Former Chair of the Youth Libraries Group, Alison Brumwell, joins us to reflect upon the exceptional writing and varied career of the late Marcus Sedgwick, whose exceptional and experimental writing has done so much to enhance and enrich the lives of his readers.  Marcus took part in the virtual programme for this year's Youth Libraries Group conference.  The fascinating and insightful interview he gave with Alison is made available here.

In her 2018 Carnegie Medal winning acceptance speech, Geraldine McCaughrean commends writers for children and young people who are prepared to “wall themselves up in gruelling interior worlds to bring us a true insight into injustice, impending danger, other people’s lives and hardships.” She goes on to remark that we master words by meeting them, not by avoiding them; that young readers, indeed readers of all ages, need words in order to think independently.

The intervening four years have presented young people with the necessity of facing unprecedented change: a global pandemic and an extended period of interrupted schooling; the growing threat of climate change; war in the Ukraine; and a UK economy in freefall. If adults struggle to orient themselves, how can our children cope? One way is through words and the power of story. The late Marcus Sedgwick is one writer who has challenged and inspired readers of all ages through his ground-breaking fiction.

It's hard to know where to begin when discussing Marcus’s extraordinary legacy. His writing defies pigeon-holing and he tackled during his lengthy career a number of difficult issues and themes. His numerous accolades and significant publishing record have been well-documented: a 2011 Branford Boase Award for his debut Floodland; a Michael L. Printz Award in 2014 for Midwinterblood, and 2016 Michael L. Printz Honors for Revolver and The Ghosts of Heaven; not to mention, featuring on the Carnegie Medal shortlist eight times. The most recently nod was in 2020 for Voyages in the Underworld of Orpheus Black, a moving collaboration with his brother Julian and illustrator Alexis Deacon.

Writing about Marcus and his books on more than a superficial, or academic, level inevitably involves my own experience of his work, from sharing his fiction with my daughter (his writing is a revelation to read aloud) to the first time I met him, at Headingley Library in Leeds in 2008. I listened to him talk about Blood Red Snow White, an extraordinary historical adventure which charts the experiences of writer Arthur Ransome during the days of the Russian Revolution.  It remains one of my favourite novels. I was struck at the time by Marcus’s passion for the subject matter, his meticulous research, fluent delivery and – perhaps above all - his patience. It’s quite a feat to write brilliant fiction and combine this with the generosity and grace required to address an audience effectively. Each time I heard Marcus speak, whether it was at a conference or event, this quality was evident. And never more so than in his support of the Carnegie Medals and the shadowing initiative.

Marcus was a huge supporter of the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway shadowing scheme and of reading groups in general. I was a regional judge when Midwinterblood was shortlisted for the 2013 Carnegie Medal and remember many animated discussions at different secondary school shadowing groups about the novel: its structure, the time shifts, the way in which Merle and Eric’s lives are inextricably linked and the ultimate sacrifice made. Marcus asks that his reader “descends into the real anguish of imaginary beings”, as Richard Powers writes in The Overstory. This is equally evident in The Ghosts of Heaven and Saint Death, two equally challenging – and harrowing - novels which were also published to critical acclaim and received shortlist recognition for the Carnegie Medal in 2016 and 2018, respectively. Marcus joined the Bibliosmiacs (a reading group of very engaged young readers based at Huddersfield Library) virtually in May 2018 to discuss with them the themes of Saint Death and what motivated him to write Arturo’s bleak story in which abject poverty, and the inexorable strangle hold of Mexican drug lords, prevails. What strikes me most upon re-reading Saint Death is that it is brutal, but not devoid of hope; indeed, as Marcus writes in Together We Win, we are living in very dark times. “There is injustice on all sides, there is fear and frustration, and anger, but we know what ought to be done, what fight must be fought.” Young people are at the forefront of this awakening and, needless to say, the Bibliosmiacs were transfixed by their conversation with Marcus and appreciative of the trust he places in his readers.

