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From an adult’s perspective, I see the advantages of identifying children with dyslexia so they can be given the extra help from their schools, however as a child I felt labelled and isolated.
From isolation to inclusion
Eve Wersocki Morris writes dark and mysterious middle grade stories full of fast-paced adventures, spine-tingling suspense and a good dose of humour. She loves doing very silly school events involving lots of hats, she works as a freelance book publicist and she is also dyslexic. Her first three books, The Bird Singers, The Wildstorm Curse and Forest of Forbidden Magic are eerie, scary fantasy mysteries and her latest release, Clem Fatale Has Been Betrayed, is the first instalment of a new adventure-comedy series set in the 1950s about jewel thieves! Here, she talks to Laia Balmanya-Pons about her personal experience with dyslexia, the inspiration behind her books and the need for proper neurodivergent representation.
EVE Wersocki Morris always wanted to be an author. She wrote her first full-length novel at 13, a 146-page manuscript inspired by Noughts & Crosses and Brighton Rock, that featured gangs and star-crossed lovers. During her teenage years, she spent weekends and holidays writing new stories on her clunky laptop.
By age 15, she began researching publishers, reaching out to send them extracts. Most never replied, but a few sent her rejection letters that included words of encouragement, which left her feeling confident and optimistic for the future. She says “editors took time to tell me ‘you’re a natural storyteller’ and ‘keep going, keep getting better’. I must have been sad at the time, but I got a lot of validation from those comments.”
Eve’s dyslexia never affected her love for stories. Throughout primary school, she always had issues with reading and spelling, but still loved listening to audiobooks and having books read to her. She says: “Perhaps the fact that I struggled with reading meant that I thought authors must be the cleverest people and writing a book was the ultimate life achievement.” She believes that her ambition stemmed from the
Autumn-Winter 2025
characters in her favourite stories. Eve saw herself on a level with fictional characters: “Heroes and heroines who fought evil witch queens, solved mysteries, out-witted adult superspies and became all-powerful
Eve age eight. PEN&INC. 17
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