[Interview] Belinda Hopkins

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 subsequently trained as a modern language teacher, I found the authoritarian regime of school difficult to accept. I was inspired by Reimer (1971), Postman and Weingartner (1971), Holt (1966) and Freire (1982), who questioned the role of adults vis-à-vis children and the issue of children’s rights and responsibilities. I also read about non-violence and conflict resolution in schools (Isaacson and Lamont 1982; Judson 1982).

My teaching style was informed by a desire to create a democratic classroom, and I often used a format which is now called classroom conferencing (Thorsborne and Vinegrad 2004) – resolving differences and problems by sitting in a circle, actively listening to each other and finding ways forward together. I based much of my modern languages teaching around the social goal of creating community and trust in the group, using game-like activities to develop self-esteem, communication skills and cooperation, albeit in French and Spanish. Eventually, in 1994, I left the teaching profession to become a freelance trainer and consultant in the field of conflict management and mediation.

In 1997 Terry O’Connell, a police officer pioneering Restorative Justice in New South Wales was invited over to the UK by the then Chief Constable of the Thames Valley Police Force, Sir Charles Pollard to talk about his work with young offenders to youth justice professionals and educationalists. Hearing O’Connell speak, I saw the relationship between work I had been doing in schools for many years and the potential of restorative justice philosophy to provide an overarching framework for this work.

After O’Connell’s visit I was invited to be involved with the Thames Valley Police to develop work in schools, and I began to write about the connections between restorative philosophy, conflict management, mediation and circle time, urging people to consider restorative justice more as a whole-school approach than a discrete intervention (Hopkins 1999a; 1999c; 2002b; 2003a). These ideas all came together when I wrote my first book on the whole school restorative approach – indeed the first book ever to be written on the subject- Just Schools (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2004). (This section is an extract from an article that can be found here and was adapted for my doctoral thesis.)

What do Restorative Approaches have to offer that the more traditional routes of blame and punishment don’t?

Traditionally, in families, schools and in the criminal justice system there has been a response to wrongdoing that could crudely be described as ‘name, blame, shame and punish’. In other words, if someone does something wrong then they must be punished for it. If there is no punishment then the miscreant has ‘got away with it’. Certain key questions inform the mindset of those with the power in such settings:

• What happened?
• Who is to blame?
• What is the appropriate response to deter and possibly punish those at fault, so they will not do the same thing again?

The first question - What happened? is based on the belief that something factual happened, some essential ‘truth’ and that this can be discovered by interviewing or even interrogating whoever was involved or whoever witnessed the event. Words such as ‘interview’, ‘interrogate’ and ‘witness’ give away the origin of this approach – the criminal justice domain requiring people to be detectives! In this approach discrepancies are viewed as suspect, inconsistencies considered proof of dishonesty and written testimonies acquire the status of evidence, often with priority given to those statements given by those with more age, rank or status.

The second question – Who is to blame? is informed by the belief that when something bad has happened there must be a culprit or culprits. ‘Dealing with the situation’ comprises first identifying this guilty person or people and laying the blame for what happened at their feet.

The third question –What sanction will deter and punish? is based on the belief that accountability comprises being punished, and that punishment will deter both the miscreant and others from repeating the wrongdoing. This latter belief is held on to despite evidence to the contrary. Sanctions and the threat of sanctions are rarely sufficient to deter further wrongdoing – a fact about which much more will be said.

Restorative practitioners bring a different set of questions to bear on any situation of conflict or wrongdoing:

• What’s happened?
• Who has been affected or harmed?
• How can everyone who has been affected be involved in repairing the harm and finding a way forward?

The first question - What’s happened? looks deceptively similar to the first, traditional, question. However its intention is very different. When a restorative practitioner asks a person to explain what happened they appreciate that this is only one person’s perspective, and that they will get a different answer from everyone they ask – and that this is inevitable, normal and interesting. They appreciate that there is no ‘one truth’ about an event, but many truths – and it is the discrepancies in perception about an event that may have given rise to the problem in the first place. Thus a key quality of a restorative practitioner is curiosity, and they like to encourage that curiosity amongst everyone they interact with.

The second question - Who has been affected or harmed? recognises that when something has gone wrong people will have been affected or even harmed (as in – distressed, hurt, upset, angered) and that whatever else happens there will be the need for some kind of repair. Many working and domestic environments remain unpleasant because conflicts have not been resolved and relationships that have been damaged are left in tatters. Curiously people’s needs are very similar whether they have been personally harmed by conflict or wrongdoing or whether they themselves have been responsible for causing harm (either inadvertently or on purpose.)

The third question - How can everyone who has been affected be involved in repairing the harm and finding a way forward? contains the key to what is different and radical about a restorative approach . It comprises two challenging paradigm shifts for some people – letting go the need for sanctions and letting go the need to be in control and impose solutions.

Many people equate justice having been done with the administering of a punishment, and in schools and residential child care contexts a similar expectation prevails, or is believed to prevail. The logic is that if somebody does a bad thing then a bad thing needs to be done to them. In a sense this is the ‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’ philosophy, but of course this lesson taught to children by adults can lead to behaviours in youth settings and in the community that mimic this approach, which is based on revenge. A restorative approach, coupled with interpersonal conflict resolution training, can offer an alternative that may influence the way young people deal with conflicts in later life.

A restorative response, with its focus not on blame, punishment and alienation but on repair and re-connection, encourages a wrongdoer to take responsibility for the harm they have caused, and gives them an opportunity to repair the harm. Empathy is developed, accountability is encouraged and the outcome can help both wronged and wrongdoer feel better about themselves and the other person. (This section is adapted from Chapter 2 of Just Care.)

Why are Restorative Justice Approaches particularly pertinent to residential child care?

Statistics show that young people in Residential Child Care are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice arena (DfES 2006; NACRO 2003a; NACRO 2003b). This situation has arisen not necessarily because children in care are more likely to offend but because the disruptive behaviours of the children have resulted in a call from staff to the police, often followed by an arrest and a caution or final warning (NACRO 2003a). Probably neither the staff concerned , nor the police involved, would wish for such an outcome. However, without training in alternative strategies staff often turn to the police in desperation, whilst the police themselves, because of crime recording protocols and targets, feel obliged to deal with the incident as a crime.

Using a restorative approach instead can divert children in care from the criminal justice system by ensuring that the incident is dealt with by staff in such a way that both wrongdoer and those affected reach a mutually agreed way forward without recourse to the police (Willmott 2007).

However whilst restorative justice in its formal sense can and does make a contribution in care settings, it is in its less formal aspects, described as ‘restorative approaches’, that it can have most impact and address many of the issues and challenges currently facing the residential child care sector.

In residential care settings staff who were initially trained in the restorative conferencing model swiftly discovered that the more formal process was less useful than they had first hoped because most of the incidents they needed to address flared up quickly and needed immediate attention. More often than not there was no clear-cut case of ‘offender’ and ‘victim’ but simply two people in conflict, each blaming the other. They therefore began to request training in a range of less formal processes which were nevertheless informed by the philosophy of restorative justice. Their experiences using these processes has gradually led to a realisation that the approach required a cultural shift in the way staff and young people interact on a day to day basis and that the benefits of using such an approach could go far beyond the narrow remit of reducing potentially offending behaviour.

