BBC - School Radio - Meet the Authors

Anne Fine

1 - When you were at primary school did you enjoy writing stories and did you think your work would ever be published?
2 - What first started you off writing books?
3 - Where do you get your ideas from and have you ever run out of ideas?
4 - You seem to understand a lot about children. Is that because you've had the same experiences as the children in your books?
5 - Basically you're putting your emotions into the characters in the books..?
6 - You write a lot of stories about animals. Do you have any pets and are any of them naughty like Toffee in 'Diary of a Killer Cat'?
7 - Are any of the characters in your books based on people you know?
8 - You seem to be quite a chirpy person. Does that help to make your books funny?
9 - Do you think it helps to laugh about 'serious' things?
10 - A lot of your characters write their own stories. Why do you like working in the first person?
11 - You don't give a lot of detail about where your stories are set. Why?
12 - How much planning do you put into your stories?
13 - If someone asked you what the point of your writing is, what would you say?
14 - Is there someone you wish you could have been or something you still wish to do?
15 - What do you really care about?

Eva Ibbotson

1 - You came to Britain when you were 8 years old. Why did you leave Vienna?
2 - How did you start writing?
3 - Your mother was a successful writer also. Do you thinking that being a writer can run in the family?
4 - Did anyone encourage you to be a writer?
5 - How do the children in your stories relate to your own childhood?
6 - How many of your childhood memories are in your books?
7 - Is it true that you based some of the witches in your books on members of your own family?
8 - Do you believe in ghosts and witches and did that inspire you to write about them?
9 - Is Annika in 'The Star of Kazan' based on a real person?
10 - Why did you suddenly change what you write about with 'Journey to the River Sea'?
11 - How much research do you do for you stories?
12 - How you won any awards...do awards matter?
13 - What things do you really care about?

Michael Morpurgo

1 - Did you have a happy childhood?
2 - Did you keep a diary as a child (like the character Laura in 'The wreck of the Zanzibar'?
3 - Who was your favourite author as a child?
4 - Did you learn to write stories at your primary school?
5 - How did your first story come to be published?
6 - What are the best things and worst things about writing books?
7 - Where do you write and for how long each day?
8 - What character would you like to be from your stories?
9 - Have any of the things you write about actually happened to you?
10 - 'Kenske's Kingdom' has a great first line. How important are 'beginnings' in stories?

Philip Ridley

1 - Who was your favourite author as a child?
2 - Do you like to write poetry?
3 - Do you do a lot of research for your stories?
4 - Why do you write about Bethnall Green in London so much?
5 - Does the way you exaggerate things in your stories make them more interesting?
6 - You seem to love playing with words - for example, the names of you characters..?
7 - Do you have a catchphrase of your own?
8 - Are your characters based on people you know or are they completely made up?
9 - Which of your characters is the most fantastical and which would you most like to be?
10 - You like to use all sorts of different writing styles. Why?
11 - Why is bullying such an important theme in your books?
12 - Anger is another theme - like Milo in 'Mighty Fizz Chilla'..?
13 - What tips would you give to people wanting to write stories as great as yours?

Jeremy Strong

1 - Where did you grow up and did you have a happy childhood?
2 - A lot of your stories are about brothers and sisters. Have you got any brother or sisters and did you get on with them as a child?
3 - Did any of your teachers make writing come alive for you at school?
4 - Your stories are a bit like cartoons. Did you like reading comics as a child?
5 - When you were a child did you dream of becoming a writer?
6 - What stories did you like reading as a child?
7 - Are any of your characters like you, or based on people you know?
8 - Why do your characters have so many disasterous accidents?
9 - You obviously find a lot of things funny. What makes you laugh the most?
10 - Did you set out to write books that make children laugh, or did it just happen?
11 - Where do you get your ideas from?
12 - What sort of things do you really care about?

Jacqueline Wilson

1 - How did you get into writing and how long did it take you to get a story published?
2 - Does writing come easily to you?
3 - What keeps you writing?
4 - How do you manage to write so convincingly as a child?
5 - Is your understanding of children helped by having lots of contact with them?
6 - Why are so many of your stories about children with sad or difficult backgrounds...and do you write them for children in that situation or for children who aren't?
7 - Are any of the events in your stories based on things that have happened to you? For example, were you bullied at school?
8 - When you were younger which of your characters do you think you were most like?
9 - Are any of your characters based on people you know?
10 - Your books are mostly about reality. Are you going to write any fantasies?
11 - Are any aspects of your own personality revealed in your books?
12 - Why are 'Cliffhanger' and 'Buried Alive' the only stories you've written about boys?
13 - With all the writing that you do, is it difficult to find free time to do other things?
14 - Why have you got so many rings?
15 - What things do you really care about?

Valerie Bloom

1 - Is it best to read your poems out loud?
2 - Did you like writing poetry as a child?
3 - Many of your poems are about children growing up in Jamaica. How closely are they based on your own memories?
4 - Did you live in the country or the city in Jamaica?
5 - You came to Britain when you were 23. What was it like starting a new life?
6 - What does it feel like when you're writing a poem?
7 - Do you have a special place where you write and do you write every day?
8 - Is it fun being a poet?
9 - Sometimes you write in English and sometimes you write in Jamaican patois. Which is easiest for you?
10 - Which sort of poems do you like writing the best - funny ones or serious?
11 - Where do you get your ideas from?
12 - Why do you use lots of rhymes in your poems?
13 - What other techniques of poetry do you like to use?
14 - What sort of things do you really care about?

Brian Patten

1 - You were born in Liverpool just after World War 2. Was it a good time to be a child?
2 - How did you end up living in Devon?
3 - Did you like school and did you have a favourite teacher?
4 - What first got you interested in writing poems?
5 - Did you dream of being a poet when you were a child?
6 - Who was your favourite poet or author when you were a child?
7 - Which poet do you most like now?
8 - Have your poems always been humorous?
9 - Where do you get your ideas from?
10 - Do you write your poems on the computer or on paper?

Meet the Authors

Anne Fine

Eva Ibbotson

Michael Morpurgo

Philip Ridley

Jeremy Strong

Jacqueline Wilson

Valerie Bloom

Brian Patten

Programmes to download

Podcasts

Contact us

Order CD

Teacher's notes

bbc.co.uk navigation

BBC links

Meet the Authors

Anne Fine

Eva Ibbotson

Michael Morpurgo

Philip Ridley

Jeremy Strong

Jacqueline Wilson

Valerie Bloom

Brian Patten

Programmes to download

Download programmes

Podcasts

Current podcasts

Contact us

Contact us

Order CD

How to order

Teacher's notes

Online Teacher's Notes

bbc.co.uk navigation

BBC links