I’ve already alluded to Marcus’s versatility as a writer, and he is certainly capable of elegantly throwing an astute curve ball or two. He is also one of the few writers who can tackle the twin challenges of humour and horror. His books for younger readers, including the under-appreciated She is Not Invisible, are full of adventure and universal appeal. The Raven Mysteries are enormous fun and I have recommended Scarlett Hart: Monster Hunter to many graphic novel devotees. What’s not to enjoy about an intrepid orphan, her faithful butler, gruesome creatures, an evil count and a secret project?  For older readers, The Ghosts of Heaven is sublime fiction a marvellous example of Marcus writing at the height of his powers. The mark of a truly exceptional novel is one which stands up against multiple readings and reveals more over the passage of time to remain ever fresh and relevant. Along with The Monsters We Deserve (written to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein) and A Love Like Blood it is for me one of the most chilling and thought-provoking of Marcus’s novels. (In fact, the final four word sentence of A Love Like Blood contains more undiluted terror than many books I can think of and rivals the best short stories of Poe.)

In his later writing career, Marcus Sedgwick continued to challenge, inspire and interrogate. He found a new home with Barrington Stoke, writing a trio of short novels which explore young people’s relationship with the natural world. As with many of Marcus’s other works, they draw upon myth and legend and some of the earth’s deeply held secrets. It was an honour to speak to Marcus about the second book in the trio as part of Youth Libraries Group’s annual national conference in September 2022. We discussed Wrath, which is nominated for the 2023 Yoto Carnegie Medal, and its hopeful conclusion. Learning to listen, and being listened to, are themes which animate the novel and its characters. There’s a moving tenderness for them as they reach out for each other and the wild landscape they encounter, and some uniquely beautiful writing.

Marcus also turned his attention to the importance of social responsibility, and the mental health and well-being of young people, with the publication in 2022 of Be Kind and Be Calm. These two books are toolkits for readers who want to make a difference and upon whom stress and anxiety, particularly post-pandemic, have taken their toll. They are remarkable, important books in a remarkable writing life. At the time of his death, Marcus had written 80k words of a new novel for Andersen Press, of which his editor said, “I can only imagine was something quite brilliant.” As a reader a librarian and a bookseller, I am immensely grateful for Marcus’s brilliance and for the lasting pleasure of reading his work.

“To be remembered in the heart of a loved one is to live forever.”
Ghosts of Heaven, Marcus Sedgwick (2016)

If you are interested in finding out about some of the hottest new books for children and young people publishing in 2023, connecting with 22 publishers, meeting an amazing array of authors ( including S.F. Said, Phil Earle, Carnegie Medal for Writing winner 2022 Katya Balen, Jenny Pearson and more!), signing up for free promotional materials or taking part in competitions and much more, the Children's Reading Partners Roadshow - run by The Reading Agency - is for you.  Details about how to sign up for you free place and what to expect in each session are below.

When: Wednesday 9 November from 9.15am - 3.15pm

Where: Zoom Webinar (link provided after registration). You need to register for each of the sessions you would like to attend as they have different log ins.

Session 1: 9.15 - 10.20am. The publishers presenting in this session are: Gecko Press, Usborne, Chicken House, Hachette Children's Group and Macmillan Children's Books. Register for session 1 here.

Session 2: 10.45 - 12.00pm. The publishers presenting in this session are: Andersen Press, Bloomsbury, Buster Books, Little Tiger, Rebellion Publishing and Welbeck Children's Books. Register for session 2 here.

Session 3: 12.45 - 1.55pm. The publishers presenting in this session are: Bonnier Books UK, b small Publishing, Faber & Faber, HarperCollins Children's Books, New Frontier Publishing and UCLan Publishing. Register for session 3 here.

Session 4: 2.15 - 3.15pm. The publishers presenting in this session are: David Fickling Books, Farshore, Nosy Crow and Simon & Schuster Children's Books.

Register for session 4 here.