One particular concept that is gaining ground in residential settings is that of ‘social pedagogy’ and it is be argued that day to day restorative practice provides a framework for care staff to operationalise socially pedagogic principles, especially in challenging situations. (This section is adapted from Chapter 1 of Just Care.)

Could you tell us a little about your organisation Transforming Conflict?

I founded Transforming Conflict in 1994 for the reasons I explained earlier. In the early days, I was the only trainer and consultant, but over time I have built up a superb team with backgrounds in education, social work, youth offending teams, and residential care who share the training with me.

Having developed a reputation for being one of the lead training organisations in the UK, we are now also known as the National Centre for Restorative Approaches in Youth Settings. We offer training, consultancy and support in a variety of youth settings for people seeking to enhance their skills in building a sense of community, fostering a spirit of inclusion and dealing creatively with challenging situations.

Our work is underpinned by the philosophy of Restorative Justice, which stresses the importance of relationships above rules and the value of dialogue in healing the damage done to relationships by inappropriate behavior.

We have experience of running courses for teaching staff, learning support staff, lunchtime controllers, parents and students, educational psychologists, pupil support teams, residential care staff, senior management teams, governors, social workers, police officers, youth justice and other local authority personnel. We work in primary, secondary and EBD and PRU school settings and run both public and bespoke in-house courses.

In recent months there has been increasing interest in developing joined–up approaches across all multi-agency teams in a single local authority and we are at the forefront of these developments working with teams to look at how they can integrate restorative ways of working not only with their client groups but also amongst their own teams.

What are you currently reading?

I am beginning the research for my new book about restorative classrooms – exploring the links between pedagogy and classroom management so I’m afraid my current reading is all work-based.

I am very excited by my friend and colleague Richard Hendry’s new book – Building and Restoring Respectful Relationships in Schools and also by an amazing book called Positive Discipline by Jane Nelsen et al. which really turns the whole notion of manipulating children’s behaviour using rewards and punishments on its head. However, I do plan to take a break at the end of August and looking forward to reading something totally escapist like The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

(c) Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2010

This article was first published in the Jessica Kingsley Publishers Social Work Newsletter in August 2009

Possibly related articles:

• Just Care: Restorative Justice Approaches to Working With Children in Public Care [Book Review], by Charles Mpofu, Metapsychology Online Reviews, Volume 14, Issue 43, October 26 2010
• Acclaimed restorative justice programme to come to England and Wales, By Neil Puffett, Children & Young People Now, October 25, 2010
• Restorative justice [ Evan Davis talks to criminologist Christopher Stone and film-maker Roger Graef about how Restorative Justice might help victims], BBC Radio 4, September 25, 2010

[Interview] Michael McIrvin

Michael McIrvin has five poetry collections, two novels and a collection of essays to his name.

His latest novel, The Blue Man Dreams the End of Time (BeWrite Books, 2009) has been described as an implicit indictment of the use of murder and torture by modern nation states.

In this interview, McIrvin talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?.

My most recent book is a novel, but I have also published poetry collections, and that genre was my first calling.

I started writing poetry at age 12 after my first crisis of faith. I read the Bible like a cabalist in my search for answers, every syllable, afraid I might miss some truth hiding there. When I reached the last page, I started over; but this time I only read Genesis, Revelations, and the Psalms, the Christian creation and destruction myths and the King James’ version of poetry — the good bits in my 12-year-old opinion.

In fact, the intersection of language and mythology remain important to both my poetry and my prose. My first poems were a cross between the Psalms, poetry that looked like that text in terms of long lines (mostly Whitman and Wordsworth) in my father’s old intro to lit textbook from college, and popular song lyrics.

I 'published' my first book a year or so later, a few copies of Xeroxed poems stapled together (I did the cover art too, of course). My first real book came out from a small poetry publisher in New Mexico, USA many years later, and I have published eight books in total since: five poetry collections, an academic essay collection, and two novels.

I can’t claim to actively seek publication like I did when in my 20s and 30s, but rather, I generally send mss to publishers who ask because they have seen my work in literary magazines or because of the previous books. I did send my current novel manuscript to BeWrite Books unsolicited, however, after a friend suggested that the themes in the book would be more readily acceptable to a non-US publisher.

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

The most recent novel from BeWrite Books is about counterintelligence, and it is billed as a literary thriller. It is perhaps as accurate to call it social and political commentary in the guise of literary fiction, but the book is still fiction and so said commentary is implicit in the story, sublimated to story and character.

The poetry collection on which I am putting the finishing touches is about death and war and memory, and I am starting a new one that is made of stories: vignettes of working class life that all seem at this point to be, as a friend said of them recently, transcendent, the stuff of myth and ritual in everyday existence.

I am trying to find the time and energy to start the next novel too, which will be based on a short story I wrote some years ago about a feral child and his memories of his time in that mode. The novel will then follow him through his life as a 'tamed' adult, a man living on the edge of society even as he walks through it. At least that is the plan presently.

Has your personal experience had an impact on your writing?

I am a poet, fiction writer, and essayist with cultural concerns, but all of these genres are connected for me, the writing all of a piece. I frequently write narrative poems, for example, poetry that tells a story or has a character at its center. I also include some of the poet’s most powerful tools in my fiction, especially figurative language, and I use these same tools in my essays as well. And all of my work includes the stuff of modern life, the kinds of cultural issues that figure prominently in our current existence, like what constitutes individual identity in an age of hive behaviour, like how political power functions in the lives of individuals.

Don’t get me wrong. The overriding aims in my poetry and my fiction are still artistic and my poems and novels are not textual soapboxes. But like every writer, the elements of my life, what concerns me, enter the work almost inevitably and I always try to figure out how to make them serve the project at hand rather than the other way around.

Who is your target audience?

I do not aim my work at a given demographic, but if anything, I guess I write for an astute reader, one not only capable of considering the thematic elements but who also appreciates what the poet Robert Duncan called the snakelike beauty of living syntax. A good metaphor is only worth its weight in gold if the reader gets it.

Which authors influenced you most?

The influences for The Blue Man Dreams the End of Time will probably shock my publisher because those influences are perhaps not readily apparent. I am of the age now that influence is not so much stylistic as something tougher to explain, like how a given writer handles a topic or the overall tone of the prose.

Don DeLillo (Underworld) has always impressed me with his ability to include what one might term topical material without waxing didactic, and some of his prose is so lyrical it is obvious that he understands the poet’s toolkit well (again, tools I use in my fiction too). The protagonist in my latest novel is a former CIA agent, and the subject of torture is important to the book, but the book is not a heavy-handed expose on the subject but rather a larger indictment via a dramatization of the practice in historical context — in this case Mesoamerica at the end of the 20th century.

I also love Cormac McCarthy’s terse prose (Blood Meridian may be the best US novel of the 20th century), his ability to make the reader shudder for a long time in few words but also his ability to move the story forward quickly. Many of his characters also rise to the level of archetype and their story to the level of mythic undertaking. The main character and his tale in The Blue Man Dreams the End of Time, I hope, achieve those levels to some small degree.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

I just want to get it right, which is of course a moving target and a writer does not “get it right” via an algorithm. So, the work at hand is always an exercise in problem solving as well as creation. I suppose the key is tenacity, a willingness to go after my own text as many times as it takes to find shortcomings and figure out the necessary fix.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

These days, time and energy. I somehow manage to find both, and it frequently amazes me to open a notebook or a manuscript file and see how much I have done. But the work tends to proceed more in fits and starts than when I taught because that profession included a known time that one could set aside to write, but fits and starts is the necessary rhythm now.

