Little Green Pigging

I ran my first session today at Little Green Pig, a weekly afternoon writing group for young people. The "Piglets" are 7-11 years old, and the "Saddlebacks" are 12+. I haven't done a lot of work lately with young people, so was a bit nervous going into it. I'm particularly out of touch with the younger ones, as it's been almost twenty years since I was camp counselor at a bilingual Spanish/English day camp.

I decided to use the theme of animals for both groups, talking about how authors use animal characters in different ways. We looked at picture books - younger ones for the first group, and more sophisticated ones for the teens (such as The Rabbits, Arlene Sardine, Chato's Kitchen, Willie the Dreamer). I was really impressed with some of the younger ones, who proposed that perhaps using animals wasn't so different from using people, since we all evolved from the same origins. Then I had them use their writing time to create animals characters/situations. One of the teens wrote a fantastic poem about a cat who falls in love with a dog against her family's wishes. We also had an amusing story of a leper fly who was left handed.

I read the second group the opening from Patrick Ness' The Knife of Never Letting Go, and told them how he created a talking dog as an antidote to all the non-animal-like talking animals in books he'd read. I'm hoping some of the teens will come and see my interview with Ness on May 10th as part of the Brighton Festival, as it would be great to have them in the audience asking questions. It's so hard getting teens to writing events, as I found out when directing the Brighton Children's Book Festival. So fingers are crossed.

Overall, I was happy with how things went, though it's hard to know what is getting through and effective. Anyone have any tips for good ways to activate and engage young writers? Now I have to come up with a plan for next week...

Patrick Ness shortlisted for Carnegie Medal

They've just announced the shortlist for the Carnegie and Greenaway Medals. I was pleased to see that Patrick Ness' The Knife of Never Letting Go was included. I read this because I'm going to be interviewing Patrick on May 10th as part of the Brighton Festival (tickets are still available here).

This book, and the sequel which is just being released (The Ask and the Answer) were both phenomenal. It's difficult to describe without sounding a bit silly (a world where men's thoughts can be read by everyone, animals can talk, it's another planet...), but he pulls it all together so convincingly. And it's a gripping and pacey read. Not for everyone, as there's some pretty gruesome violence, and the world described is fairly dark. There's also exploration of how we each form our identities, we are the choices that we make, etc. He does end both books on cliff-hangers, which can be frustrating when you know you have to wait for a year before the next book comes out. But I'm sure it will be worth the wait!

Call for entries for teen writers

Mitali Perkins has posted a "call for entries" on her blog. You have to be a teen living in the United States or Canada, and have at least one parents who was born outside of the United States. Please help to spread the word to any teen writers you know!

Moving and Rottingdean

I've been preoccupied of late as we are hoping to be able to move to a new house. We've been squeezed into our very sweet one-bedroom flat, but with Cassy almost two years old, it's feeling tighter and tighter. So I was thrilled to find out that a three-bedroom flintstone cottage built in 1902, practically next door, is going up for rent. We'll have to rent out our flat, and go through the application process with the new one. But if all goes well, we'll be moving at the end of May (just in time for Cassy and my birthdays).

All of which gets me thinking about place. We live in Rottingdean, a village that is much sweeter than its name. We're in the south coast of England, a few miles away from Brighton. So we get a duck pond and the sea, with access to a bigger city with arts, movies, and all that jazz. Rottingdean has its own children's book and literary connections. Enid Bagnold lived here and the butchers that still stands on the high street was the inspiration for the book National Velvet. Nick Tucker gave a talk a few years ago at the Brighton Children's Book Festival, and described how the other villagers were scandalized when she walked from her house down to the sea in her bathing costume. Shocking!

It turns out the butchers didn't much like her representation of them, and so refused to have/sell the book in their shop. I read the book years ago in a class taught by Nick Tucker (British Children's Literature 1900-1960 as part of the MA at Roehampton University). And I thought it was quite an affection family portrait, but could see how it might seem condescending, especially in class terms.

Rottingdean also has a connection with Rudyard Kipling. He moved here after visiting his uncle, Edward Byrne-Jones, the Pre-Raphaelite artist. The Elms, where the Kiplings lived, is still there. And we also have the Kipling Gardens, which were going to be bought by a developer but were saved by the venerable Rottingdean Preservation Society. They passed it to the council, and it is a wonderful public park space with rose gardens, a croquet field, a herb garden (pronounced with a hard 'h' - thank you very much!), and an enclosed grassy area. Kipling got fed-up with his fame when in the village, paying a boy to fend off autograph seekers when fishing on the raised pier (no longer there), and getting annoyed by horse-drawn tour buses trying to peek in his office window. He also lost his daughter when in New York through an accident, and the village reminded him of her. So they moved to Bateman's in Burwash, which is now a National Trust site that is worth a visit.