The Reading Agency also run our Chatterbooks newsletter which regularly runs read and review campaigns for Children’s reading groups and offers free physical and digital resources and displays to school and public libraries as well as author visits. If you would like to hear more about our opportunities for librarians and teachers, you can sign up to our newsletter here.

Valerie Bloom is the 2022 winner of the CLiPPA award with her impressively wide-reaching collection Stars with Flaming Tails.  We were delighted to have the opportunity to talk with Valerie about her work, career and collection.

You were born and grew up in Jamaica.  What role did poetry play in your childhood and did you write as a child?

I grew up listening to poetry.   My mother and grandmother used to recite poetry all the time. Two favourites of theirs were The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and Casabianca.  The Jamaican Poet, The Honorable Louise Bennett Coverley was a household name and I remember every weekday sitting around the radio with my family and listening to her mid-day programme, “Miss Lou’s Views”.

As children, we were encouraged to memorise the poetry of the Bible, and every morning and evening we’d recite a psalm during family worship.

 Then there was the National Festival where poetry was performed alongside the other art forms. The medal winners would usually be featured on the television, so we would be seeing poetry being performed all summer. At school I was always being coached to enter the festival though we never actually went. I think the logistics of taking kids from rural Jamaica to the capital for the competition was just too much for my teachers.

As soon as I could write I started making up poems and stories.  The first was published when I was twelve.

You moved to the UK in 1979, what were your early impressions and experiences of the country?

First impression was probably the same as that experienced by many people coming to the UK from a tropical country – cold.  In the middle of July, I kept asking if it was about to snow. I couldn’t imagine that it would get any colder. It was the first time I’d experienced cold sunshine.

Then I was struck by the beauty of the vegetation – the profusion of colours in the flowers.  I was quite distressed when winter arrived and I thought all the trees had died! 

If I was walking through my town in Jamaica and I made eye-contact with someone without saying hello, I would be considered ill-mannered.  I soon learnt that here, if you greeted people on the streets with a cheery “good morning”, you’d receive some strange looks.

I was invited to a poetry reading a little while after I got here and was expecting a performance such as I was used to in our oral tradition. I was amazed when the poet stood and read from his book the entire evening. I’d never seen that before.

Your first collection of poetry was Touch Mi, Tell Mi, can you tell us a little about how that came to be?

I’d been writing poems in Jamaican before I came to the UK. Soon after I arrived, I was approached by someone from the Jamaican Society in Manchester. They had been living here for some time and wanted to form a choir to sing Jamaican folk songs but had forgotten the words. They asked if I could help. I taught and choreographed the songs and soon they were performing around the country. 

To add some variety, I would perform a poem or two and people soon started inviting me to give solo performances of the poems.  At the performances I’d be asked where they could get the book but I didn’t have one.   

I was invited to do a weekly slot reading my poems on Radio Manchester and would write a poem during the week and read it on the radio the following Sunday.  

I went to see Jessica Huntley from Bogle L’Overture Books, clutching a handful of these poems, and asked if she would like to publish them. To my amazement, she said yes immediately. The rest is history.

There's a wonderful cadence and musicality to your poetry.  Does reading aloud or performance form part of the writing process for you?

When I’m writing I often think about how the poem is going to be performed. Poems are designed to be read aloud. They are as much about sound as they are about the words, so performance and oral delivery are important considerations when I’m writing. Sometime the performance even comes to me before the words and then I find the language to go with the actions.  I write a lot on trains, planes and in hotel rooms and sometimes I forget where I am and start acting out a poem I’m writing on the train.  I come to my senses when I realise the people around me are looking a little alarmed.

You've written across a broad range of forms - novels, poetry, for the radio and also for the jazz ensemble, Grand Union Orchestra - what has been the most exciting writing experience for you and why?

I did a one woman show for the Children’s Book Show some years ago. That was pretty exciting as we toured around the UK, but also I was able to incorporate story-telling, songs, movement, not just poetry. 

Stars with Flaming Tails is your most recent collection and there's a very experimental and playful element to the subjects and forms explored.  How do you go about writing and selecting the poems for a collection?