Do you write every day?

I do not write every day, and I marvel at those who do (my heroes, in a way). However, I am always working on the next poem or novel. I keep notebooks, wherein there are ideas or scenes or drafts, and then I have to find a larger block of time to do “official” work: to put down a draft that is closer to finished with each iteration, to revise, to put together a manuscript in something like the fashion it will look ultimately.

I also think about what I am working on even if not writing something down, which can be a pitfall if one mistakes it for actually writing; but nevertheless, that kind of imagining is important to the finished work if kept in perspective. That pitfall is not a problem I have to worry about, however. I know when it is time to do the writing viscerally, almost as instinctual need, and I will turn over heaven and earth to find the time to get it done.

And a book is a book only when the galleys are proofed. Up to that point, any reading of the manuscript can result in changes. So, I don’t let a project go, so to speak, until it is a half step from being a book.

How many books have you written so far?

I am the author of eight books:

• The Blue Man Dreams the End of Time, novel, BeWrite Books (2009)
• Optimism Blues: Poems Selected and New, poetry, Cedar Hill Publications (2003)
• Déjà vu and the Phone Sex Queen, novel, j-Press Publishing (2003, second printing 2008)
• Whither American Poetry, essays, Cedar Hill Publications (1999)
• The Book of Allegory, poetry, Cedar Hill Publications (1999)
• Dog, Pygmy Forest Press (1997)
• Lessons of Radical Finitude, Pygmy Forest Press (1993)
• Love and Myth, Blue Textual Sparrow Press (1993)

How long did it take you to write The Blue Man Dreams the End of Time?

The Blue Man Dreams the End of Time was started in 2001, but it was put aside for a long time because of the political climate shift that began then (you can read a bit about this decision in an essay I wrote for Comparative Literature and Culture, “Poetry and the Aesthetic of Morality”.

The book is about a former CIA agent who must reconsider his one-time role as a counterintelligence agent, what constitutes terrorism, and the nature of power in the modern world. His journey takes him from the American rustbelt to Chiapas, Mexico, where he meets another former intelligence operative who doubles as a jaguar shaman for his Mayan tribe. The main character must also deal with other former CIA colleagues and has flashbacks to his bloody role in American history. A Mayan boy he meets has a cultural role and a future that are perhaps the most terrible revelations in the novel.

As I noted previously, a friend suggested that perhaps the topic and my handling of it might be more readily acceptable to publishers somewhere other than in the US. BeWrite was the first non-US publisher I sent the ms (and I must admit that I had not sent it to many in the US either, believing the exercise a waste of time on this side of the Atlantic), and the editor, Neil Marr, accepted it immediately and enthusiastically.

The book was published in December, and so I am too early into the process to know much about “advantages or disadvantages,” but the people at BeWrite are consummate pros and attentive to every last detail. I am also impressed by the fact they are actively exploring “what comes next” in publishing. For example, they offer an eBook version of The Blue Man Dreams the End of Time on their site (in PDF) as well as a traditional paperback, but my book was also the among the first BeWrite titles to be made available to all current eBook devices via Smash Words.

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

The book is an implicit indictment of the practices of modern nation states, specifically of counterintelligence and its methods, including murder and torture as tools of state. As noted in the essay I just mentioned, many of my acquaintances did not understand my desire to write such a book let alone to include these thematic elements. The book is about the practices of the CIA in Mesoamerica late in the last century, but as one reviewer has said, the topics covered are utterly timely. Some readers of early drafts thought them too timely, apparently.

The atmosphere of panic brought on by the attack on the World Trade Center has abated a bit with the revelation of just how cowardly and dishonest the previous US administration’s actions were in response, but the desire for vengeance still permeates the culture to an extraordinary degree and the entire population seems in a malaise that can only be deemed moral confusion. All that made finding my way with the book, if not harder, at least a more self-conscious act. Moreover, some elements in the book, extraordinary violence and the consequent suffering, let alone the larger thematic of culpability on the part of the US government in the destruction of tribal cultures, were really tough to write about. Some of the research was in fact harrowing.

What sets The Blue Man Dreams the End of Time apart from other things you've written?

My previous novel has an element of irony that — in spite of sometimes tough topics (like murder, the black market organ trade, and genocide) — makes the reader laugh along the way. It is something of a fairytale in this aspect. Pratfalls might be bloody but they can still be a hoot.

The present novel is not ironic, except in the darker definition of the word, and not funny in the least. But it probably shares this with my poetry, which tends to be serious and imagistic and to plumb the depths, both psychologically and on some level that might be called philosophical (though I hope always to avoid a kind of dryly didactic language that kills the art in any literary work). In this latter case, The Blue Man Dreams the End of Time includes Mayan mythology, which is quite violent, and those tales are brought forward into our age as historical fact — the characters in the novel are, symbolically, incarnations of the characters in the myths and carrying out bloody prophecy.

Related articles:

• The Blue Man Dreams the End of Time by Michael McIrvin [Book Review], by Dylan Neal, Gently Read Literature, October 1, 2010
• The Blue Man Dreams the End of Time by Michael McIrvin [Book Review], by Dan Larson, The Compulsive Reader
• Talking About Torture [Interview], by Richard Labonte, Publishers Weekly, November 10, 2008

You’ve Published Your First Book ... What Next?

By Carrie Oakley

You’ve published your first book ... what next? This is a question I’m sure many (if not all) writers have faced at some point or the other in their career.

The quest and drive to publish their first book consume most of their time and energy during the start of their career. They feel on top of the world when they know it is going to see the light of day and when it’s out and in stores, the exhilaration is like nothing else.

However, the rollercoaster does have to come down after touching the highs, so it’s back to earth with a bang once your first book is behind you. Now it’s time to take stock and plan what to do next.

If your book is doing well and selling like hotcakes, you’re definitely going to find the motivation to keep going ... maybe even write a sequel or a spin-off to ride on this one’s popularity. The adulation you gain is an addiction, and you cannot seem to get enough of it. So you settle down immediately to write the next book, and motivation is never an issue. However, you do need to exercise caution and not get carried away.

Many authors fall by the wayside because their subsequent books are almost carbon copies of their first bestseller – they try to follow the same formula and end up becoming a one-book wonder whose popularity tapered down subsequently. It’s ok to stick to what works best for you, but at the same time, pay attention to changing tastes and perceptions.

If your first book is doing well but not going great guns, you’re less inclined to start your next one. You want to write one that’s better, but there are just enough doubts to hold you back. Or, in the worst case scenario, if your book is doing abysmally, then you’ve probably just about lost the will to ever write again. You know you want to be a writer, but self doubts plague your mind and you wonder if any publisher will ever back you again.

In such situations, it’s best to step back from the situation and pretend you’ve never published your first book. Start on a fresh slate, and give room only for your creativity. Push out the doubts from your mind and focus on the task ahead. The only time you need to think of your prior venture is to examine the mistakes you’ve made and steer clear of them. Where did you go wrong? Was the book targeted at one audience yet marketed to another? Was the timing of the release wrong? Or was the subject of your book outdated and not in vogue with current tastes and trends?

