Northern Highlights - Louise Corcoran

NORTHERN HIGHLIGHTS 


Louise Corcoran 


 

Where are you based, and how would you sum up the place in three words?

I’m based in Manchester. It’s lively & unexpectedly green.

 


What is special to you about working with children's books, and what is your favourite thing about it?


I think they both come down to the range/diversity in children's books. I love working with everything from board books to young adult fiction via illustrated non-fiction and graphic novels.

 


Tell us about the most recent books you've promoted


How to Be True by Daisy May Johnson. It's the sequel to How to Be Brave, and is middle grade fiction set in a school run by nuns, The Good Sisters. There are lots of book references, mentions of cake, and pun-heavy footnotes. I love it.


 

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


Saltburn-by-the Sea. It's a small coastal town in North Yorkshire which has a Victorian pier and funicular cliff lift.

 


What literary/kid lit events have you attended or been involved with recently in the North/Scotland?


I attended the CBN social. Before that it was the launch of Katie Clapham's Three Girls, which is published by UCLan publishing, and was held at Storyteller's Inc, the bookshop Katie owns and runs with her mum Carolyn.


 

Name your favourite children’s book set in the North/Scotland.


It's a shootout between In Bloom by Matthew Crow and Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls.

 


What advice would you give to aspiring publishing professionals living in the North and Scotland?


Network. Go to events, join CBN, get online and interact with other publishing professionals in the area. Everyone I've met in the industry in the area is incredibly friendly, and always happy to share their knowledge and expertise.


 

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


More books obviously set in the region(s). Regional identity in publishing is something I'm incredibly passionate about; I think that being able to see the place where they're from represented in books is so important for young readers. If children can read books set in worlds with dragons and unicorns, they can certainly read books set in Middlesbrough.


 

Who for you are the great Northern/Scottish children’s writers/illustrators?


Anne Fine, David Almond, Phil Earle, Sally Nicholls, Catherine Rayner

 

What’s next on your TBR pile by a Northern/Scottish creative?


I'm just about to start While The Storm Rages by Phil Earle

 






 

Twitter: @louisecorcor

Instagram: louisecorcoranbounce

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