5 Questions with Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa
Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa is a writer, performer, theatre-maker, filmmaker, and producer based in Boorloo. Her work as a multi-form artist for the last ten years has been recognised at the Performing Arts WA Awards (2020), Mona Brand Writing Awards (2022), WA Multicultural Awards (2022) and Young Australian Sikh of the Year (2023).
Her passion for storytelling began as a finalist in the Australian Poetry Slam (2014), semi-finalist on Australia’s Got Talent (2016) and winner of The Moth Grand Slam (2019). Sukhjit premiered her sell-out theatre work Fully Sikh with Barking Gecko Theatre Company and Black Swan Theatre Company (2019). Since then, she has been developing her comedy series What Would Suki Do? with support from ABC TV, and is currently producing A Hairy Tale, a documentary exploring female body hair.
Sukhjit is currently the Executive Director of The Blue Room Theatre in Perth/Boorloo.
No.1
You’re a writer, performer, theatre-maker, filmmaker and producer. Are there any drawbacks to having a practice that’s so varied? How are they related for you, if at all?
Not at all. The future is multi-form. Gone are the days of having to pick a lane and stick to it for the rest of your arts career. The story or message tends to inform the medium of expression. For ‘Collectables’, my debut song, that needed to be punchy lyrics with bangin’ music rather than a poem or play. Audience also guides which art form I want to play with. One thing all my work has in common is the themes I explore, the voice and trying to be authentic as possible. So whether you have met me or not, what you see is what you get in my art.
No.2
In 2019, you premiered Fully Sikh, a play with Barking Gecko Theatre Company and Black Swan Theatre Company, which was later sold out. Is your memoir a continuation of this play? How did the idea for the book evolve over time?
Fully Sikh: hot chips and turmeric stains is a collection of all my written works, essays, stories, poems, recipes, photos—a scrapbook of reflection. Rather than something you read in order, it’s something you can pick up and cook and create and reflect and share with a mate; its not really a continuation of anything. It’s something I’ve been resisting and scared of for years, to put all my proudest pieces in one place for people to read. But now that it’s out there and I’ve been hearing feedback, I’m so grateful to have done it. It’s a good intro to who I am and what I’m all about.
No.3
In Fully Sikh’s centrefold is a collection of full-colour photos of you and your family over the years, which is unusual for a memoir. You usually see them in biographies of authors instead. What resulted in this decision?
My publisher and I wanted to give people a taste visually (and through recipes) of who my family is, who I am, what my pin-up board would look like at home. Another layer to welcoming people into my life. The photos were also carefully selected, those that tell a story within themselves. And to honour those that have been on this journey with me. To celebrate them. When was the last time a Sikh family was centred in the Australian arts scene?
No.4
When writing memoir or personal essays, how do you balance the blurriness of memory and the need for specificity and vivid detail? And how do you find the balance between visibility and privacy?
If you know me, I’m an open book, an over-sharer. I wear my heart on both my sleeves. But I only can do that when I feel safe and comfy. So when putting a book out there for all to read, I only put what I feel comfortable putting out there.
Maybe the next piece of work will delve deeper into other parts of me that I censor. But there’s plenty in this book that will cause some drama for me, and maybe change how my community sees me. I’ve learnt over the years how to take a step at a time when it comes to sharing truths with my community—it makes for a more sustainable life and career. I’ve been burnt out in the past and now I care about my health and wellbeing. I also am a big believer in protecting family and community when it comes to sharing stories. If it’s not my story to share, I won’t share it. I only share my lens, the impact on me, my take on the world. I hate trauma porn so I’m not going to exploit my people’s history in order to make a bunch of white audiences feel something.
No.5
Fully Sikh is often very funny. What is the role of humour in your creative process?
From being the class clown in school to making my family and friends laugh through stories—humour is my love language. It’s what keeps me going in this (sometimes) shitty world. It’s the balm after a bad day. It’s the reminder not to take it all so seriously. It helps balance a story so when there is a strong message, it’s easier to digest. Light and shade I guess? Those can exist at the same time. I can be angry and hilarious at the same time.
Find out more
Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa knows a thing or two about telling a story. From her experience on stages and in front of live and television audiences, she now offers us her first book. Sukhjit reflects on her own experience as a Sikh-Australian woman, performing it against a backdrop of comfort and calamity: how we live our lives in a messy and multi-layered society.
Using the staging of meals as her mode, Sukhjit explores presumptions and the nuances of all that we can bring to the table. She plays with the etiquette of what is carried into public arenas and what stays in our private worlds: our aspirations and heritage, and all our baggage. There are no exclusionary zones for this courageous, passionate, irreverent, and very funny, writer.
Get Fully Sikh: hot chips and turmeric stains from Upswell Publishing here.