Northern Highlight - Jarvis

Northern Highlight

Jarvis

1. Why did you become a writer/illustrator?

A few things led me here. I have always illustrated but as part of a business (animation/graphic design, etc.) 

and never as ME. 

Then, when I met my wife, I used to write her poems (still do a bit but nowhere near enough, I'm sure she will say!) and so I started to write which I had never done before. That led me to think of stories and when I wandered into the kids' section of a bookshop, I saw Marta Altes' 'NO' and it made me realise how great children's book could be.

Published by Walker Books

2. Tell us about where you live.

I live just outside Manchester in a place called Stalybridge. It's halfway between the city and the moors. I like it because I grew up in Wales surrounded by big hills and it's the same here. There's something comforting and grounding about a hilly landscape for me. I live with my wife, Jenna, and our dog, Milo.

3. Where do you write/illustrate? 

I work at home and although I have a room to work in, I move about. It's nice to sketch and write in the garden.

Published by Walker Books

4. What for you is the 'spirit of the North’?

I think there's a down-to-earth frankness and an ability to laugh even when it's a grey day (which it is most of the time!). Life is also slower. Everyone is at a different pace to London which suits me to a tee. 

I think there might be something in storytelling too. There's something nice about a rounded Northern voice telling a story.

  'Alan's Big Scary Teeth'                              

Published by Walker Books

5. Has this spirit influenced your work?

I think, yes, definitely the slower pace! I seem to be getting slower at illustrating. I have been lucky to be able to spend time on each book and not have to cram too many projects in at once. I write quickly and illustrate slowly. It's partly why this year I have actually written a picture book that someone else is illustrating, which I'm really excited about.

With a lot of my books, I now think of how I will tell them. I love telling stories and it's a fun, unusual and quite personal thing to be able to do. And it goes back to my love of storytelling comedians. When I'm visiting schools, it's as much about the telling as the story for me.

6. Who for you are the great northern writers/illustrators?

I always think of John Cooper Clarke. As a kid we went to see him on a poetry school trip and he lodged in my brain. 

One of the first books I owned was a book I nicked from my granny as a kid. It was Les Dawson's 'Lancashire' and it's actually very rude. I didn't really understand it but it had some funny stories and cartoons. When I re-read it as an adult, his comedy does have that 'laughing when its pouring down' kind of feel. Its funny but with heart. 

I'm obsessed with The Beatles and seeing John Lennon's doodles and poems as a kid definitely made me think that doodling is good enough. It doesn't have to be technicolour, all-singing and dancing illustrations to tell a story 

and be entertaining. 

Ha, so there you go! Three really up-and-coming unknowns for you - John Lennon, John Cooper Clarke and Les Dawson! I better throw someone under 70 or alive in there... Let's go with Helen Stephens - she just makes it all look so easy.

Published by Alison Green Books

7. If you could be transported to anywhere in the North right now, where would it be? 

A walk with my wife and the dog around the Yorkshire sculpture park would be nice.

8. What would you like to see from children's publishing in the North?

Experimental stuff. Sometimes those main shelves in the big book shops look very similar. Maybe the North can take some risks.

9. What's your favourite children's book set in the North?

Well, as a kid I was obsessed with The Bash Street Kids (illustrated by David Sutherland). They have everything: friendship, nonsense, humour, and heart. It's obviously part of the Beano which is in Dundee...and that's quite far north!

Follow Jarvis on Twitter @heyimjarvis & Instagram booksbyjarvis