Book follows Shady’s journey to find Elvis – and herself

UOW Creative writing lecturer Dr Shady Cosgrove celebrated the release of her new book She Played Elvis with launches in Wollongong and Sydney over the weekend.

The book – a memoir of a journey Shady made to her American homeland after emigrating to Australia – has just been published by Allen and Unwin.

Described as a “classic road story – a journey of self-discovery set to an Elvis soundtrack”, the book tells of Shady’s pilgrimage from her mother’s home on an island near Seattle across the United States to Graceland for the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death, busking and singing Elvis songs along the way.

The trip with her Australian boyfriend Scott turned into a journey of self-discovery, as Shady re-connected with her roots.

The original manuscript was short-listed for the Vogel Prize for Literature in late 2007 – Australia’s richest and most prestigious writing award for an unpublished manuscript. That success and recognition prompted Allen and Unwin to publish it.

The release of She Played Elvis has generated positive reviews and widespread media interest, with Shady conducting interviews with leading broadcasters around Australia including the ABC Radio’s Richard Glover.

Shady, a passionate and popular teacher, paid tribute to her students for the role they had played in the final version of the book after she had shown them sections of her manuscript.

“My students gave me really important critical appraisal, and certainly didn’t hold back with their opinions,” she said. “From their feedback I actually overhauled some sections, and so they contributed to the final product in a very real sense.

“It really has been nice to have this experience in publishing to share with my students.”

Many current and former students attended Friday night’s packed launch at Wollongong City Library, rubbing shoulders with Dean of Creative Arts Professor Amanda Lawson, Dean of Commerce Professor Shirley Leitch and other senior academics, as well as representatives from the South Coast Writer’s Centre, the media, family and friends.

Shady read excerpts from the book, and played an Elvis Presley medlay.

Shady moved permanently to Australia in 1996, after falling in love with the country during a Study Abroad year spent at UOW in 1994. Returning to Australia after she graduated from New York’s Vassar College, she combined work as a journalist for Fairfax with a doctorate in English literature at the Australian National University, which she completed in 2003. That year she joined the staff of UOW’s School of Journalism and Creative Writing in the Faculty of Creative Arts.

Last reviewed: 7 September, 2009