There’s another pitfall you need to be aware of – when you’ve established yourself as a successful author with a few books under your belt, you may find it hard to sustain yourself as a writer. The longer you write and the more you publish, the harder sustainability becomes. How do you continue to find inspiration for new storylines that reflect your style, yet are not stale and repetitive?

The only way to ensure this is to take time off when you feel a lull in creativity and put your nose to the grindstone when your creative juices flow.

Writing is not a 9 to 5 job that is routine and repetitive; it is an art form that must be expressed when creativity strikes.

About the author

This guest post is contributed by Carrie Oakley, who writes on the topic of online colleges. Carrie welcomes your comments at her email id: carrie.oakley1983(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

Possibly related articles:

• In just 30 days, you too can write a masterpiece, by Andrew Johnson, The Independent, October 31, 2010
• 12 Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block, by Meghan Ward, Writerland, June 24, 2010
• Ten ways to get your writing rejected, by Helen Simonson, National Post, April 20,2010

[Interview] Tendai Huchu

Podiatrist and author, Tendai Huchu was born in 1982, in Bindura, Zimbabwe.

He attended Churchill High School in Harare and currently lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The Hairdresser of Harare (Weaver Press, 2010)  is his first published novel.

In this interview, Tendai Huchu talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I have been writing since I was in school. I was sub-editor of The Churchill Times, my school newspaper. I even won a couple of national essay contests. But that was mainly articles. I started writing fiction when I was 23 because I felt I had a story to tell.

I wanted to express myself and share ideas with other people.

I knew I wanted to get published round about the time I started writing ... so ... I wrote and pitched to publishers ... four years later, here I am.

How would you describe your writing?

I hope it is literary fiction ... I come from an oral tradition ... so I am mainly a storyteller.

I enjoy a good plot with great characters and dynamic set pieces and I hope these things are reflected in my work.

Who is your target audience?

I don’t have a specific target demographic or anything like that.

I might write for my readers but, remember, the first reader of my stories is me. If I like a tale I've come up with then I think maybe, just maybe, others will too.

In the writing you are doing, which authors influenced you most?

Dostoevsky, Dostoevsky, Dostoevsky ... this man and his thinking dominated my early 20s. I still love the depth of his ideas. Reading his book Crime and Punishment for the first time was like being in the middle of an 18 megaton thermonuclear explosion.

I also like other authors like Amin Maalouf, John Grisham, Alexandre Dumas, Orwell and a whole raft of other great storytellers.

Each author I read helps me improve my craft and gives me incredible pleasure in the process.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Perhaps at a subconscious level they have.

Different sub-personalities of me are probably floating about in the text but I have never actively sought to insert aspects of my personal experience directly into my work.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Having a roof over my head and at least one square meal a day.

Do you write every day?

I don’t write every day. I wish I could but, between trying to earn a living and having an active social life, there are simply not enough hours in the day.

I write in fits and starts.

There are periods when I am extremely creative and focused. During these periods I close myself off from the world and do nothing but write, eat, sleep. I work very quickly with the door locked in case debt collectors or the landlord show up. These sessions sometimes end when I have a workable draft of a novel but quite often I come away with nothing but red eyes and sore wrists.

How long did it take you to write The Hairdresser of Harare?

The Hairdresser of Harare is about Vimbai, a young single mother who is trying to make a life for herself amidst Zimbabwe’s political and economic chaos. She falls in love with a dashing young man who turns out to be something we all didn’t quite expect.

I started writing the novel Christmas day 2009 and 14 days later I was finished with the first draft. I wrote quickly because the narrator had a distinct voice and I was afraid if I stopped I might lose it.

The novel was published this August 2010 by Weaver Press who I choose because they had formidable authors in their stable that I had read and enjoyed.

The main advantage of working with Weaver Press for this book is that my editor was based in Harare and had intimate knowledge of the locations and types of characters who were in the book. Because I live in Scotland, we couldn’t have face-to-face meetings but we still managed to build a good working relationship and I enjoyed the process immensely.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into the novel?

I struggled to let my characters roam free and live the story out according to their own personalities. Every writer enjoys playing God ... so when you see your characters living their lives outside of the rigid pre-planned plot priorities you had set for them ... it can be difficult to let go. What I usually do is to call the characters by a litany of obscene names and let them go off to do their own thing.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

I enjoy how everything in The Hairdresser of Harare comes together in the end ... how certain things that happen in the first chapters only make sense towards the end ... the subliminal links in the text that even I, as the author, only discover with each re-reading ...

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Staying the course. Not giving up even when I thought no one would ever read my work.

Related articles:

• An Interview with Tendai Huchu, author of The Hairdresser of Harare, by Nana Fredua-Agyeman, ImageNation, August 18, 2010
• Life in Zimbabwe [Book Review], by Margaret von Klemperer, The Witness, October 6, 2010
• Latest Reviews, Weaver Press

[Interview] Alana Abbott

Freelance writer, an editor and a role-playing games developer, Alana Abbott is the author of two novels, Into the Reach (White Silver Publishing, 2006) and Departure (White Silver Publishing, 2007).

Her stories have been featured in online magazines that include Coyote Wild Magazine; The Edge of Propinquity and the collaborative writing project, Baeg Tobar.

She has also been published in a number of anthologies, among them, Ransom: The Anthology (Enchirdion Books, 2008); Crown Tales (Dark Quest Games, 2008) and Crown Tales 2, (Dark Quest Games, ___).

In this interview, Alana Abbott talks about her writing:

When did you start writing?

I started writing in grade school, making up stories in other people's worlds.

By middle school, I had started creating worlds of my own, and after finishing a 'novel', the summer before my freshman year of high school, I decided to make it my G&T (gifted and talented) project for the year to attempt getting it published. I learned so much about the publishing industry that year, just from the process of submission and rejection.

In college I interned at two publishing houses and I became an editor after my graduation.

I returned to fiction writing after getting married, making contacts in the game industry and doing shared world fiction projects.

My first two novels, Into the Reach and Departure, came out of work I'd done for a game sourcebook.

How would you describe your writing?

I vary between doing creative projects and work for reference and game publishers, which pay by the assignment. It's a way to make a living!

Currently, I am working on a fiction project for Baeg Tobar, a novel I'm co-writing with Max Gladstone, who is a phenomenal writer (and a member of my local crit group).

I also write reviews for School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly and the Flames Rising website.

There are a few other projects on the shelf that are just waiting for me to have time to devote to them.

Who is your target audience?

I've written for both adult and young adult audiences.

I think the people who follow Baeg Tobar have a nice potential mix -- the type of project that we are is likely to appeal to teens and adults, and so it's great to be able to hit both audiences.

Most of my adult work has some YA appeal, which I think is true for a lot of adult fantasy.

I think I always keep the YA audience in mind, even when they may not be the total market share, because so much of what I read as a teen has stuck with me over the years, and so much of what I learned as a writer developed between the ages of 14 and 20. (I hope I'm still growing and improving, of course!)

Which authors influenced you most?

I think Tamora Pierce was a huge influence on me in the way that I learned to craft a story -- and the way I learned about how stories can grow up with their characters. She was really one of the first writers to start creating strong women in fantasy geared particularly toward teens. So, not only was she ground breaking at the time, helping to shape what would become the YA market that's exploded these days, but she was helping to form the way that strong female characters appeared in YA and fantasy, right at a time when I was exactly the right audience for her books.

