feature those characters. It’s only when you look critically, like the
CLPE report of 2017 did, that it becomes apparent there’s a real problem which needs to be corrected. Although steps have been taken to improve the statistics, there is still a long way to go – both in encouraging diverse voices to enter the publishing world, as well as having diverse characters in our books.
I want to have the freedom to write all the stories I choose. I don’t want my narratives to be pigeon-holed or my characters to be stereotyped. It’s easy for the book world to expect certain narrow stories from diverse authors. As a girl, the stories I loved most were the adventurous magical ones, so when I write I want my stories to be exciting, ground-breaking and surprising.
In what way are these books a celebration of your own family and heritage? When I first began my wonderful MA Creative Writing Course at Bath Spa University, I was so excited to be finally embarking on my childhood dream of
becoming a children’s author. However, it took a while to find my natural voice and to have the confidence to raise it.
At the time there was very little diversity in children’s writing, so the majority of pieces I wrote during the course featured white characters with the sorts of families I had experienced in the books I read. But the course encouraged us all to write the story only you can tell. Once I realised this was what I had to do, I knew exactly what my story would be. I had a very close relationship with my grandmother and when I began thinking of an idea, a very clear image sprang into my head – a little girl playing in the dust with water and behind her was a huge snow-capped mountain. From that single image I began creating the story that would become Asha and the Spirit Bird.
The heart of my stories are inspired by my roots in India but I am also British, so they are a reflection of that multi-layered experience. Aarti and the Blue Gods is about that dual heritage, and that’s what I hope to celebrate in my books.
India, Incredible India is about the country of your birth and heritage. How keen were you to write it, and create this celebration of India, its people and show that it is a cultural and innovative powerhouse, with an incredible history. What does that connection to India mean to you, and what do you hope readers get from the book?
It was such a huge honour to be asked to write India Incredible India. When I visited the country of my birth as an adult, I kept diaries and was keen to capture both the visual impact and the incredible emotional journey of returning for the very first time. I drew on these diaries when I came to write the book and it gave me a personal way into a project, which was so vast and full of possibilities.
As I was growing up, we always shared stories of India around the dinner table. My mother would create enticing fragrant banquets where the whole extended family could gather and re-live memories of happy times on our family farm.
20 PEN&INC.
Autumn-Winter 2022
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