Northern Highlight - Marie Basting

NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT

Marie Basting  

Why did you become a writer?

I’ve always loved writing but I let go of that dream when, at fifteen, I was told by a careers advisor that "girls like me" don’t become writers. I rallied against this at first but, after attending the Guardian Student Media Awards, I decided she was right... working class girls like me didn’t move in those circles. 

It was only with a bit of life experience, I realised just how wrong that careers advisor was to put children in boxes and essentially close the lid. After becoming a mum, I felt I owed it to my son to show him that girls like me and boys like him can do anything they want. I set to writing Princess BMX. Although I didn’t realise it when I was drafting the story, defying limits and smashing stereotypes are key themes of the book. 

Cover illustration - Flavia Sorrentino. Cover Design - Studio Helen . Images - Martyn Ode St Oswalds

Tell us about where you live.

I live in Chorlton in South Manchester. People sometimes laugh at Chorlton for being full of hummus eating lefties, but it’s actually pretty diverse with a great arts scene and lovely cafe culture. It’s just a short tram ride from the city centre, but it’s also very green and I am lucky to have access to wonderful parks and open spaces. I can also be in the Peak District or beside the sea in under an hour. Perfect – except for the football traffic!

Where do you write? 

My official writing base is my dining room table but I tend to move around the house, following the sun. Before Covid struck, I used to enjoy working in local coffee shops and I’d regularly meet friends at the Gladstone Library or in cafes in and around Greater Manchester where we’d eat cake, listen to each other’s writing woes, and eventually get our notebooks out and pen some words. I miss that so much!

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

I don’t think there’s one Northern identity, necessarily, but I guess many Northern people do share a down-to-earth directness and no-nonsense attitude. I’m from Liverpool originally. It’s a tolerant city with a historically diverse population but, as The Sun newspaper found out, Scousers don’t suffer fools gladly and we have a long memory if you cross us. We also use humour as a defence – my family have laughed their way through most crises!

Has this spirit influenced your work?

Yes, as daft and anarchic as Princess BMX is, the female characters definitely exhibit that down-to-earth directness and no-nonsense attitude. I grew up surrounded by strong women with a self-deprecating and wicked sense of humour and this has definitely shaped the female leads in my book.

Illustration by Flavia Sorrentino

Who for you are the great northern writers?

This is just so hard! So, in the true Northern spirit of not playing by the rules, I’d like to give a shout-out to some of the writers in my local North West children’s writing group: Carnegie-nominated Louisa Reid with her amazing verse novels; the extremely straightforward Anna Mainwaring with her funny feisty female leads; and Ruth Estevez and Susan Brownrigg, both writing fiction set in the North and published by Northern indie publishers.

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

Keswick. I love the dramatic landscape of the Lake District so much and Keswick is a perfect base to explore it. My family and I often talk wistfully about moving there, but I think I’m still a city girl at heart and Manchester is such a perfect base for a writer. 

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

I’d love to see more publishing houses moving up North with the intention of championing Northern writers. I’d also love to see libraries, festivals and art organisations based in the North celebrating local writers. 

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

Being extremely fickle and fidgety, my favourite books change all the time depending on what I’m reading, so I’m going to go with the beautifully written and important YA novel And The Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando. I am lucky enough to work with Danielle at Manchester Metropolitan University, and she is such a warm and caring person. This sensitivity and kindness is apparent in her writing. Her debut novel explores some difficult issues, specifically teenage suicide, but Danielle handles them perfectly and I love how she brings the Northern working-class setting to life. 

 

And, yes, I am giving a shout-out to one of my mates again but isn’t that what Children’s Books North is all about? If we don’t look out for each other, who will?

 

Find out more about Marie here:

Twitter: @riewriting

Instagram: marie_basting_author