I'd also be remiss in not mentioning Joss Whedon, whose writing for television has impacted the way so many writers use language -- I see his influence everywhere, especially in urban fantasy, and I know he's affected the way I write as well.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I actually thought I wanted to go into physics in college to pursue the development of teleportation, and somewhere along the line I realized I was far more interested in the way it worked in A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle than I was in how the math would work out.

From there, I pursued studying stories, both in literature and mythology, and I've had the wonderful opportunity to work as a teaching assistant for one of my college professors on several study tours to Greece and Turkey, Ireland, and England over the years.

Being able to study mythology in the settings where the stories take place has had a huge impact on me as a writer.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

It may sound mercenary, but sadly, one of the biggest concerns is being able to afford the time to write.

In order to write for a living, I have to balance the types of assignments I take to make sure I'm bringing in enough to help support my family.

I also work part time at my local public library, which helps me deal with the loneliness of the writing lifestyle. It's good to balance being on your own, in your own head, and being social! And it's great to be involved with the publishing industry on the user end as well as on the creative side.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

The biggest challenge in my fiction is definitely finding the time to prioritize the projects I really want to do. I'm still searching for a good way to deal with this!

Do you write everyday?

I don't have the same writing process every day, in part because of my library work schedule and in part because life events have changed my availability recently: I'm currently pregnant and will be having a baby inside the month (if she comes on time!), so I've been balancing classes on pregnancy, paid writing assignments, and my day job in a much more chaotic schedule than usual!

But even when I had a very regular writing schedule, it was never that set in stone. I'm not nearly type-A enough to be that organized!

I also find that I like to be surprised by my writing process, and that I'm less enthusiastic about projects when I know exactly where they're going, so I try to leave room for flexibility.

How many books have you written so far?

• Into the Reach (White Silver Publishing, 2006): In the land of Eranon, the Reach is a desolate place where people journey to forget who they are. Now, a menace rises from this wasteland, and he is hunting for someone. To keep the madman and his chaos behind the Reach, four adventurers with haunted pasts must rise to the challenge. But how can failed heroes bring hope to others when they doubt themselves?
• Departure (White Silver Publishing, 2007): Called to face the pasts they hoped to leave behind, Lydia, Kennerly, Nara, and Taru leave the Reach for the homes they once knew. There, new enemies have been set against them, driven by the same dark force they hoped they had defeated. Now the people they once most trusted have become pieces in a game that may lead them down the road to their deaths.
• Cowboys and Aliens II Web comic (Platinum Studios, 2007-08): I served as the writer for the team working on the sequel to the original comic, Cowboys and Aliens, which is soon to be made into a movie. The story takes the original characters from their battle with aliens in the West to Washington, D.C., where they discover they'll have to take a little bit of Old West into outer space to meet the threat head on.
• Contributor to role-playing games, including Gallia (Dog Soul, 2006); Chronicles or Ramlar RPG (White Silver Publishing, 2006); Verto Syzol's Legendaria Geographica (2006); Balok's Book of Banter 2: Battle Cries (Dog Soul, 2007); Allies and Adversaries, (White Silver Publishing, 2007); Steampunk Musha RPG (2007), Politically Incorrect Games: Serenity Adventures (Margaret Weis Productions, 2008) (which won an Origins Award in 2009); The Living Kingdoms of Kalamar (Kenzer & Co.), Xen'drik Expeditions (Wizards of the Coast), and Living Forgotten Realms (Wizards of the Coast) campaigns through the RPGA (now the Wizards Play Network).
• Contributor of fiction to anthologies, including Ransom: The Anthology (Enchirdion Books, 2008); Crown Tales, (Dark Quest Games, 2008); and Crown Tales 2, (Dark Quest Games, ____).
• My short fiction has been featured online at The Edge of Propinquity, Coyote Wild Magazine, and Baeg Tobar.

How did you chose a publisher for your first two books? What advantages/disadvantages has this relationship presented?

My first two books (the only two I currently have available as the sole author) were written under a contract -- the publisher approached me about writing them.

Some disadvantages of publishing with a very small start up company is that the publisher is still learning the ropes and, sadly, may not survive the economic pressures (which is why only two of the three contracted books ever appeared).

The best thing I've found to do, however, is move on to other projects!

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into the books?

I struggle with making sure that the story fits within the boundaries it needs to fit into -- that the page and word count work for the size of book being expected, and that the flow of the story works with the size of the book.

As I mentioned before, I prefer not to outline, but in order to keep books fitting to about the right size, an outline is really helpful!

Authors talk a lot about people who are "pantsers" (write by the seat of their pants) and "plotters" (know what's going to happen in advance), and I think that mixing those two styles is a big challenge.

That said, I love the editorial process, when someone on the outside can give me commentary to bang a whole project into shape!

I love telling stories, no question about it. I think there's a magic in it, that we're following in a grand tradition that goes back to the beginning of language. Even if the story doesn't seem to have much to it, the act of telling, and of connecting, is -- I think -- part of what makes us human. And hopefully, if we can relate to each other's stories, we can relate to each other.

What will your next book be about?

The book Max Gladstone and I are working on is about the Parade of Champions, a ritual among the fae of Baeg Tobar to decide which court has political control, and the mortals who get tangled up in the process.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

There's nothing quite like seeing that first novel in print, and knowing that you've done it once, so you can do it again.

But I have to say that it's a toss up for me between seeing that first novel come out and receiving an Origins Award last year -- knowing that people had recognized my work (along with the work of my co-writers and the editorial and art team!) as something that merited acknowledgement. That was incredibly exciting!

Possibly related articles:

• Editor Interview: Alana Joli Abbott on Something about the Author, By Cynthia Leitich Smith, CYNSATIONS, September 17, 2009
• Games As Interactive Storytelling, By Alana Joli Abbott, Journey to the Sea, December 1, 2008
• Maurice Suckling [Interview], Conversations with Writers, July 4, 2007

[Interview] Bosley Gravel

Bosley Gravel was born in the Midwest and grew up in Texas and southern New Mexico.

His work includes the novels, Servant of the Mud (Shadowfire Press, 2009) and The Movie (Bewrite Books, 2009).

In this interview, Bosley Gravel talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I’ve been writing stories ever since I can remember.

I first sought publication in the mid-90s, but that didn't amount to much. In 2006 I took up writing again and have written close to half a million words since then. About 200,000 of those have seen publication in some form.

Between 1996 and 2006 the Internet became a critical tool for writers and I’ve leveraged that in a predictable way by targeting online journals, using it for research and making cheap, efficient submissions via email.

The number one thing I did to achieve the goal of publication was to write every day and study the craft of storytelling. As for the reasons for seeking publication, that is hidden in treasure chest and buried deeply somewhere between my ego and my id.

How would you describe your writing?

My novels typically involve plots centering around personal growth.

I tend to use simple structures and complex characters (all male so far) who, through extraordinary circumstances, must come to terms with a hidden aspect of themselves. These characters have built entire worlds of myth around themselves and subsequently struggle to align themselves with both the myth and the reality of their lives.

Essentially, these are coming-of-age stories built on top of the hero’s journey formula. If that sounds rigid, it’s not.

