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🇦🇺 Australia /Culture & Society

Writing partners find love and deepen bond through shared creation

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • Writers Astrid Lorange and Andrew Brooks found their love deepened through their collaborative writing process.
  • Their shared passion for books, music, and similar communication styles initially sparked their friendship.
  • The couple has co-written various forms of text, from poems and recipes to scholarly books and legal documents, using their writing to navigate life events and understand their times.

For writers Astrid Lorange and Andrew Brooks, their shared creative process became the foundation of their enduring love story. What began as a friendship, sparked by common tastes in books, music, and even mannerisms, evolved into a deep romantic connection when they started collaborating as writers.

I knew I was in love with Andrew when we started writing together.

— Astrid LorangeDescribing the moment her feelings for Andrew deepened.

Their initial projects included experimental poems, performance scores, and lighthearted essays. These collaborations were more than just creative exercises; they were intimate ways of being and thinking together, fostering mutual trust and respect. "Writing together is a form of intimacy," they explain. Over the years, their partnership has expanded to encompass a wide range of written works, including poems, recipes, letters, exhibition catalogues, scholarly books, lectures, and radio shows.

Writing together is a form of intimacy.

— Astrid Lorange and Andrew BrooksExplaining the significance of their collaborative writing.

The couple describes their writing process as one of constant refinement, where they have redrafted texts word by word, acting as each other's first readers, editors, and critics. This rigorous collaboration has attuned them to each other's unique styles, leading to a shared voice. They learned to offer and receive critical feedback, understanding when a sentence isn't working or when a piece is not yet ready.

We have redrafted our co-written texts, one word at a time, over and again.

— Astrid Lorange and Andrew BrooksDetailing their meticulous writing process.

Their writing has also served as a vital tool for processing significant life events. After the birth of their daughter in 2018, they wrote to understand the complexities of pregnancy, birth, and parenthood, and to document their experience of welcoming their child home. They also used writing to connect their family to broader narratives of community and kinship, reflecting on the history of care and the ongoing crisis of divestment from social support systems. Now, more than a decade into their relationship and with a daughter, writing remains a daily practice that continues to fuel their love and understanding of the world.

We have been each other's first reader, editor, proofreader, and critic.

— Astrid Lorange and Andrew BrooksHighlighting their roles in each other's creative work.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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