I’m always writing, so at any given time I have some poems which have not been published.  When I’m putting a collection together, I go through those poems to see which ones I’d like to use and then write others that would go well with them, whether in terms of themes, language or subject matter.  In the case of Stars with Flaming Tails, I got a bit carried away and wrote way too many poems for the book.  The fact that I had the sections into which the book is divided seemed to make it easier to write poems to fit those categories.  In the end it was Janetta at Otter-Barry books who helped me to decide on the final selection.

Children's poetry has not always received the attention it deserves, it feels to be in an exciting place with the CLiPPA, with Joseph Coelho being announced as the new Children's Laureate and with Manchester's new Poetry Library.  What do you think poetry has to offer?

Among other things, poetry develops self-awareness and empathy, is an outlet for self-expression and it helps children to make sense of the world around them.  It’s been shown to aid in cognitive development and encourages creative expression.  It frees children from the restrictions of grammatical rules, making them more willing and able to explore their emotions in their writing and because it’s usually a short piece of literature, it means it’s appealing to reluctant readers and writers. 

Can you give readers any insight as to what might be next for you?

There’s a chapter book coming out soon and I’m now working on another book of poetry.  Other projects are just in their embryonic stages so I can’t talk about them yet.

A huge thank you to Valerie Bloom for the interview and to Andrea Reece for the opportunity.

Maisie Chan is the winner of the 2022 Branford Boase award with her brilliantly funny and thoughtful Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths.  We were delighted to talk with Maisie about her writing and about the award.

What was your journey to becoming an author?

It’s been a long journey!

I guess I had an epiphany when my mum passed away in 2003. I remember telling someone I wanted to ‘write books!’ but I had no idea where to begin. Three years later, I began with short stories and flash fiction for adults. I felt that was a good place to begin as the form is short and I could then move onto novels. I have to say that I was immensely scared of writing a novel and didn’t try to write one for years. I felt it was too big a hurdle and that I was not ready for the task. I also wanted to write a memoir, however, I remember someone telling me that I was ‘too young’ to write a memoir. At the time, I didn’t agree, I felt I had a lot to say about my life. Yet, they were right in terms of my writing ability. I was still very much learning to become a writer. I had support from Writing West Midlands.

I had some short stories published and lead creative writing workshops for adults and children, but I still didn’t write a novel until I became a mentee on the inaugural Megaphone scheme with mentor Leila Rasheed back in 2016. I’d had some time away to have children and had hardly written a thing for five years but felt that this was a great opportunity for me to get back to what mattered to me, which was writing. I had wanted to try writing for children after a librarian had told me my ‘voice’ suited children’s and Y.A. I thought I would give it a go. The year I spent as a Megaphone mentee was brilliant. We had masterclasses from Patrice Lawrence (just before Orange Boy was published!), Catherine Johnson, Candy Gourlay, Alex Wheatle and more. We got to speak to editors and agents, and we had a showcase at the London Book Fair. I wrote a novel for teens called Looking For Lily Wong and landed my first agent soon after I finished writing it.

During the time I was editing my teen novel, I felt something just wasn’t working and put it aside. My agent asked me if I had any middle grade ideas and I pitched her Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths (which was then called Lychees and Bingo Balls). She liked the idea, and I wrote it. A year later we went on submission, and it was picked up by Piccadilly Press in a two-book deal and it was bought by Amulet in the States a few weeks later. I thought Danny Chung might do better in the States than in the U.K. because there hadn’t been many (or any) titles published here for that age group by or for British Chinese people. I wasn’t sure there was going to be a readership. But I’m glad to say I was wrong!

Can you introduce us to Danny Chung please?

Danny is eleven-years-old and is a young artist. He loves drawing comics and getting his friend Ravi to help with the speech bubbles. It’s an activity that makes them laugh and one where they can be truly themselves. He also uses drawing to vent his frustrations and to work out things going on in his life.

