Conversations with Writers

Virginia W. Dike is Professor of Library and Information Science at the University of Nigeria where she specialises in school libraries, children's literature and library services. She is also one of the founders of The Children's Centre , a comprehensive educational and recreational facility for children and young people that includes a model children's library. In addition to that, she is a director with the Libraries for Literacy Foundation , a non-governmental organisation that works to extend library services to schools, communities and prisons and to generate local learning resources. Her books include Library Resources in Education (Abic, 1993) and the children's non-fiction books,  Birds of Our Land: A Child’s Guide to West African Birds (2nd ed. Abuja, Nigeria: Cassava Republic, 2011) and Why We Need Trees (Cassava Republic, Forthcoming). In this interview, Virginia Dike talks about her writing and about the state of Nigerian children's lite...

Paula Leyden was born in Kenya and grew up in Zambia. She spent most of her adult life in South Africa. Currently, she lives in Ireland. She made her debut as an author with the publication of The Butterfly Heart (Walker Books, 2011). In this interview, Paula Leyden talks about her writing: When did you start writing? I started writing fiction late in life – when I moved to Ireland eight years ago. Before that my writing experience had been mainly in the field of human rights, more agitational and reporting kind of writing. Once I had decided that I would like to try my hand at fiction I registered for a course called Write That Novel . It was run by Siobhán Parkinson , now our Children’s Laureate. I found it extremely useful as it was a very practical course focussing on things like plotting, character development, dialogue, pace etc. While on that course I did an exercise that then turned into my first novel (written before The Butterfly Heart and not yet published)...

Chris Nicholson is a lecturer in the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Essex and has worked in a range of children's services for over 10 years. In addition to that, he is a trustee of the Charterhouse Group of Therapeutic Communities ; a fellow of the International Institute of Child and Adolescent Mental Health and a regular speaker at bi-annual conferences on the poet and author Robert Graves . Chris Nicholson is also co-author of Children and Adolescents in Trauma: Creative Therapeutic Approaches (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2010). In this interview, he talks about his work: How did you first become involved in children's services? In the mid-90s I was finishing a joint honours degree in English literature and Philosophy at the University of Kent, in Canterbury. I had rather immersed myself in the reading and read way beyond what was required for these courses. In consequence I had an experience which the poet Robert Graves illustrates i...

Deborah M. Plummer is the author of books that include:  Helping Children to Improve their Communication Skills (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2011); Helping Children to Cope with Change, Stress and Anxiety (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2010) and  Anger Management Games for Children (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2008). Formerly a clinical lead therapist working within the NHS, Deborah Plummer now lectures at De Montfort University , Leicester and runs workshops and short courses on the uses of imagery and issues of self-esteem. In this interview, Deborah Plummer talks about her work: What are the common causes of stress and anxiety in the children you work with? For the last 15 years or so of my work within the NHS I specialised in working with adults and children who stammer. Although public awareness about the complex nature of communication difficulties is certainly improving, children who stammer still often experience a considerable amount of anxiety related to...

Chris Taylor is registered manager of a residential home and a company trainer. He works with young people with attachment difficulties and delivers training on the subject to foster carers, social workers and residential childcare workers. He is the author of A Practical Guide to Caring for Children and Teenagers with Attachment Difficulties (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2010). In this interview, Chris Taylor talks about his work: How did you first become involved in working with children and young people with attachment difficulties? I had a 15-year career in industry and, having worked through two recessions, I was feeling a bit jaded with commerce. A broken hip from a cycling accident gave me time to think about my future. My own children were young teenagers, and I believed I had something to offer adolescents, and that I would be motivated and rewarded. I found a job as a 'house a parent' (it's 20 years ago, language was different) in a therapeutic communi...

Jan Horwath is Professor of Child Welfare at the University of Sheffield Her books include The Child's World: The Comprehensive Guide to Assessing Children in Need (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2009) and Child Neglect: Identification and Assessment (Palgrave, 2007). She also co-authored Effective Staff Training in Social Care: From Theory to Practice (Routledge ,1998); Working for Children on the Child Protection Register: An Inter-Agency Practice Guide (Ashgate Publishing Limited, 1999) and Making Links Across Specialisms: Understanding Modern Social Work Practice (Russell House, 2003). Before becoming an academic, Jan Horwath worked as a practitioner, trainer and manager in both voluntary and statutory social work settings. In this interview, she talks about her work and the writing it inspired: How did you initially become involved in social work with children and families? As a young social work student I always intended working with children and families ther...

Belinda Hopkins is a Director and Lead Trainer at Transforming Conflict , a centre for restorative justice in education. She is also the author of Just Care: Restorative Justice Approaches to Working with Children in Public Care (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2009); The Peer Mediation and Mentoring Trainer's Manual (Optimus Education, 2008) and Just Schools: A Whole School Approach to Restorative Justice (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2003). In this interview, Belinda Hopkins talks about the work she is doing: How did you first become interested in Restorative Justice? In some ways I have always been interested in a restorative approach when working with young people – although in the early days I would not have used the phrase ‘Restorative Justice’ or ‘restorative approaches’ My first experience of teaching, in the field of English as a foreign language, radicalised me in terms of thinking of my students as autonomous, self-directing partners in their learning. Having s...