 
|
Elizabeth Laird |
|
|
Elizabeth Laird |
|
1 Julia Eccleshare, in Books for Keeps (May 1997), wrote: "One of the strengths of Kiss the Dust lies in the insight it gives young British readers into the former lives of those who become refugees here." Many of your books are based on moral, cultural and political issues--a theme well-represented in the Literacy Hour (one of its more welcome features). Kiss the Dust is about the Kurds. Did you, in this and in your other 'issue' books, set out to write about a set dilemma and then create a story round it, or does the dilemma arise out of the narrative?
2 We'll come back to particular 'issue' titles later, but let's turn swiftly to your new series for Macmillan, Wild Things. The idea for a series about wildlife in Africa came from Macmillan, from the publisher there, whose name is Marion Lloyd. I'd been travelling a lot through Ethiopia at the time, collecting folk stories from all the different ethnic groups there, and I thought it was a brilliant idea. When she asked me if I wanted to do it, I said yes at once. 3 The first title, Leopard Trail, features an arch-villain, in the person of the boss of the main character's father, but this series aims to be lighter, more adventure-based than much of your work. However, there is clearly going to be a melancholy undercurrent relating to Afra's mother. Do such themes enter your work even when you're actively trying to keep them at bay? I don't think you can really get involved in a story if the characters don't have some light and shade. Real people all have problems and difficulties in their lives, and if you're going to care about the characters in a book you need to be able to see them in the round. I think I'd get bored with my characters if they didn't have real, tough things in their lives they've got to deal with. 4 Macmillan's publicity for the series mentions 'research' trips to Kenya. What type of research has gone into their writing? Does it precede or follow first drafts? The research for Wild Things is fantastically interesting. 5 There is something reminiscent of adult detective, thriller and adventure fiction in the manner in which adult characters are written about by you--both in this new series, and in an earlier title such as Hiding Out. Is this something that you are conscious of, or are you going to surprise me by saying that you don't read adult adventure titles? Really? I didn't know that. And no, I don't read adult adventure titles! 6 Hiding Out certainly does show the influence of cinema, in the way in which the narrative focus shifts back and forth from chapter to chapter. What is impressive about this novel is the way in which you use the shifting point of view to develop the parallel emotional roller-coaster: the abandoned Peter's emotions and mood as he attempts to 'survive' in the French cave, and the marital tensions between his parents that bubble up when they discover he's been left behind. Again, what fascinates me is whether this structure was evident in your first plans for the novel or did it develop during the writing? Oh dear, I really can't remember. Once I've written a novel, I kind of mentally shred the whole process that went on during the writing of it. I suppose I did work it all out first. I usually do, but things have a way of evolving as you write, too. 7 Back to the 'issue' titles. Your husband is a writer on Middle Eastern affairs, so the obvious question is: to what extent his work influenced a book such as Kiss The Dust? My husband's into Middle East issues up to his neck, and of course that influences me. Actually, Kiss the Dust was his idea originally. He suggested a novel about the Kurds. He'd dragged me off to live in Baghdad as soon as we were married, and we'd gone up to Kurdistan on our first holiday in Iraq. I thought it was amazing. 8 Your Graffix title, The Listener, was shortlisted for the NASEN Award, because of the way in which it dealt with the needs of the elderly. To what extent did you collaborate with the illustrator, and would you be keen to produce another 'graphics' title? Unfortunately, I didn't collaborate with Pauline Hazelwood at all, in fact, I've never even met her! But I do like the way she's done the book. 9 The illustrations by Jason Cockcroft in Secret Friends are sensitive and evocative, but what do you feel about Hodder's overall presentation of the book? Yes, I kind of agree. It was a difficult novel to publish, because it was so short, and there was a lot of discussion about whether it really belonged in the Story book list. Not sure what the answer is to that one. 10 The same is also somewhat true, but to a lesser extent, of On The Run, published by Mammoth, your story of a soldier rescued and nursed back to health by a younger (but not very young) girl during a civil war, the details and the exact location of which are kept intentionally vague. Did you have a particular conflict in mind when you were writing?
11 Forbidden Ground, your story of a village girl who moves to the city and is repulsed by the physical forwardness of a boy who falls in love with her, is similarly set in a country which is recognizably foreign but not identified. What were your reasons for not naming the country and city?
12 How many Wild Things titles will there be? How many have you written? Are you writing one at the moment?
13. When you get back from a research trip do you use any 'props' to help keep the research alive? No! I just sit in a chair and shut my eyes and try to remember. Memories are much more vivid than photographs, if you really make your mind do the work. 14 Can you descibe for ACHUKA the room in which you work, and your methods of writing, including stationery, pens, machines? Oh dear. What an impossible task! OK. Here goes. 15. You were born in New Zealand, but your parents were Scottish. To what extent is your Scottish ancestry important to you? Quite important. I certainly feel at home in Scotland. 16. You studied languages at university. Do you read any foreign children's literature, and if so is there anything that you think deserves to be translated and more widely published? No, I'm sorry, I don't read foreign children's literature, but I do think it's awful that so few books are translated into English. Years ago, I read Flood Warning, and A Thousand Million Francs by Paul Berna, and I thought they were brilliant. I'd like to see many more foreign books translated into English. Go to the Book List page to find buy-me links to all titles mentioned in the interview. |
In Kiss the Dust, I set out to write a war story. I was disturbed by the fact that, although the Second World War ended fifty years ago, so many books are still dwelling on it, and people don't seem to be able to move on. We're even all too prone to crow over our old enemies. By always looking at wars that happened a long time ago, it's easy to get the impression that they're something to do with history, distant in time, apart from us. We can easily become complacent about the horrors of war, but it's ever present in the world, and millions of people are killed and made refugees every year. We see the victims on our TV screens, and somehow we glaze over. We find it hard to see them as real people, individuals, trying to survive in the face of terrible odds. I wanted to write about a modern war, to bring to life a story of our own times.
Your bibliography shows that you've worked for a number of different publishers, but I think these are your first books with Macmillan. How did they come about?
I've been on four trips now, three to Kenya and one to Ethiopia. I've been a little too close to an angry rhino, have been chased by an elephant, watched wild red wolves in the remote mountains of South West Ethiopia, baited a dead horse with tranquilliser to catch rabid hyenas, and watched the rare Grevy zebra in the company of Maasai warriors. The next trip is to a forest in Central Africa to take a look at chimpanzees. The research is a vital prelude to the writing of the novels. I want every detail to be absolutely accurate.
My own feeling is that it is too suggestive of 'first reader' material while its intensely sad storyline is really aimed at older readers who are looking to select books presented in a different style. It is a splendid book, and was rightly shortlisted for many awards--all the more reason for it to be produced in a form most likely to make it appeal to its target readership. More a sermon than a question! Any comments?
No, I don't agree this time. I think On the Run has quite a grown up feel to it (especially with the new edition, which is coming out soon). Not sure why I kept the location so indefinite. I suppose I had the Balkans vaguely in mind, but as I'd lived in Beirut during the civil war, it had a bit of Lebanon in it too.
Forbidden Ground came out of a visit to Morocco, and I suppose I could have identified the actual place, but I wanted the novel to have a more universal feel. I think that tying things down to a very particular location can sometimes inhibit the reader's imagination.
I've written five Wild Things novels so far (featuring a leopard, a baboon, an elephant, a rhino and an Ethiopian wolf), and am about to start on the sixth. It's going to be about a zebra. If things go well, I'll probably go on and do a whole lot more.