Proliferating Possibility:
How Parkour Changed the Way Writer in Residence, Ale Prunotto, Sees the World
Literary Artist in Residence
YPRL has partnered with Nillumbik Shire Council to host and support a Literary Artist in Residence. The residency provides a dedicated space in Eltham Library for the writer to research and develop their next literary work and spans from July 2023 to March 2024. The artist will also conduct a community session as part of their residency.
2023 Literary Artist in Residence, Ale Prunotto, is using their residency to write a book on the experience of women and gender diverse people who engage in parkour. Ale is a local author who grew up (but not out of) playing in the oak trees outside Eltham Library.
Find the list of events and workshops being hosted by this amazing artist in residence here.
Can you tell me what you’re working on while you’re here at Eltham?
I'm working on a narrative non-fiction book about parkour. Narrative non-fiction is telling true stories in an engaging way that often reads almost like a novel. I'm really interested in telling true stories in a way that's really interesting to people. For this book, I'm trying to understand the role that parkour plays in different people's lives, but with a focus on women and gender diverse people. It's been really interesting to see the overlaps in stories from very different experiences, but that are kind of drawn together by this common practice. Also, because I do parkour as well, it's really interesting to see my own experiences reflected back in other people's experiences, even if they live in completely different parts of the world or have very different life stories. So, that's been really fascinating.
How did you get into parkour?
I kind of got bored with going to the gym and doing typical fitness things. So, I started doing parkour and then about six or nine months in the pandemic hit, and, well, I've always wanted to write a book—I studied anthropology as well, so I've always been interested in understanding other people's lives and the kind of context that people are in and the cultural values that surround that. I noticed that parkour had its own kind of culture, so I was really interested to explore that deeply and also see how individual experiences were expressions of that culture, but also how parkour created change in people's experiences of their bodies and in public spaces, because I could notice that starting in myself—I could notice quite a change in such a short time. So, I was like, oh, there's something here I'm sure other people have had similar transformative experiences. That's what I found from doing all these interviews.
I noticed that parkour had its own kind of culture, so I was really interested to explore that deeply and also see how individual experiences were expressions of that culture, but also how parkour created change in people's experiences of their bodies and in public spaces, because I could notice that starting in myself—I could notice quite a change in such a short time.
- Ale Prunotto
What is parkour’s significance to you?
One of the big things is that it helped me explore my relationship with risk and uncertainty in a safe, progressive way. So, it's not just throwing me in the deep end and being this distressing experience, but I can kind of take the steps that I want to take when it feels right and I feel good in my body and I feel like I can mentally, emotionally cope with the uncertainty that's coming up in this challenge I want to do. It's helped me push the edges of my comfort zone in relation to how I move through the world physically, but also, in other ways—like, career decisions, there's other parts of your life that also involve risk and uncertainty. Travel is another one.
It's also helped me be more comfortable in my own body and less inhibited when it comes to movement. I remember going through high school just feeling very closed, very constricted in my body. I did a little bit of sport like tennis and athletics and that kind of thing, but it was all quite regimented physical activity, and it had lots of rules, I think it enabled me to have some of those foundational skills but starting parkour really helped with the playful side of things, accessing that side of me that I'd always wanted to express ever since primary school, but had kind of had it conditioned out of me during high school, and then realizing there's a whole methodology for jumping on things and having fun—acting like a kid basically. It was enabling me to express myself through movement.
Another big one is that it contributed to me more fully exploring and understanding my sense of self because parkour is very much about learning to see and then subvert the social norms that dictate how we use public space, because they are very intangible, and you can kind of take them for granted. But then parkour is all about being like, oh, so this handrail is designed to be held while you're walking down the steps, but what else can we do with it? So, it's kind of about proliferating possibilities. For instance, with gender that's a big crossover I’ve found because there are so many intangible gender norms that dictate who you're meant to be and what you’re meant to do. I'd known about these things through studying anthropology, or just general knowledge, and kind of questioned them in an abstract way, but I didn't feel like I'd been putting it into practice, but parkour was very much about translating those questions into action. When you're looking at this piece of park furniture, you know this is the rule about how you’re meant to use it, but what could I do here? And then the next step is, let me try this. Let me try x, y, z. A similar thing happened with exploring gender, like, help make those questions more concrete.
I don't just have to question it abstractly. I can be like, oh, let me try this. Let me try that and see what works. And the community was just super supportive with that transition. I definitely feel like the parkour community’s the first community I really felt like I belonged in.
For instance, with gender that's a big crossover I’ve found because there are so many intangible gender norms that dictate who you're meant to be and what you’re meant to do. I'd known about these things through studying anthropology, or just general knowledge, and kind of questioned them in an abstract way, but I didn't feel like I'd been putting it into practice, but parkour was very much about translating those questions into action.
- Ale Prunotto
How has writing in the library influenced your writing process?
I think the main thing so far—it might change a little bit as I go further along—but I think it's just helped me create more structure. Just having a place that I'm meant to be going to at a certain time. It's kind of just helped me get into the flow a lot quicker than if I'd been at home. Because I like to work in the morning, but most libraries around where I am don't open until 10. So, I kind of feel like, oh, should I stay at home and start early, or should I go in and start later? But then, because of the uncertainty, I kind of end up doing other random stuff. But it's nice to just be like, okay, I know it opens at nine and I'll be there at nine to start. And there's nothing to distract me. I can just get straight in. I think, also, I was struggling with a lot of self-doubt, procrastination, that kind of thing. Just having the residency and having all these wonderful people interested in what I'm doing. It's just a big confidence boost to have that. It’s just made it a lot easier to just keep going and be like, okay, don't stress about whether it's going to get finished or not, just do it.
Can you recommend some books that have inspired your work?
True Stories: The Collected Short Non-Fiction by Helen Garner
Also available as eAudio (Borrow Box), and as a Book Group Kit.
I really love Helen Garner. I just love her perspective on everyday situations, she's very witty and funny, and I love that.
Joe Cinque's Consolation by Helen Garner
It’s crime but written from her perspective, kind of investigating the case and going to the trials and then developing her relationship with the families and piecing things together from the court document. I found that really interesting because I'm wanting to use a similar narrative device of having my story being the thing that connects all the other stories. The narrative arc being the narrator kind of gathering knowledge, that kind of investigative angle.
The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper
Also available as eBook (Borrow Box).
Coincidentally, also a crime. This one was about someone who was accused of setting fires in Gippsland during Black Saturday. I found this story really interesting because she was piecing together this quite detailed story from multiple perspectives, but she didn't put herself into it. It was kind of this bird's eye view of what was happening, and then only right at the end, she put her perspective in, it was very gripping.
Pleasure Activism: the Politics of Feeling Good by Adrienne Brown
This one was a collection of essays about the relationship between pleasure and play and changing the world in some way. I just found the themes really helped develop my thinking around play and parkour. And kind of getting out of that productivity, like you must work hard and kind of sacrifice things in order for change to happen or things to happen.