-old mother of one and wife to comedian and TV personality Rove McManus said. “I’m thrilled to be part of that very significant milestone of 20 years.” Walton said a persistent mindset and conviction of the story you want to tell were the most important ingredients for any budding or existing writer. “It’s not an easy process,” she said. “Not that I’ve ever run a marathon, but I imagine it’s like running a marathon. “You’ve got to clock lots and lots of miles.”