Deborah Ellis shares her experiences of researching her latest book, set in Afghanistan, My Name is Parvana. Late in the l990s, I spent time in the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan. Millions of Afghans fled there from the Soviet occupation, the civil war and then the atrocities of the Taliban. The stories I heard there […]
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We were talking about the old days, and I remembered the weirdest things. Like people calling them ‘friends’. And how they said they were good for your brain. Some families even laid a place for them at dinner. Debut novelist Nikki Sheehan shares her thoughts on the phenomenon of imaginary friends, based on her research […]
Read moreStand-up comedian and author of the brand new The Private Blog of Joe Cowley, Ben Davis shares his top 3 favourite April Fool pranks… Hi everybody! My name is Ben Davis and I’m a writer. My debut novel is called The Private Blog of Joe Cowley . It’s about a fourteen-year-old boy who starts his own secret blog to document his […]
Read morePolly Shulman shares the challenges of writing her time-travel novel, The Wells Bequest , a story full of fantastic objects from popular science fiction stories and packed with fascinating time-travelling conundrums! I thought the hardest part of writing a time-travel novel would be getting the historical details right. I was wrong. The hardest part was dealing with the […]
Read moreWilliam Hussey, author of Haunted , talks about where ideas come from… ‘Where do you get your ideas?’ That’s the question writers dread most, because, you see, often it’s as much a mystery to us as to anyone! How does the first spark of a story ignite? I believe that the writer’s unconscious mind does most of […]
Read moreI have always ‘done’ funny. Both as a reader, and a writer. As a child, I snorted through every page of every Dr Seuss, laughed until I cried at Russell Hoban’s inspired creation Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong in her iron hat cooking mutton sog, and the mere mention of the East Pagwell Canal from Professor Branestawm […]
Read moreCelebrating the publication of The Rachel Riley Diaries: The Life of Riley , Joanna Nadin shares what she wanted to be when she grew up! I never wanted to be a writer when I grew up. That is to say, it didn’t occur to me that writing was a “real” job, much less one that I would be capable of, or derive enjoyment […]
Read moreDave Cousins, author of 15 Days Without a Head and Waiting for Gonzo , shares his story making secret. One of the most common questions asked of writers is where do you get your ideas from? It’s a question that many will struggle to answer—not me. I know exactly where my stories originate. I’ll let you into the secret, but don’t go spreading it around. This is […]
Read moreSt. Valentine’s Day. A day to celebrate romance and all things lovey-dovey. Here at OUP, we’re feeling the lurrve and revelling in the romance of some of our teen titles: Seeking Crystal , Firelight , and Rachel Riley . We thought you might like to share the loving… It started with a kiss Let us begin with the excitement of […]
Read moreThe wonderful Tim Bowler writes on our relationship with the sea, as explored in his latest novel, Sea of Whispers : a haunting tale of love, loss, courage, and mystery in a beautifully-evoked remote island setting. I am writing this blog piece from a favourite spot: a high nest in a little town perched above the sea on the south […]
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