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Lesley Howarth |
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Lesley Howarth is commonly acknowledged as a fiction author who is never less than brilliant. She has been acclaimed for her ability to convey “the ordinariness of the odd and the oddness of the ordinary”.
THE BASICS
Born: Bournemouth
Jobs: Various
Lives: Cornwall
First Book: The Flower King, 1993
THE BOOKS
Lesley Howarth grew up in Bournemouth, near the site of the house occupied by Robert Louis Stevenson when he wrote Kidnapped – “my all time favourite read”. “I loved reading as a child,” Lesley says, “and read quite a bit of poetry when a teenager.”
The beautiful Tamar Valley provided Lesley with inspiration for her first novel The Flower King. The novel was shortlisted for both The Whitbread Children’s Book Award and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award. “The jobs I’ve had prior to writing had an effect in starting me off,” Lesley says, “While I was writing The Flower King, I had a job picking daffodils in the flower fields around the village where I live. While I was writing MapHead, I was working in a local nursery, and would often spend the day picking tomatoes alone in a huge commercial greenhouse, surrounded by jungle-like plants. This was an easy environment in which to picture an alien living!"
MapHead, published in 1994, is a dazzling piece of storytelling, which blends real life and fantasy in the tale of a strange boy who lives in a tomato house and longs for a mother. Lesley won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award and was Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal for MapHead.
Reviewing Lesley’s 1999 novel, Mister Spaceman, Philip Pullman noted that “Howarth is superb at conveying the ordinariness of the odd, and the oddness of the ordinary.” It’s an observation which applies to much of Lesley Howarth’s writing.
Lesley herself explains that “I like to take quite ‘hard’, technological subjects and write about them from a human, or ‘feeling’ point of view – I call it ‘the romance of hard things’, meaning the feeling you get from looking up at an awesome bridge, or the whirl of a wind turbine’s blades”.
Lesley’s first title for Puffin is I Managed a Monster for the Surfers series. The novel follows the story of Jordan who finds a huge purple monster and realises it’s his chance to make some serious money. When his friends accuse Jordan of exploiting Andretti, Jordan has to decide what matters most: the money or the monster’s welfare?
Lesley’s own favourite authors include Raymond Carver, the American short-story writer, and – of course - Robert Louis Stevenson. Amongst children’s authors, Lesley is a fan of Paul Jennings for his “originality and humour”.
WHAT SHE SAYS...
"In writing MapHead I knew I wanted to make a mix between real life and fantasy. This was the bit that excited me. I wanted to have two worlds jostle together so closely that one bleeds over into the other. Out-and-out fantasy rarely grips me. It’s that taut line between real and weird, macabre and funny, that really fascinates me."
“The stories of H G Wells stayed with me as a child, and I went on to read science fiction. I also loved funny things, and most of my stories have some humour. I like to look forward, not back, and dislike nostalgia – no time for standing still in the exciting world of children’s fiction!”
“I write quite quickly, I suppose. I don’t agonise over each sentence, but I love the cadence (a lovely word in its own right; to me it conjures up chiming bells or waterfalls) of words, and if they crop up in an unusual way or place I generally let ‘em!”
“I love to make clashing dialogue using deliberately discordant words, but even these have a rhythm… I think my interest in the sound of words when put together may have something to do with all the poetry I read when a teenager. I read a lot of poetry when I was sixteen or so. Penguin Modern Poets had just come out, and these books introduced me to poets that excited my imagination, and others that rolled out carpets of words that just made me want to roll in them – if you can roll in words!”
“I usually write straight on to the computer screen with very few notes before I start. I like the excitement of watching a story appear as I invent it, without knowing quite what’s going to happen. The very best kind of story invents itself. Then something magical takes over.”
“There’s so much we don’t know about in the farthest reaches of our imagination. It’s fun to dip in sometimes, just to see what comes out.”
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT LESLEY HOWARTH...
"Numbers of authors are writing really well for teenagers at the moment, but Lesley Howarth still remains an exception. She is never less than brilliant." The Independent
“Howarth is superb at conveying the ordinariness of the odd, and the oddness of the ordinary.” Philip Pullman, The Guardian
“She has star quality.” Tony Bradman, The Telegraph
“A tender, moving story, full of outstanding dialogue, that manages to combine reality and fantasy into a satisfying whole.” Junior Education on MapHead
“Funny and touching… a truly excellent novel.” The Independent on Mister Spaceman
“The author really seems to be able to get inside the mind of a 12/13 year old boy and see life from his perspective. The dialogue is especially well constructed, and rings true… This is very much a book to be taken seriously as well as enjoyed. Highly recommended.” School Librarian on Mister Spaceman
“A cut above anything else I have read this year.” Nicholas Tucker, The Bookseller on Mister Spaceman
“A high-tension story that is hard to put down… crackling with character and life.” New Scientist on The Weather Eye
AWARDS
Shortlisted for the Whitbread Children’s Book Award 1993 for The Flower King
Shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award 1994 for The Flower King
The Guardian Children’s Fiction Award 1995 for MapHead
Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal 1995 for MapHead
Shortlisted for the Writers Guild Award 1994 for MapHead
Shortlisted for the W H Smith Mind Boggling Books Award 1995 for MapHead
Shortlisted for the Young Telegraph Book Award 1995 for MapHead
Joint winner in the 9-11 category of the Smarties Book Prize 1995 for Weather Eye
Bournemouth
FAVOURITE BOOK:
Kidnapped
MOST TREASURED POSSESSION:
I like the feeling of being as free of possessions as possible!
