Sally Prue, author of Song Hunter , on the very beginnings of art and creative thinking, including her experience of visiting the British Museum exhibition on Ice Age Art . (This is an expanded version of a piece first posted on Sally’s Song Hunter blog .) Making up stuff is important. No, really: life and death important. Writing a story or painting a picture may […]
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Celebrating 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 moreHistorical fiction author Marie-Louise Jensen introduces us to the hidden world of smuggling – the backdrop to her latest novel Smuggler’s Kiss. Isabelle is rescued from drowning by the crew of a notorious smuggling ship, and finds herself in a world of adventure, romance, and a thrilling fight for justice. Researching smuggling is a tortuous […]
Read moreIn the latest Winnie the Witch picture book adventure, Winnie visits the museum and is transported back to the time of the dinosaurs. Oxford is home to Winnie the Witch, but did you know it is also home to one of the leading fossilists of the 19th century, William Buckland, whose birthday it is today? […]
Read moreThe inimitable Geraldine McCaughrean shares her experience of writing The Positively Last Performance , her wonderful new novel about a seaside town and a theatre full of ghosts, each with their own story to tell. First it was Turner, then Tracey Emin. Even the Rough Guide put it among the world’s ten top resorts. Karl Marx and T. S. Eliot […]
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Sally Prue on the influence of her childhood on her latest novel, Song Hunter : the story of a girl at the dawn of the Ice Age. ‘Hm,’ said my husband Roger. ‘This is a very autobiographical novel, isn’t it.’ Now the startling thing about Roger’s comment is that the book in question was my novel Song Hunter; and Song Hunter is not […]
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The 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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Award-winning author Gillian Cross writes about the inspiration for her latest novel, After Tomorrow – a dark survival thriller scarily close to home . . . Ideas can come from very unexpected places. After Tomorrow takes place in England and France, but it started with a picture of boys in Africa. I was doing some work with a charity […]
Read moreThis week has been designated national storytelling week , and that has turned my mind to the ancient art of oral storytelling. More specifically, it has set me thinking about books in which oral storytelling plays an important part – and what those books can tell us about the power of stories. I thought I would share my […]
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Let me introduce myself. I’m Jasmine Richards and I have been a senior commissioning editor at Oxford University Press Children’s Books for four years. I have worked in publishing for nine years or so and one questions that I often get asked is: ‘how do you become a commissioning editor?’ I’ll do my best to answer that in this post […]
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