I pride myself on not being afraid to take a chance and follow some strange and unusual paths. For example, I’ve written about an independent filmmaker who struggles to get his absurd imagination on the big screen; a troubled polymath who must come to terms with not only the brutal world, but his own fears of loss and love; a handsome anthropophobic accountant who finds his true nature in a new found world of organized crime and sorcery; a gifted musician who is orphaned at an early age and soon learns that even fame and fortune can not fill an empty soul; a could-be messiah who must come to terms with both his human needs, and his divine responsibility.

With my short fiction pretty much anything goes though. Most of that is available online in some form or another. A lot of it is genre stuff with emphasis on plot and trope, some literary and some just a kind of unclassifiable other. In my short fiction I’ve written everything from splatter-punk horror to morality fables.

I read widely and I think my fiction reflects that.

Who is your target audience?

I’m sort of a selfish writer, I hate to say.

I don’t think much about audience and, since I don’t really stick closely to one genre, I pay for this by not having consistent readership. When I write, the only loyalty I feel is to the story and, ultimately, to the protagonist.

With that being said, I have a handful of faithful readers who read early drafts and I’ll often oblige their tastes or tailor content for them in some fashion. But it will always be on terms that are true to the character or story.

Which authors influenced you most?

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn had a tremendous influence on me. I still go back and read that book occasionally. The depth and layering of both the Huck character and the story itself has had a big impact on me and introduced me to concepts of irony and metaphor in fiction -- although I didn’t know that the first time I read it of course.

Also, there is a book called Wyvern by A. A. Attanasio that is story about a Bornean native/Dutch half-breed who goes from the jungles to the shore of America in the 1500s. It’s really a story about destiny and human potential. A great book.

In terms of something I’ve read more recently, I think Rebecca Wells wrote some excellent short fiction in Little Altars Everywhere and Ya-Yas in Bloom.

Little Altars Everywhere, in particular, inspired me to start writing again after a 10-year hiatus. I was impressed with the depth of her characters and the simplicity of her prose.

Ray Bradbury, Clive Barker and William S. Burroughs, Kurt Vonnegut, Poppy Z. Brite, Louis L'Amour and Lawrence Block have also all made significant contributions to my writer’s toolbox.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

My writing is in stark contrast to my day job.

I deal primarily with computers and computer networks in the real world and, when I sit down to write, it’s the last thing I want to think about. So my stories almost never contain elements of technology. In fact a good deal of my longer works are set pre-1990 in order to avoid having to deal with the Internet, texting, cell phones, etc. I find all of that terribly boring.

Obviously though, as I writer, I’ve been gathering details on people, places and situations for years, and these come out in my writing. I think all the ups and downs of my life do come out in some way or another in my writing. I’m a bit reluctant to reveal any specific details though, so like the reasons for seeking publication, it will have to remain a mystery.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

I think writers have an obligation to tell the truth.

The truth isn’t always pretty and the truth is often subject to perspective. Worse yet, the truth is sometimes fluid and changing.

I get concerned that a reader will misinterpret something I’ve written and use it to justify a rigid view of the world.

In the same vein, it would bother me a bit if I thought people were associating me too closely with my characters.

I try to avoid the problem of having too loud a moral voice by writing about people and less about ideas.

Apart from being accused of evangelizing some half-baked belief, my only other real worry is being a bore -- the worst sin ever for a writer (makes me shiver just thinking about it).

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

The biggest challenge is finding the time to go back and edit what I’ve written.

By the time I’ve completed a chapter or a short story or even an novel, my imagination is already taking me to the next one, and the previous one becomes a lot less shiny and pretty.

The only cure for this is discipline, and the desire to be published. No editor wants a first draft on his desk; well, no editor in their right mind, anyway. The only real way to deal with the final polish is to just go ahead and do it.

By the same token, I try to avoid over-polishing a piece. I think too much commercial fiction is edited to mush and really has no remaining voice. I'd rather not do that.

Do you write everyday?

I write every morning. I go for about 500 to 750 words; on occasion more. I just grab a cup of coffee and write a page or so, get my kids out the door for school, then hack out another page or two.

I've written about five novel-length manuscripts. Two of those were released at the tail end of 2009, one as an ebook, and the other as a paperback. The others remain in various stages of drafting.

The two that have been released are:

• Servant of the Mud, Shadowfire Press, Dec 4th 2009. This is a mythic urban fantasy that follows Pauly, a reluctant Christ figure, who transitions from an irresponsible street kid into something far more, and
• The Movie, Bewrite Books, Dec 10th 2009. This is a story about a small town kid with big dreams, and a very weird imagination.

What would you say your latest book is about?

In The Movie, the unemployed young feller’s dream is to break into Hollywood with a DIY movie called Cannibal Lesbian Zombies from Outer Space -- versus -- Doctor Clockwork and his Furious Plastic Surgeons of Doom. This was the book’s original title and still stands (in small print, artfully hidden in the front cover image -- my publisher added The Movie as main title).

See what I mean about my characters taking myth and building reality?

How long did it take you to write the novel?

Twenty-four very, very busy days.

How did you choose a publisher for the book?

I’ve always been keen on small presses. I’m still cutting my teeth as an author and I like the idea of dealing with editors who are hand-choosing their projects and not having them assigned by acquisition folks.

I like the idea of a ‘mom and pop’ style press in this day and age.

BeWrite Books was one of the handful of small presses that turned up in my research as being flexible and open to literary-type fiction that is fun and unpretentious.

What advantages and/or disadvantages has your association with BeWrite Books presented?

BeWrite has been everything I’d expected it to be ... and more.

Craft is obviously very important to the staff, and it shows in their titles and the attention my manuscript received (the first draft took me twenty-four days ... it was almost a year in edit as revisions passed between me and BeWrite Books over and again).

The disadvantage, I suppose, is that small presses can’t afford the media-blitz marketing big publishing can do ... with an emphasis on can. It doesn’t look like big publishers do much advertising for their authors these days anyway, other than a select few.

I think in the day and age of virtual everything, handling distribution/production the way BeWrite does it is the future that big publishing will eventually yield to anyway. So that’s really less of a disadvantage and more of a ahead-of-their-time kind of thing with BB ... but it still limits sales.

Bewrite’s no-pulping methods are a lot better for the environment. And while I’m rarely seen hugging trees, I think being frugal with our limited global resources is important.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into The Movie?

This book wrote itself. I’m told every author gets one of those sooner or later.

I think the most difficult thing was to go clean up the prose and punctuation, etc.

I read once that Jack Kerouac wrote On the Road on a single sheet of paper that rolled continuously through his typewriter, he used no punctuation and no indents. My manuscript was not much different.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

This book was just fun to write. The characters all have an innocence about them, an innocence they’ve chosen to indulge. In direct opposition to this innocence is the lead character’s screenplay with these bizarre and decedent scenarios.

I enjoy deliberately blurring opposing concepts like that.

I’ve had beta readers from all over the world, from middle aged American housewives to Australian teenagers, even a moderately curmudgeonly (but brilliant) Scottish editor -- they've all loved it.

The idea that I could write something that would be enjoyable by such a vastly different group of people is immensely encouraging.

What sets The Movie apart from other things you’ve written?

This is the most light-hearted manuscript I’ve written. My other books tend to be dark and only cautiously optimistic about human nature.

In this case, caution is thrown to the wind and I’m thrilled that it came out this way.

It’s also written in first person which is a rarity for me.

In what way is it similar to the others?