Kipling brings up all sorts of strong reactions. Scholar Peter Hunt feels that Puck of Pook's Hill is the best children's book written in this century. I'm afraid to say all I've read my Kipling so far is The Just So Stories, so can't comment on that. There are all the racist and empire-building associations. But I've heard of two authors, Farrukh Dhondy and Jamila Gavin, who cite Kipling as a love and influence on their own work. Dhondy spoke at the British IBBY/NCRCL MA conference several years back, when the theme was East Meets West in Children's Literature. He said the thought Kipling's Kim and Twain's Huckleberry Finn were the two best multicultural books ever written. He described a scene in Kim on a train, where people speak to each other in a variety of Indian dialects, and how he thought Kipling's use of English conveyed that variation better than anything else he'd seen.

Complicated stuff, race, literature, storytelling. Class as well, with the uppercrust Bagnold inhabiting, and perhaps maybe not fully inhabiting, life in Rottingdean. Which brings me back to our village now, and how happy I am to (hopefully) be able to put down even more roots here. In addition to the children's book history, we've got a fantastic range of children's book folks in the local area - Rottingdean, Brighton, Sussex. Here's just a short taste: Jill Hucklesby, Emily Gravett, Polly Dunbar, Chris Riddell, John Lord, Raymond Briggs, Cliff Wright, Nicky Singer, Miriam Moss, William Nicholson, Marcus Sedgwick, John Agard, Grace Nichols...

All topped off by Rottingdean Kite Day, taking place on Sunday, 26th April. You can go inside the old windmill which I've heard is the logo for Heinemann Publishing. And to quote the family in Mary Poppins (which I've been enjoying of late with Cassy) - 'Let's go fly a kite!'



Oh, but wait, one more wonderful things about Rottingdean. They built the most ridiculous railway during the Victorian period (I think) - a train on stilts that ran through the ocean. At high tide it went just over the top of the water, and during low tide it ran way above. I think it was destroyed by storms, twice. And then they gave up. But you gotta' love them for trying!

Skellig on Sky

I watched Skellig tonight on TV (luckily for me, they showed it on Sunday and Monday, as I was gutted after missing the first one). The book, written by David Almond, is one of my favorites from the last, I don't know, century? I'm drawn the fantastic, and this book leaves you with many gaps, spaces for you to create your own meaning. The writing is poetic, minimal, and creates such strong and engaging characters. So I was a bit worried about the adaptation, especially since previews showed scenes that felt really out of keeping with the book.

But I have to say, I was impressed. They did make some changes, but I still felt the spirit of the book was captured. I'm not sure if the enigmatic character Skellig came across as well as I would have liked. But then, how do you capture such an ethereal being, who is both or earth and spirit?

My husband and I saw the theater version at the Young Vic several years ago, which was musical (which really worried me!). And in a totally different way, I enjoyed that as well. Theater lends itself differently to opening up imaginary spaces. And they added a lovely touch of dropping white feathers on the audience at the end. The movie was bigger, of course. Mostly, I'm just glad to see this book get as much exposure as it can. Hopefully it will lead people back to the original!

Save the DFC

Just found this blog that is inviting people to pledge to try to save the DFC (David Fickling Comics). I haven't been a subscriber, but have just added my pledge. It's a shame to see such a creative and worthwhile endeavor die a death.

So go on a pledge!

Do we publish books that teens really want to read?

So I got an email from Zetta (I blogged about her yesterday - hope you don't mind me sharing this, Zetta), and she asked how many writers connect to what teens actually want to read? And I think I'd add to that - does it matter?

She was partially asking based on the really fascinating interview from Finding Wonderland with Sherri L. Smith about her book Flygirl. An historical novel set during WWII, the story centers around the idea of "passing" for a mixed-race girl - an issue that had different sorts or resonance when jobs were explicitly unavailable if you were African American. And Zetta was wondering about her novel A Wish after Midnight (a timeslip novel that follows a teenage girl from her life in contemporary Brooklyn to Civil-War era Brooklyn). She ended up self-publishing the novel as publishers seemed particularly uninterested in the historical aspect of the book (they were more interested in the gritty urban contemporary section - a whole different issue). She wonders - are teens really interested in reading books about the past?

Of course there are all sorts of teens, and I loved to read about the past, and I loved fantasy books even more. I think there are books that address different kinds of readers. Aidan Chambers' series (including Breaktime and Postcards from No Man's Land) imply an intelligent, precocious and advanced reader, I think. Then there is Twilight, which certainly doesn't demand a whole lot of its readers. It takes all kinds, and we all benefit from a varied diet of books (a smörgåsbord, if you will).

There is often discussion about awards, and whether they go to books that adults like but children don't. This became a major debate after Anita Silvey published her article, Has the Newbery Lost Its Way? on this topic. And several felt that The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which won the most recent Newbery, reversed the trend. Many thought it was both well-written and popular.

So do we give young readers what we think they should like, or what they happily devour? And who should authors write for - themselves? Or should they be out there on the ground, working with kids and workshopping their books? People are often shocked when I say that, when I worked in publishing, I never saw any publisher go to kids to test their product (as happens with films, for instance). It made some sense to me working in publishing. But is it a problem? Are the adults working in publishing, and those writing the books that get published, missing an opportunity to create books that speak more directly to young people today?