Danny lives above a Chinese takeaway with his parents. They want him to do well at school, and in their eyes that means being good at maths and other subjects. His mum’s best friend, Auntie Yee is always comparing him to Amelia Yee who is good at everything. This makes Danny feel bad.

Danny also wants to be part of a ‘cool’ group of boys who play physical games (scooting and shooting their foam pellet guns around the park) rather than the more imaginative activities that he and Ravi partake in. And to make things worse, he’s got a math presentation and his gran from China moves in. No-one has told him this is going to happen, so it’s the worse surprise he can think of getting. Danny has a lot of personal challenges to overcome in the book.

He's a regular boy on one hand. But he’s also a British Chinese boy too and so there are things about his family’s situation and lifestyle which are uniquely British Chinese. My main concern when writing him was making him relatable. He’s got wants and desires like any eleven-year-old boy whose parents hope they’ll to be a certain way, but he has his own path to follow.

The relationship between Danny and his grandmother, Nai Nai, is beautifully realised and is often very funny, was it challenging creating the dynamic between the pair when language is a barrier for them?

Well, yes and no. My concern for Nai Nai was that I wanted her to inhabit the space in the book without speaking much and so she is very physical in how she moves, and her actions speak volumes. I wanted readers to ‘see’ her in their minds clearly when they read the book and she is by far the most beloved character. I have a lot of experience in real life of staying with people or communicating with others who don’t speak the same language as me. I lived in Taipei for a while and I was the one who was the outsider, who couldn’t speak the language and would smile and point at things. You find that you can use your body, your expressions and your hands for communication when language is a barrier, so I put all of that into the novel. There may be the occasional blip too and you can see that in the scene were Danny takes Nai Nai to the bowling green and there is an incident with a large fruit. It made me laugh to write those kinds of scenes and I think people have enjoyed the humour of the book, but it was hard not to make Nai Nai into a caricature. She is based on a few older women that I know, grandmothers and mothers who do spit out lychee seeds into buckets, or who bash watermelons with their palms. Women who want to show their love by feeding you and feeding you some more.

The book is written in first person, so we see things form Danny’s point of view and I think he was meaner to her in the earlier drafts.  My editor helped me to bring out Danny’s feelings about his grandmother more, but to have him less stroppy. She said he also needed to be likeable! I think the tricky part was making him dislike her for taking up space in his life, rather than disliking her for being ‘foreign’ – I didn’t want readers to see her to ‘other’ even though she is newly-arrived, so that was a challenge and I hope it worked. In the scene with the chicken feet this came to the forefront – I didn’t want Danny to be embarrassed by the food, he loves the food she brought to school. He wanted to eat it. He’s embarrassed that she’s shown up to school. Little things like that were important for me. I’ve seen books where Chinese food is posited as ‘disgusting’. It’s about showing the relationship between them as a bridge between generations and cultures. I had a lot of worries about representation when writing it. I wanted to centre a British Chinese character, he’s from the diaspora and so it’s almost a third space. Non-Chinese people might see him as an outsider even though he’s British, Chinese from Asia don’t see him as fully Chinese because he can’t speak the language. It’s a precarious place to be.

Danny finds self-expression through his art, did you have any means for release when you were growing up?

I used to like drawing when I was a child. I won a couple of art competitions when I was in reception class. My painting of Little Red Riding Hood was put up in my local library (the now closed Selly Oak Library in South Birmingham) and I used to like music. I was a fan of Shakin’ Stevens and Adam and the Ants and put masking tape on my face to replicate the Adam Ant stripes that he used to have on his face. I liked to read and to go to the library. I had a few of those Ladybird fairytale books at home but we weren’t a family who read. My parents would read the local newspaper and my dad would buy the Angling Times, as she was a fisherman, but that was it. I liked to make up games and play out on the streets and in the local park, which was called Graffiti Park by the kids, you can guess why!

There's a lot of thoughtful comment around the fusion of different cultures and traditions but there is also a lot of humour, were you conscious of creating a balance between the two and is humour a useful means for exploring complex ideas?

