Having been part of the Debut Crew 2024 for her memoir, Ariane Beeston is a debut once more with her new YA contemporary novel, Don't Forget to Smile.

Host Shara Curlett welcomes author Ariane Beeston to The KidLit Pod. Ariane is a former child protection caseworker and psychologist who now works in perinatal mental health and also teaches dance.

Ariane shares how her childhood creativity was expressed through ballet and writing. They discuss music and movement, and Ariane describes attending ballet training while simultaneously attending mainstream school, before leaving ballet after body-type pressures in being told she was too short and muscular. Ariane returned to dance later in life through teaching.

Ariane's debut memoir, Because I’m Not Myself, You See (2024), was about postpartum psychosis, and Ariane shares how writing her memoir was not cathartic but destabilizing. She also shares how her YA novel, Don't Forget to Smile, appeared unexpectedly while her memoir proposal was on submission and flowed out of her, meaning that she effectively wrote both books within a year.

They discuss her novel’s unique structure, character realism, design elements integrating texts and TikTok posts, and themes around ballet culture, social media comparison, and the need for better teaching and wellbeing. It also confronts damaging ballet traditions and emphasise friendships and speaking up for help. Shara draws comparisons to verse novels and shares how any teenager, with a dance background or not, could pick up this book and relate to it. They also discuss the themes within the book that were handled so delicately and resolved so well.

Ariane discusses her influences including Galax Arena and Robin Klein as well as her latest reads, before sharing her upcoming launch plans (linked below) and where to find her online.

Don't Forget to Smile

LAUNCH INFORMATION:

Friday 3 July 2026 at Readings Emporium, Melbourne

Tuesday 9 July 2026 at The Rose Read Bookshop, Summer Hill, NSW

Find Ariane on Instagram: @arianejbeeston

Website: www.arianebeeston.com

INFLUENCES:

Galax-Arena by Gillian Rubinstein

Turning Pointe by Chloe Angyal - How a New Generation of Dancers is Saving Ballet from Itself

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Find out more about The KidLit Pod host, Shara Curlett, here:

Shara Curlett on Instagram (@sharacurlett)

Shara Curlett Website (www.sharacurlett.com)