12 Curly Questions with children's author Dr Niraj Lal

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.

I really like rainbows. I have this special diffraction-grating film that makes rainbows when the sun shines through it, and I’ve got it up on the windows at home and it shines rainbows all through the house. I track the summer and winter solstices with them – I’m obsessed.

2. What is your nickname?
Nij

3. What is your greatest fear?
Becoming too enmeshed in our rapidly-spinning consumption economy that makes us all want to work more and buy more – but have less time to properly live and be human.

4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
(Hopefully..) simple, playful, concise, pictureful (I know this isn’t a word, but it should be!), organised, intentional, radical, human, pithy, clear.

5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Intentional, honest, evidence-based, political, human.

6. What book character would you be, and why?
The dad in Danny the Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl. He’s a fun dad, doing magical things with his kids, going pheasant hunting, and fixing cars.

7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
1777 – the year before British colonisation of Australia. To see how the Australian landscape looked under Indigenous custodianship – with the most advanced fire science the world has ever seen, and environmental management practice that gave unprecedented abundance and sustainability in the driest continent on Earth.

8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
Cool. Can we go play now?

9. Who is your greatest influence?
My family – my partner Sally and our kids, and my own folks. People who dare speak truth to power – Julian Assange, John Pilger, Matt Kennard. The wonderful science communicators – Carl Sagan, David Attenborough, Bill Bryson, Richard Feynman. The people who have recognised the criticality of our ecology – Rachel Carson, Barry Lopez, elders across the world.

10. What/who made you start writing?
My dad, who loved writing. He bought me a diary when I turned 7 and helped me to write whatever came into my head and my heart.

11. What is your favourite word and why?
Community. It brings colour and resilience to life – in all forms: familial, local, global, ecological.

12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
The Tracker, by Tom Brown Jr. An astonishing picture of what an Indigenous education of connecting to Country really looks like in practice. Beautifully written and profound.

Dr Niraj (Nij) Lal is an ANU Visiting Fellow and host of the ABC’s Imagine This kids’ podcast, and he’s passionate about making science work in society’s interests. He has a PhD in physics from the University of Cambridge, has appeared on Play School and Catalyst, and his awards include the 2021 Celestino Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Science and the 2022 Royal Societies of Australia and New Zealand Piasecki Prize for Outstanding Writing on Social Change. He lives in Melbourne with his partner, Sally, and their three kids. For more information, see nirajlal.org