Meet Associate Producer Gladys Serugga
Hi! I am Gladys, and I’m one of the Associate Producers at the Independent Publishing Conference 2020.
I was born and raised in Perth and moved to Melbourne to fulfil a childhood dream of mine, that is to write (and explore of course, but to write nonetheless). Growing up, I would religiously borrow books from my school library and often re-read my all-time favourites, particularly the Clarice Bean collection by Lauren Child. I wrote my first novel at the age of 12, with a name long enough to be a Fall Out Boy song title. Unfortunately, that same summer, our computer caught a virus which ultimately destroyed my entire manuscript and with it, the desire to continue writing.
But not for too long. Because no matter where I went in life, I found stories in everything.
When I completed my undergraduate degree in Architecture, I realised my just how deep my love for design and storytelling really was. My dream would be to merge the two, and I love that it is something I get to do in this role. Whether it’s the story behind the red brick driveways of the federation houses in suburban Victoria, or the story behind your neighbour’s strong sense of emotional intelligence when you say you’re okay, but they just know that you’re not—that is what I live for.
Now studying a Master of Journalism at the University of Melbourne, I also have my own podcast called Temples where I interview people in the community who have inspired me. The conversations I have with these people discuss the structural elements that have made up their life, and how those elements shape their character and who they are today. These are everyday people, and that is intentional because my aim is to showcase this one thing: everyone has a story.
In my spare time, you will probably find me playing my piano, braiding my hair or dipping my toes in the water at the beach. It is not enough to see the coast (Perth raised me better than that). Your skin must feel the water—every single time. That is probably a metaphor for life, take it if you will.
Looking forward to virtually meeting you at this year’s conference, or you can find me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/gserugga/.