No pressure...

Without putting too much pressure on myself, I'm going to try to blog a bit more often. I've found it difficult juggling parenthood (Cassy is almost two), part-time work at Roehampton University, and freelance work. What with my husband also starting his own business during this same period, time is at an absolute premium.

One of the reasons I now feel somewhat bad about blogging is that I'm not able to keep up with other people's blogs. I started to when I first started this, but that was before I had a baby. There are a just a few I view at present.

There's Fledgling by Zetta Elliott. I met Zetta when I was working at Lee & Low. She sent several stories that were promising and I loved her writing voice. So we met for lunch, and while I didn't manage to edit a project with her while I was there, since then she's gotten her picture book, Bird, published after it won their New Voices Award. Zetta is an honest and clear-speaking person, which doesn't always fit comfortably into a publishing world that can often shy away from openly facing issues - especially when it comes to diversity and publishing. Her blog is thoughtful, open, and always worth a read.

The other blog I catch when I can is children's books for grown-ups by Natasha Worswick. Natasha and I did the MA in children's literature at Roehampton University at the same time (if you are interested, it was a fantastic programme and I'd recommend it to anyone). She also has a young child, so I'm always interested to see how she's juggling her interest in children's literature (as someone who worked in publishing and at Bookstart) and parenthood.

Oh, and one more. I'm going to interview author Patrick Ness on May 10th as part of the Brighton Festival. This made me read his first two books, The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer, both published by Walker Books. And I absolutely loved them. They were original, gripping, daring, dark, complex, and I couldn't put them down. In fact, I'm going to have to restrain my enthusiasm during the interview so I don't sound like a complete dork. And as a result, I've started to follow Patrick blog at his website. He's also the first Writer in Residence at Booktrust, and he's blogging there as well. He's also posting writing tips which I think are quite useful and shed more light on his writing process.

But that's about it. Otherwise I'm pretty much out of the blog loop. But hoping to find a bit more time to keep up, and just figured out that Facebook has a kind of blogroll thing that I'm hoping will help.

So that's it - hopefully the first of more frequent posts to come. Now back to maybe doing some of my own writing. We'll see...

Latest Newsletter

I've been a bad blogger! But just sent out a newsletter, and thought I'd add it here too...

6th April 2009

Dear colleague,

It has been a while since I've sent out a newsletter. Please feel free to forward this to anyone who you think might be interested. Happy spring!

News:

I have recently been appointed as a part-time lecturer at the National Centre for Research in Children's Literature (NCRCL) at Roehampton University in London. I've been working there running conferences for several years, but now will be primarily teaching as well as helping with events. We run a fantastic MA in children's literature, and I'm interested in developing more in terms of children's publishing, so do get in touch with any ideas/questions (you can find me via my website). Find out more on the NCRCL website.

Coming Up:

Brighton Festival Events
I'll be chairing the Illustrators Evening: Creating Books for Very Young Children panel discussion on 8 May, with the talented illustrators Axel Scheffler, Polly Dunbar and Chris Fisher. Read more here.

I'll also be interviewing Patrick Ness on 10 May. We'll discuss the first two books in his trilogy, which are fantastic for anyone looking for provocative dystopian future-world books (with the best talking dog you'll ever meet). Find out more here.

Brighton Children's Book Group
I'm organising the second gathering for published authors and illustrators, and people who work in children's book publishing, to take place on 22 April. This informal get-together will include discussion on a focused theme (websites this time) as well as general conversation and networking. Please get in touch if you're interested in hearing more.

Little Green Pig sessions
I'll be running two afternoon sessions at Little Green Pig at the end of April/early May. This is a Brighton-based writing group for children aged seven to eighteen. Read more on their website.

IRSCL Congress
The International Research Society for Children's Literature (IRSCL) biennial congress will be taking place on the theme of Children's Literature and Cultural Diversity, 8-12 August, in Frankfurt, Germany. I'll be delivering my paper, 'What’s the Story?: Reflections on the Publication of Children’s Books Written by Non-White Authors in the UK.' Read more here.

On-going:

MS critiquing
I continue to offer manuscript critiquing, and have had to schedule projects in advance as I've had so much interest. I am about to finish critiquing 26 picture books which the authors plan to self-publish and distribute, and have also been hired to help develop and edit an illustrated manuscript for submission to publishers. Recently, I've been asked to critique an illustrated children's book manuscript, looking at both text and illustrations. There are a couple of people with whom I act as an on-going writing mentor. If you are interested in learning more about this service, have a look at my website.

Writing support groups
I run two monthly writing support groups for aspiring and published children's book writers and illustrators. These take place in central Brighton on the first and third Wednesday of the month. Please contact me if you are interested in coming along.

Editing books for Nigerian publisher
I've been editing a series of children's books for Cassava Republic publisher in Nigeria. These are supported by the Millennium Development Goals and will be distributed to children throughout Nigeria. Find out more about the publisher on their website.

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