I think the humour comes from my family background. I think humour can be used to break down barriers between people. It can also create divides if you are using it to bully or make fun of someone. How can I centre this person’s experience and add nuance to their character? I think was one question I looked at when writing the characters. For example, Auntie Yee is a tiger mom. She is like a lot of parents I’ve met (Chinese and also non-Chinese) who are pushy, they’re competitive and think about their child as the sum of their academic achievements. I presented that stereotype (because there are people like that I know), but I also added a layer of empathy where we can see that Auntie Yee, also strives to belong in a culture that does not accept her fully so then she thinks that by having certain things or having a daughter who is the best is the way to make friends of be accepted.

The Branford Boase recognises both a debut author and also their editor, can you tell us a little about the relationship you had with your editor Georgia Murray at Piccadilly Press?

Georgia loved my writing from the beginning. When we met for the first time, I was sure this was the right editor for my book. I could tell she loved the characters and she said it was in ‘good shape’ which made me feel like I wasn’t a total novice.

Georgia sends me notes about the big things like structure, characters, plot and then there are notes on the actual manuscript. I must say that each time I’ve had editor notes from Georgia, they have been kind (which is very important for first time writers), the tone is not condescending, or demanding either. She offers gentle suggestions and so far, there hasn’t been a note which I’ve disagreed on or had to dispute. I think there is a now an inherent trust between us. She knows how I work, which can be disorganised, as I have a rough plan when I start writing but I like to see what will appear as I’m writing. I have to delete a lot of words sometimes as I try things and they may not always work but I accept that as part of the process of writing.

It was interesting for me to have Georgia there from the idea stage with my second novel - Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu and I would say her input into the shaping of Lizzie Chu was a lot more than with Danny Chung as I had her support all the way through. She was particularly helpful when I was stuck. I think sometimes I want someone else to come up with the answers for me, but Georgia is good at encouraging me to stick with the process. Parts of the novel appear in the writing of it and some of it feels unconscious and magical almost, I don’t know where some of it comes from.

I value Georgia’s measured nature and if I have any concerns (I am a worrier!) then I feel I can always go to her and tell her what’s on my mind. I trust Georgia (and her team) to know about the market and so when they came up with Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths as the title of the book, I wasn’t sure, but then I told myself, I have to trust her and the team to know what is best for the book.

Your latest book is 'Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu,' can you tell us anything about it please?

Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu is about a young carer whose grandad, Wai Gong is acting a little strange. They’re huge Strictly Come Dancing fans and Lizzie gets tickets to the Blackpool Tower (the home of Ballroom and Latin dancing) and she wants to take him there for a special day out but she’s twelve-years-old and needs help. It’s got a road trip, cosplay and of course, dancing. But there are also intermissions of Chinese myths and legends about the goddess Guan Yin who features in the book. She is the goddess of compassion and mercy. The book is influenced and was written during the pandemic. It was hard going! It’s really a homage to popular culture which was our escape during a tough time, and also, it’s a book about joy and kindness. It’s quite different from Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths, the themes are a little bit older, as is the voice. The writing was also different as the story isn’t as layered as Danny Chung either and there isn’t an antagonist as such, the obstacles are linear. But it is emotive, so I’ve been told and there is humour in there too and a lively cast of characters. I hope readers like it!

The winner of the Branford Boase traditionally goes on to judge the award, is there anything you will be particularly keen to see next year?

Ohhhh, what an interesting question! I don’t know! I loved seeing a highly illustrated book on this year’s shortlist. I think graphic novels are highly sophisticated and so perhaps I’d like to see one of those do well – a YA graphic novel maybe? They’re becoming increasingly popular for all age ranges. Also, funny books are hard to write but often don’t get the kudos that they should in children’s literature. If you can make a children smile, laugh or giggle that is no mean feat and I think children need joy now as they’ve been through so much. So maybe a funny book where you learn something new too? Who knows what we are going to get next year!

A big thank you to Maisie for the interview and to Andrea Reece for the opportunity.