Sunil Yapa

My First Post


This first post is going to be about an American Sweetheart. Sunil Yapa. At first I knew very little about this guy, no that's a lie, at first I had never heard of this guy. He was the first name on a long list of people talking about themselves that I was going to have to listen to over the weekend of the Mildura Writers Festival. He had a big job really. I was feeling rather apprehensive about the festival and was sceptical about how this adventure was going to enrich my life. He had a big job in my eyes, to get me excited for the weekend. Well, he wasn't exactly like some club bangers and shots of cheap vodka but he did do the job.

No, contrary to what you might think, it was not his smooth American accent that won me over (although it didn't go unnoticed) it was his relaxed demeanour and smooth conviction to his profession. He wasn't like a trendy vegan trying to convince me to change my life and the way I see things. He wasn't like those Jehovah Witness people that rock up on your doorstep and preach the word of God to you. No, he was effortlessly entertaining. Over the weekend we heard a little more from him now and then but he really made a lasting impression at the end of our weekend when he spent some of his 'free' time to talk with our group of University students. That's why I have chosen him as the victim of my first post.

This is where research came into it, (this is after all an assignment). I still didn't really know all that much about him. First I did what any good university student would do and I stalked his social media outlets. Facebook showed me his travels and many of his political opinions and beliefs, Twitter was much the same but Instagram came up with the goods with a little topless pick. Woo! I wondered how much of what writers put on their social media is what they genuinely think? Do publishers, agents or other big wigs monitor their social media? Do they have to approve posts? Anyway...then I did what any good university student would do and I Googled him. Turns out he has his own website. His bio told me about his education, awards he had won and there was just a sliver of information about him, which was nice. Looked a little further and read a little more and learned some stuff. There is an interview on VICE which I found really interesting. Reading about how he feels in regards to protests, politicians and things like globalisation is funny because I have little understanding of those kind of things, call it ignorance.

So what did I gain from meeting Sunil Yapa, well I bought a new book which I haven't yet read. I became moderately interested in a festival that I was not looking forward to. I learned a very little amount about the Seattle riots and perhaps realised how little I knew about a lot of things. I had a laugh because he swore at his talk, Aussies love a little bit of colourful language in public. I also got to have a little perv, always beneficial. No what I got from Sunil Yapa was quite unexpected really. I wonder if people think about how they are influencing others around them. Like when people talk do they think "gee I reckon that sentence is going to make this group of people re-evaluate their life choices". I don't do that. Sunil had something that I haven't been able to find yet in life. He had a weird kind of genuine love/passion/drive for what he was doing. I'm not sure what to call it because I'm not really sure what it is. He made me want to find it again though. The parts of his talks that really struck me were not about politics, protests or globalisation. The things that really stuck with me were when he talked about the time spent writing the book, the travelling he had done, the doubts he faced and still faces in regards to his writing and his life and his struggle to produce something worth publishing. I don't think I want to be a famous writer, or a writer at all, but I do want to find success. I think I look up to this guy.

I still don't really know anything about Sunil Yapa or what he believes in. I don't recall what inspired him to write his book. I don't know too much about what interests him BUT what I do  know is that those things that I love doing that I had packed away in a box, because I didn't have the time or the confidence to do them, might be pulled back out from their hiding spot....for a little while at least.