Northern Highlight - Clare Weze
Northern Highlight
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| (c) Bentham Imaging |
Why did you become a children’s writer?
I caught the bug early and attempted my first book at the age of eight. Children’s books have always inspired me and I continued in that genre as an adult. Writing, especially for children, is the one thing I never tire of, because there are always more worlds to explore.
I find the middle-grade age range especially rewarding because at this age, they handle complicated concepts easily, and they get exciting glimpses into more challenging levels. Even some of their misunderstandings have the potential to create whole new ideas.
Tell us about where you live.
I live on the very edge of the Yorkshire dales, where three counties meet – Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. There’s a nice fusion of accents, and you pass through all three counties just by driving to the next village. There are fields on all sides of our house, which is one of the reasons I love living here, although I was born in London and spent half my childhood there. It was great to experience city and deep countryside at first hand all the time.
Where do you write?
Mostly at home, but I also like to break out and write in my favourite cafés. One of our closest towns has a long-established coffee-roasting empire, and I love to write there. The background noise gives me company and requires nothing much from me in return, so I can get on with the writing.
At home, I write at the dining-room table surrounded by books and notes. I have a standing-desk arrangement, which is just a tower of files on a table, but it helps to alternate standing and sitting, because the hours are pretty long.
When walking, I write on my phone. In the garden, I write in notebooks. Longhand is always good for kick-starting new ideas.
What for you is the ‘spirit of the North’?
It’s hard to pin down, but I think it’s the landscape and big skies, which also surround northern cities. In the countryside it feels rooted in spaciousness, and the quality of the light, because I think these things change the atmosphere of a region.
Has this spirit influenced your work?
I think it has. I often picture local settings when I want something atmospheric. Readers of my book The Lightning Catcher have detected a northern element, which is probably invisible to me, because I live here.
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| Published by Bloomsbury, cover by Paddy Donnelly |
Who for you are the great northern children’s writers?
Frank Cottrell-Boyce – there’s a lot of northern humour and comic timing in his work.
David Almond – his work is drenched in his northern settings.
If you could be transported to anywhere in the North or Scotland right now, where would it be?
Edinburgh. It has a unique atmosphere that I’m still getting to know. It feels like a high place with free sea breezes, but it’s also old, sturdy and constant. I love the layout – old and new, curved streets, steep streets. It feels as if you could go round a corner and chance upon something unusual.
What would you like to see from children's publishing in the North?
It would be lovely to see more children’s books set in northern landscapes. And more science will always go down well!
What's your favourite children's book set in the North?
Heaven Eyes by David Almond. I love Skellig too, but the northern setting features more heavily in Heaven Eyes. It’s hard to imagine this book being set anywhere else. The very particular industrial decaying-and-renewing north-eastern setting is almost a character in itself.
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| Happy Here publishes in August by Knights Of and features a story from Clare. Cover by Wesley Barnes |
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