An Interview with Gillian Katz

I immigrated from Johannesburg, South Africa, to New York in 1966. I was thirteen years old and came with my family. My father was a doctor, and we had my mother and two sisters, aged fifteen and four, with us. The move was very difficult as we were the only South Africans we knew. We felt very out of place. Our accents gave us away whenever we opened our mouths, and everyone thought we should be black and dress like Tarzan. We were white and Jewish. My mother had four servants in South Africa and we lived in a mansion. In America, we lived in a small house in Eastchester, New York, where my mother was expected to do all the housework and shopping as well as taking care of the children. This proved very hard for her. I, myself, did not settle well into school. After four difficult years, we returned to South Africa, where we only stayed for three years. In 1970, we came back to the United States. All this traveling back and forth throughout my high school years was devastating for me. I ended up going to five different schools on two continents.

I became enmeshed in a religious cult, The Worldwide Church of God, which created a false sense of belonging and identity, which I had desperately been searching for. I am no longer affiliated with that group. I worked as a secretary for many years and eventually married my husband and had two daughters. I live in Scarsdale, New York, with my husband.

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Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

The title was not easy to find. I have been working on it for many years and originally the title was: A Matter of Conscience. Eventually I settled on Goodbye South Africa, which encapsulates the book, because we left South Africa twice during the course of the novel.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

Like a long, long, long journey was finally completed.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I have wanted to tell the story of immigrating from South Africa to New York since I was fourteen years old. It took several decades for this story to be brought out into the world.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I am a published author and poet. Goodbye South Africa is my fourth book. My first was a collection of essays, poetry, and fiction, Witness to the Birth and Death of My Country. My second was a chapbook of poetry, Kaleidoscope, and my third was a poetry book, Portrait.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

That I can give talks and readings and meet up with other South Africans in my area.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

Reflections of my Life by Marmalade, A Place in the Sun by Stevie Wonder, I Am Woman by Helen Reddy. These were all songs recorded in the 1960s.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

I hope they feel empathy for immigrants. That not all immigrants are poor and destitute coming to this country. Some people, like the family in my book, are forced to leave a place they genuinely love and spend a lifetime missing. They leave because of political reasons, but they didn’t have to.

What creative projects are you currently working on?

Working on writing poetry and fiction.

How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?

I think this was a fantastic experience. People tell you to self-publish. The level of expertise that Atmosphere showed in every level of producing this book is something I could never ever have done on my own, no matter how many people have told me to do it. Yes, it was expensive, but I believe that people should be paid for the work that they do.

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