Rookie: James Kemp.

James Kemp was born in 1973 in Perth. He’s lived in Germany and England, and his accent betrays the English heritage of his family. ‘I grew up in Norwich, about 200 miles from London,’ he says. From beginnings as a troubled youngster and a self-confessed nerd, James ended up as a writer: he's delivered a self-published novel entitled Naked With Joy.

The novel is set during the Sydney Olympics, providing a cultural context in which the protagonist, Jake, explores his relationship to himself, to others, and to the world around him. The events of the games act as a poignant allegory for the life Jake leads and the changes he makes. As Thorpie powers through the pool, Jake roots a girl with similar gusto, seemingly inspired by the mass sportive epiphany that is the Olympic games. The book is a passionate foray in to the mind of the young male. ‘When I first started writing [this book], I was a seriously angry young man,’ says James, smiling. Any traces of the angry young man he apparently used to be have been erased from James, and the book no doubt acted as an effective catharsis.

James is most impressive in his sharp, focused sketches of Sydney. He chooses his words economically, obviously unafraid to edit down significantly. Early in the book, he offers an evocative view of Sydney in the early morning:

‘There’s something something weird about daybreak in the city. I mean, when you’re really in the city. Stranded in the thick of it, surrounded by those unholy structures of glass, concrete and steel. Harsh, angular shapes at every turn, and immense surfaces of cold, inflexible matter that soar skyward till they disappear. By day these urban spaces are defined by the flows of people, and there’s a reassuring familiarity about them. But pre-dawn, while it’s still dark, everything is other. It is at this time that the corporate lair reveals its true nature.’

Naked With Joy explores sex, clubbing and life as a sometimes-confused twentysomething. Impressively however, James has managed to avoid the pitfalls of inner-city life clichés and the predictable clubbing signifiers. This is a book that DJ Kid Kenobi says is brilliant. Gaining the props of the clubbing community is easier said than done, so Kemp must be doing something right. Kenobi says it all: ‘this is a novel of strong ideas. Never before have I read the music, the issues, the experiences and the general idiosyncrasies of our generation represented with so much clarity and insight.’

(Originally published in The Brag as part of the Rookie column).