It includes several hallmarks of a Bosley Gravel story: male protagonist with a somewhat flawed sense of reality and vivid imagination, a meta-story woven into the story proper, love, sex, death, the absurdly tragic ... and the tragically absurd.

What will your next book be about?

My current novel manuscript, American Woman, is about Hollywood Tommy.

Tommy is a self-absorbed womanizer, who as a way to deal with a mid-life crisis, rekindles a relationship with his ex-wife and his children in suburbia.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Writing one word after another. Finding a reason to do it each and every day.

Having the guts to get things in front of editors and readers.

Aspiring to write a book better than the last one I wrote.

Having the guts to get my work out there to editors and readers.

Related articles:

• Interview: Bosley Gravel, By gapyeargirl123, The Book Bundle, September 2009
• William Gibson On the Future of Publishing: Made to Order Books, By Steven Kurutz, Wall Street Journal, September 6, 2010
• The future of the book, By Chin Wong, Manila Standard Today, September 21, 2010

[Interview] Mary Fawcett

Mary Fawcett is an early years consultant and an evaluator for 5x5x5=creativity, an arts-based research organisation that supports the expression of children's feelings, thoughts and ideas.

She has worked as a Social Work lecturer and was Director of Early Childhood Studies at the University of Bristol.

Mary Fawcett edited Focus on Early Childhood: Principles and Realities (Working Together for Children, Young People, and Their Families) (Wiley-Blackwell, 2000) and Researching Children Researching the World: 5X5X5=creativity (Trentham Books Ltd, 2008).

She is also the author of Learning Through Child Observation (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2009).

In this interview, Mary Fawcett talks about her work:

How did you become interested in Early Childhood Studies?

I decided to become a teacher of young children (as a school leaver) largely because I liked the idea of sharing my enthusiasms, such as music, gardening, literature, scientific ideas, painting, making and cooking. In fact, I was able to do all these things as a teacher in the 1950s and 60s.

While my children were young, I was deeply involved in the early days of the playgroup movement. Through this I learned about adult learning, community development and different forms of provision. With each new experience my fascination with children’s early development increased. Since then, the rapid growth in research in the area of Early Childhood Studies has continued to feed my curiosities.

How has the field of child observation has changed since 1996 when the first edition of Learning Through Child Observation was published?

At the time of the first edition I was lecturing on Social Work courses and was surprised at how little preparation there was for these students in terms of observation skills and knowledge of child development. There was a clear gap in the market for students’ books and especially a book for the variety of professional groups concerned with young children. Today there are many books on observation, but they still tend to concentrate on specific professional groups.

The government’s more joined-up approach to children’s services now means there is an ever greater need for a multi-professional approach. Though the rhetoric is all about ‘every child matters’, personalisation etc, I feel that prescriptive, goal-driven approaches may have diminished open-minded observation and led to less sensitive understanding.

Another factor, addressed in the second edition, is the changing view of children. Through my work with 5x5x5=creativity, as well as personal observations of three grandchildren, over the last few years, I have become much more alert to the dynamic capacities of all young children and conscious of how they are underestimated.

The second edition also demonstrates the importance of the many forms of communication children use to express their feelings and ideas.

The new edition of your book includes insights from your work with the arts based educational project, 5x5x5 = creativity. Can you tell us more about the organisation?

5x5x5=creativity is an arts-based educational research project that has been evolving over the last 9 years.

The name came from the first cohort of five early year’s settings working with five artists in collaboration with five cultural centres (galleries, theatre, music centre, etc).

The project is concerned with creativity in its broadest sense -- Anna Craft calls this ‘life-wide’ creativity -- where open-minded problem-solving can be used in all kinds of situations.

My observations of hundreds of children through this project has opened my eyes to their brilliant imaginations and their ability to share their fascinations with others through the ‘hundred languages of children’ i.e. through drawing, moving, music, and many other modes as well as talking. This is an important matter since talking, reading and writing tend to overshadow all these other forms.  

What do you think are the main challenges/attractions of working in Early Years settings?

I suspect that my personal enthusiasm for this stage comes through in the answers to the first three questions. Working in the early years can be a time when adults can share the excitement of discovery with these intrepid young explorers if the conditions are positive.

Children need an environment which supports their inbuilt drives -- especially their curiosity and intense desire to communicate with others. This playfulness, energy and sense of fun are nature’s ways of ensuring that each generation develops and grows to their best advantage. However, in the drive to regulate and ‘raise standards’, to achieve targets and to ensure safety (none of these are undesirable in themselves) -- those working with young children often seem very pressured and anxious.

Maintaining a sense of optimism and remaining open to children’s own energetic efforts towards membership of social groups as well as their individual striving for development is certainly a challenge in the current climate.

What was the last book you read and what are you reading at the moment?

The current book I'm reading (and its taking a long time!) is Charles Dickens’ Little Dorrit.

(c) Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2010

This article was first published in the Jessica Kingsley Publishers Social Work Newsletter in July 2009

Possibly related articles:

• What we owe our children [Analysis], By Dennis Cochrane, CBC News, August 30, 2010
• TV can improve literacy, By Keely Schellenberg, Winnipeg Free Press, September 8, 2010
• Should children be expected to work? By Fran Abrams, BBC Radio 4 Analysis, BBC News Magazine, September 20, 2010

[Interview] Nana Awere Damoah

Nana Awere Damoah is a Ghanaian Chevening alumnus who studied in Ghana and in the United Kingdom.

He keeps a blog of his articles at Excursions in my Mind.

So far, he has written and published two books, Through the Gates of Thought (Athena Press, 2010) and Excursions in my Mind (Athena Press, 2008).

His short stories have been featured in Ghanaian newspapers and magazines that include The Mirror and The Spectator as well as in the anthology, African Roar (Lion Press Ltd, 2010).

In this interview, Nana Awere Damoah talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

My very first article, published in Through the Gates of Thought, was written in 1993 -- so I trace my writing life to that year. I was 18 years old then. But my appreciation of the literary form and my involvement in things literary actually started much earlier, in preparatory school, in the early 1980s when each class had to perform a play a day before the vacation day ... Small beginnings, appreciation of the arts, learning the rudiments of prose and poetry.

I remember being taught, in preparation for the Common Entrance in preparatory school, to answer the question: "Write a story ending with ‘…  and the boy learnt a lesson for life, that obedience is better than sacrifice" ... Small beginnings of creative writing.

Then in Form One, in 1986, I wrote what I consider my first creative work, in (you won’t believe this) my history class: “A Day in Carthage”. It was purely fictional, and I loved it!

In the sixth form, we wanted to form a Literary Club and that was what led me to write that first article published in Through the Gates of Thought.

My first break as a writer came in 1995 when I submitted a short story, ‘The Showdown’, to the popular weekly newspaper, The Mirror -- and it was published! Seeing my name in print, knowing that this newspaper was the best selling paper in Ghana and circulated all over the country, gave me immense confidence and encouragement.

My skills were further honed when I joined the Literary Wing of the Christian fellowship during University.

In my early days, and this hasn’t changed much, I wrote a lot during the day, in my study notebooks, on sheets of paper, whenever and wherever inspiration hit. I continued to submit stories to The Mirror, The Spectator (which published one story), magazines on the University campus and shared my writings with the Literary club and also posted them on notice boards in the Department and my hall of residence, Katanga Hall. Some of them were published, some were rejected!

I also did a lot of reading in the secondary school and University, to learn about various writing styles.

