Nature, Family and A Place for Everything: An interview with writer Anna Wilson
It was a bright Tuesday morning as I sat down to interview Anna Wilson, perched by the window in my bedroom, which gazes out to the patchwork of fields above Flushing Village on the far side of the estuary.
So why interview Anna Wilson? If her name is not already familiar, then allow me to make an introduction. Along with her work as an English lecturer at Bath Spa University, and as a children’s tutor with the Arvon Foundation, Anna has experienced different sides of the publishing industry, working as an editor for 10 years, which overlapped into her career as a published author spanning the past two decades and nearly 60 books. What’s more, she’s a pretty incredible human being. Her school workshops are inspiring, working to bring out children’s creative voices and encourage engagement with their surroundings. And her blog posts dealing with the deaths of her parents have given comfort and a sense of solidarity to many people dealing with unresolved feelings of grief. More than that, they have inspired her first work of biographic non-fiction for adults, A Place for Everything.
On my desk to the side of the laptop was a copy of the National Trust’s 2020 Nature Month by Month: A Children’s Almanac and a cup for green tea, doomed to go cold, neglected and forgotten as Anna called me back and appeared smiling on my laptop screen. Anna has an instant warmth, a brightness in her voice and expression, that set me entirely at ease as we greeted each other and spoke for a few minutes, easing into the rhythm of conversation, before I began the interview proper.
The 2020 Nature Month by Month: A Children’s Almanac was the first book of hers that I read in preparation for the interview. It captivated me from cover to cover and I could not wait to ask about it.
Jasper Evans: This book [2020 Nature Almanac] is one of your most recently published works, coming out earlier this October. I have to say it blew my socks off! You reference so much more than just the seasons and wildlife; you cover history, worldwide cultures, games and activities. When I look at your wider work, I find these same themes of seeking knowledge and building compassionate relationships with your environment, and the people around you, often with a family focus; are those the qualities that you would like to cultivate in the children who read your books?
Anna Wilson: I think its kindness really. Kindness is so important to me. I’m most passionate about freeing children’s imaginations, letting them know that it’s ok to have a creative space to work through things and express themselves. It’s interesting you picked up on the family aspects as well. I think it was the 4th Vlad The World’s Worst Vampire book which my husband read and immediately said, “Well, that’s all about you and your mother.”
That took me by surprise, but after he’d made the connection, I could see it. I think we’re always working through stuff from our own lives in our creative work, without necessarily knowing that we’re doing it.
JE: Weren’t your own children very young when you started writing?
AW: My first picture book was published in 1999, the year my daughter was born. I was about ten years ahead of most of my friends in having children, so I suppose I was still a bit immature as a parent. I’ve always been teased that my writing has grown up alongside my children. When my daughter was seven or so, I started to write things like the Nina Fairy Ballerina books. Then, when my son got to the same age, I began on a lot of the animal books. He’s been interested in the environment from the moment he could talk. He’s 18 now and still so passionate about nature and activism. My daughter is 20, she’s studying at university. I’ve really grown up as they have, and my writing has grown up with them.
JE: You do a lot of work with children in schools. What inspires you to engage with them?
AW: When my publishers asked me to start going and doing talks in schools to try and sell some books I was like “great!” because it seemed like something I’d really enjoy anyway. It’s become more than that. I’m very interested at the moment in trying to get children to think outside of themselves. We need to look at the support we give to children when they’re developing. They need creative spaces, smaller class sizes and we really need to look at how we treat children with learning difficulties and spectrum disorders like Autism to help them get the most from their education. Of course, there is a reason for the current system. You need things like spelling and numeracy. You couldn’t do so many jobs or function without those basic skills, but kids also need creative spaces that respond to their individuality and personal needs. We have to give them both.
JE: Do you think your experiences as an editor influenced the journey into your own professional writing?
AW: I think I really learned how to write by editing. I’ve always been an avid reader, but I learned about structure and presentation through my experience on that side of the editing process. But I’m still filled with huge crushing self-doubt. I have to really work on things before I’m happy showing them, especially to my family because I really don’t want them to say they hate it.
JE: Having said how much you want to polish your work; you’ve been fairly prolific for the amount of time that you have been published. Nearly 60 books in 20 years, and alongside all of the other activities you are involved with.
AW: You say that but some children’s books are very short. I’ve done a mix but some of them were picture books that might only be 500 words. Those still require a refining process and production, but they won’t usually take as long as a novel.
JE: Now that your children are both adults, does that change what you’re interested in writing about?
AW: That’s interesting. You know, I’ve actually never thought about writing from their perspectives where they are now as adults. That could be something interesting to do in the future.
JE: What made now the right time to write your first adult non-fiction book?
AW: As you said, my children have grown up. That’s probably part of why I’ve written an adult book, because my kids are adults. Honestly, it started with the grief blog that I began a year after my father told me he had 3 months to live. I’ll always remember that day. The 27th April. I had so much to say about how much I missed him and about how bound up he was with my relationship with my natural environment. Being out on the river together was such a big part of our relationship. Even now I’m always out wild swimming in the rivers near where I live. I was down here in Cornwall on that day and I just needed to write about it. My colleague at Bath Spa Uni told me later that I should be doing something with that blog and the things I had to say. At first, I didn’t think it would be of interest. I said, “It’s not really writing, is it?”, but then I thought there must be so many people out there who have had troubles with their family and have struggled to find an answer to those feelings because they were never given one in childhood. I want to address that.
I guess another thing I’m trying to say, is that there’s a place for everyone. Like my mother who was diagnosed with Autism late in her life. Until then we never understood why she was different and sometimes distant, and that was difficult. But just because you’re Autistic and you see the world a different way, doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for you. I feel that as a society we need to open up access for people with disabilities, and also mental health issues. These people are such an important part of our lives. We need to engage with them more.
Then last year my mother passed away quite suddenly. It hadn’t felt respectful to write something so personal about our family while she was alive, but a few months after that shock, I realised it was the right time. Over that summer, I wrote the whole book, A Place for Everything.
JE: Can I ask when it will be hitting the bookshop shelves, if that’s something you can tell me at this point?
AW: Yes. I think it should be around June next year.
Now I’m sitting here at a different desk, in London visiting my parents. I’m trying to weave a distilled article out of a 40-minute interview transcript that rambles over a hundred topics and could have been interpreted just as many different ways. I’m so far over the recommended word count that it barely registers anymore.
The subjects of Anna Wilson’s books, both recent and stretching back over her 20 years of published work, make me very thankful for my own family. Not only my relations, but the people who have been there for me as I have taken each new step at University. The people I can talk to for hours. The people I can drink with. The people I can dance with. The people who make me feel special and happy. Relationships new and old. These are the people who make me want to connect with my environment in every way. They have helped me know there is a place for everyone, helped me find my place. This is to all of you; I love you. Thank you for who you are, and who you are to me.
Anna Wilson has a wonderful message to spread and If you get the chance to read any of her work, I’m sure you will be as comforted by it as I have.
My copy of the 2020 Nature Month by Month Children’s Almanac is still here beside my laptop. I’m going to give it to my youngest cousin Kaleb. For anyone who has younger relatives and wants a perfect Christmas gift to show them how much you love and treasure them, I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s a guaranteed win and only £9.99. Please support your local bookshops!
by Jasper Evans