FAVOURITE SONG:
Pass!
FAVOURITE FILM:
So many
When did you start writing?
As a child, when I wrote a lot. I started a magazine at school and was always writing stories. Later I loved the sound of words; I've always cared about the rhythms and order, of words.
Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?
Everywhere around me - anything can spark an idea off; everyday things, something someone has said; something I've read etc.
Can you give your top three tips to becoming a successful author?
1. Love writing.
2. Work hard.
3. Never give up.
Favourite memory?
The walk through the woods to the beach near my childhood home.
Favourite place in the world and why?
Home - I love it. The quiet and solitude, when the family are away - and the sociability when they aren't!
What are your hobbies?
Swimming and walking.
If you hadn't been a writer, what do you think you would have been?
Someone who tried to get by on local jobs - choices in Cornwall are
limited.
Ultraviolet - uncovered! Lesley Howarth in the spotlight How did you get the idea for Ultraviolet? In a cafe whilst having a coffee - the title popped into my head, bringing up all kinds of challenging and exciting images with it, so I rushed home and opened a document on the computer entitled 'Ultraviolet' and knew that something had started! Violet Niles and all the other teen characters in Ultraviolet are cyberworld whizz kids. Do you enjoy participating in virtual reality games and losing yourself in everything that the internet and modern technology has to offer as well? In some ways, Ultraviolet is a criticism of the temptation to immerse in computer games at the expense of face-to-face contact. I had been reading about research into the effects of games like Wolfenstein, and whether or not they release frustrations or enhance them, but by no means felt like going along with the idea that computer games are 'bad'. I felt the theme would be useful in exploring the social isolation at the heart of the story. More and more young people today are spending their leisure time indoors on the internet, playing computer games etc. This is something you examine closely in Ultraviolet when the characters have no choice but to stay indoors but faced with a ban on going outdoors they long for the time when they were able to go out and play on the beach or go for a walk. Were you prophesizing when writing this story or was it merely a good story? Just a good story - authors aren't prophets, thank goodness.... Do you think computer games and virtual reality has an affect on how people view the real world? As previously mentioned, I have read a couple of articles about research into this area with conflicting views about this, probably tending to reinforce pre-conceived prejudices - the jury is still out, I think. Virtual reality games must, however, be a more powerful tool than films or books, by virtue of the way they work, especially as they become more sophisticated. Are you an environmental campaigner? Do you go on protest marches such as those you describe in your book? No, I'm afraid I don't, and the environmental conditions are just a story background to make people stay in - sorry! The story is a lament about our loss of touch with nature, in increasingly technology-based environments, extrapolated into a hostile future. You built your house in Cornwall together with your husband. Are there any particular environmentally friendly features to your house? Did you build a room specifically for writing in or do you use different rooms in the house to write in depending on your mood? Yes, we packed our house with mucho insulation and still have solar panels yet to be hoisted onto the roof, to our shame - but energy-saving was a consideration. I write in my office, always. The pictures on the walls tend to reflect what I'm writing. Is Violet's character based on anyone in particular? Violet is totally imaginary, in a way a cipher, herself. But her dad was built around an interview I read about Nick Nolte and his strange 'science' life, some time ago. Do you like hot holidays in the sun or do you consider sunbathing too dangerous nowadays? I'm going to Rhodes this summer and hope to soak up some sun, but not too much!! Describe your typical working day. I try to start writing at eight-thirty, and go on with little breaks as long as I can. Depending on how it's going, I take a brisk or longish walk in the afternoon and usually take a pen and paper with me for ideas or corrections that pop into my mind as I walk - I have been known to borrow a pen en route or write on a paper bag in desperation, so as not to lose an idea before I get back! You successfully bring science fiction and real life issues together in your writing. Why do you do this? Depends what kind of story I'm writing. Sometimes this blend seems appropriate. I write many different kinds of stories. The story itself dictates the mode. If the story requires a 'science' base, I try hard to stay with my research, but my aim is always to let the characters call the shots, to keep the science a 'tool' of the action, to let it be so natural to the story that it is in no way obtrusive, or making a point. In 'Weather Eye' I wanted the wind turbines to come across almost as characters, themselves. How would you describe your writing style? Eclectic, I hope.. both funny and serious. I love a blend of these two qualities, and I especially like writing dialogue. Very occasionally a lyrical passage can be indulged in, and sometimes these can be magic. My fave sentence in the whole of Ultraviolet describes the Solar Adviser's horse: '...The rippling coat of the Nightjar, curried until it shone; the gathering power in his body, as they took a jump full on; the warmth of his breath on her hands, when the day's jumping was done; the apple they shared together, before she turned for home.' Do you have a favourite character in Ultraviolet? Tough one, there are a few - but I do like Smiley a lot! What books are on your bedside table at the moment? Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Dickens's Bleak House. If you had to put two things you really dislike into Room 101 what would they be and why? Ladies who swim chatting side-by-side up the pool, hogging the swimming lanes - and nostalgia - I like to look forward!!
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