I started my writing journey with essays, but moved swiftly into short stories. In 1997, I entered and won a national competition for true short stories. I got into poetry in the University, during my undergraduate years, and used to recite my poems in church. I started writing these essays which form the material for both books, in Oct 2004 and circulated to my friends via email. When I was in the UK for my masters, I started updating them on my first blog, Excursions in My Mind.

After a while, friends who received my Empower series started encouraging me to publish a compilation for a wider audience. That was around 2005 whilst I was studying for my Masters in the UK.

I did a compilation and seriously started looking for options, whilst still writing the articles and sharing them online. On my way to Ghana, after a business meeting in Israel, I saw an advert in the Economist by my publisher and I decided to submit my manuscript.

That was in November 2007.

My first book was published in October 2008.

How would you describe your writing?

I write fiction, non-fiction, and poems.

I like to refer to my non-fiction as reflective, rather than motivational. The analogy in the differentiation is this: a motivational book may provoke you, positively, to start running, in whatever direction -- that is speed. A reflective book, which is more than (yet inclusive of) motivational, will cause you to run, in a direction, knowing where and why you are running -- that is velocity. Because it matters not how hard you row the boat if you are headed in the wrong direction.

Who is your target audience?

I write with young adults in mind, mostly.

I have, however, had middle-aged readers react very well to the books, because I believe the lessons adduced in the writings are universal -- across ages, cultures and social classes.

We practise oral tradition in most African cultures, where the thoughts, ideals and knowledge of the family, tribe or clan are transmitted from one generation to the other without a writing system. However, this system is flawed in the sense that a lot of African innovation, experience and culture have been lost.

I think of my descendants ... two, three or four generations from now; I think of my children ... 40, 50 years from now; I try to remember the stories my dad shared with me about his life’s experiences. Will my descendants know what I am going through today, what my wishes were for my generation and for them? Can the lessons I have picked up from the varied peregrinations in my life be crystallised for eternity, for the benefit of those yet unborn?

My attempt to answer these questions gave birth to my Empower series of articles, which form the materials for both Excursions in my Mind and Through the Gates of Thought.

In the writing you are doing, which authors influenced you most?

In terms of how I write in my Empower series which form the material for my two books -- Through the Gates of Thought and Excursions in my Mind -- Dale Carnegie has been a great influence on my style and the simple approach in my writing.

In terms of my works of fiction and drawing on my culture, Chinua Achebe has had a strong impact on me, and his book Things Fall Apart is an all-time favorite.

I look to the Bible (David, Solomon) for inspiration for my poetry.

I am, however, a voracious and indiscriminate reader and have been influenced by numerous writers of varied styles and genres. For instance, in my teenage years, I read a lot of fairy tales translated from Russian!

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

As indicated above, I draw lessons from my personal experiences, and also from what I read and hear.

I see myself as a distillation plant, that takes issues around me -- mundane, routine everyday occurrences -- as my raw material; then reflects on and processes them, producing various fractions, fit for use by my readers.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

In sharing thoughts through my writings, my earnest hope is that I may be able to change even one mind. If I can change one such mind, I would have contributed to the agenda of building our nation, our continent, our world.

Thus, in my books, I ensure the reader is not left hanging without an action point; each article provokes the reader to take an action, upon reflecting on the main points.

In my works of fiction, the main aim is to project African culture and folklore, which is where I am researching more and more these days. I am in love with our traditional sayings and proverbs and seek to incorporate them more in my stories. This is evident in my story, "Truth Floats", which appears in African Roar.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Being able to juggle my full time job with Unilever in Ghana (I am presently the Research and Development Technical Manager), my family and social responsibilities, and my passion for writing!

Seeing my writing as an extension of my Christian ministry, as the main vehicle and medium for me to impact my generation and beyond, helps to keep me focused. Because I see it as such, I invest and make time for writing, knowing and believing that through this talent, I can be significant. My wife has been quite supportive in this endeavor, giving me room to indulge in my literary passion and ministry.

Do you write everyday?

My principle is to write, think about my ideas or read daily. At least two hours a day. When I write, it is usually at dawn: when the world is asleep, my thoughts are clearer.

Usually I would have the idea in my mind, and would ruminate on it for some time. It took me three years to write one particular article; some articles take me a week from inception to finish.

I sit behind the PC and just write, once I have the flow in my mind. Then I do my edits, and do further research for quotes etc to enrich the scripts.

I never send out the first draft -- one rule of mine is to let the sun go down on my writing.

I write in chunks -- a chapter at a time. For my books, I circulate the articles, chapter by chapter first and get more inputs/feedback from my online readers and friends, to help enhance the final product.

How many books have you written so far?

I have two non-fiction books:

Through the Gates of Thought (Athena Press, April 2010) and Excursions in My Mind (Athena Press, October 2008).

I have also contributed to one anthology, African Roar (StoryTime, June 2010).

How did you chose a publisher for your latest book?

My latest book, Through the Gates of Thought, took about two years to complete.

It is an eclectic collection of stories, articles, poems, which touch various aspects of everyday life. I write about everyday events, common thoughts, normal issues -- but in a style that distills the key essence of life's lessons.

The stories will cause you to pause and think, think and reflect, reflect and take action -- an action for a positive change. Through these, I seek to affect my society, community, continent, world -- one mind at a time.

Through the Gates of Thought was published in April 2010, in the UK and USA. Athena Press published my first book and I stuck with them. I am happy so far with their professionalism, the thoroughness of the publishing process and the quality of the finished product.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into Through the Gates of Thought?

None, really.

Perhaps making the time to complete within my targeted schedule.

I enjoyed the interaction with readers online as I blogged the various chapters. And to hear the impact it had had on people.

Finally, the opportunity to mentor young readers who write to me to advise on their own writing, and other aspects of life -- it makes writing worthwhile and is in line with my vision to affect lives.

What sets  Through the Gates of Thought apart from other things you've written?

The interesting bit about my books is that each chapter is a standalone, unique in the lessons and thrust. So Through the Gates of Thought is as unique as the number of chapters it contains!

Personally, I see maturity in this second book as well. I keep reading the chapters again and again, as I go through similar situations.

In what way is it similar to the others?

The similarity comes with the simplicity of the topics intertwined with the power of déjà vu: stories that remind you of your own experiences, lessons of everyday life served with a different perspective, making you look at your experiences again -- resulting in new learning, all your own.

What will your next book be about?

I am already in chapter four of the next book. I am yet to find a title for it!

Its focus is more inspirational and aims to provoke the new generation of Africans, especially, to be the game-changing generation for our continent.

A long-intended project is to write a novel about the legendary spider in Ghanaian folklore.

I am also doing a compilation of my poems for publication soon -- we live to see which of these three books will out first!

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Can I give two?

First, winning the first prize in the Step Magazine National Story Writing Competition in 1997, which led to my story being published as part of an anthology.

Second, getting published, with my name on the cover of two books!

Related articles:

• An Interview with Author Nana Awere Damoah, By Nana Fredua-Agyeman, ImageNations, July 05, 2010
• Author Interviews -- Circles and Excursion in my Mind, By Boakyewaa Glover, Boakyewaaglover.com, November 16, 2009
• Nana Awere Damoah: Excursions In My Mind [Interview], By Awo Sarpong Ansu, Jamati Online, November 18, 2008