insideKENT Magazine Issue 96 - March 2020 | Page 30

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
KENT ARTIST PROFILE:
LUCY STRANGE
CANTERBURY WRITER LUCY STRANGE HAS BEEN SHORTLISTED FOR
THE WATERSTONES CHILDREN’S BOOK PRIZE 2020, WIDELY REGARDED
AS ONE OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS ACCOLADES FOR CHILDREN’S
BOOKS IN THE UK. LUCY IS NOMINATED IN THE YOUNGER FICTION
CATEGORY FOR HER NOVEL OUR CASTLE BY THE SEA. insideKENT
SPOKE TO HER ABOUT THIS EXCITING NEWS.
You have been shortlisted for the
Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020 –
congratulations! How did it feel when you
found out?
I was absolutely over the moon! Our Castle by the
Sea was published last year and was very well
received – it was the Independent Booksellers’
Children’s Book of the Month, The Times Book
of the Week, and got some wonderful reviews from
the press and readers – so I was feeling pretty lucky
already. To be shortlisted for the Waterstones
Children’s Book Prize is just phenomenal though
– it’s a very significant award that really raises the
profile of a writer and their work – I’m feeling
very grateful and honoured.
Tell us a little about yourself
I was born in Kent and grew up in Canterbury –
I went to the Simon Langton Grammar School
for Girls. After years of living here, there and
everywhere (including London and Dubai), I came
back to Canterbury in 2015. I now live in the Kent
Downs with my partner and our little boy. I’ve
worked as an actor, a singer and a storyteller, and
then – for the last fifteen years or so – as a secondary
school English teacher. Most recently, I taught at
Kent College, Canterbury, where I am now the
writer in residence.
And tell us about Our Castle By The Sea,
the book you’re nominated for.
It’s 1940, and England is at war. The enemy is on
just the other side of the English Channel and
invasion could come at any moment. For twelve-
year-old Petra, growing up in a lighthouse on the
White Cliffs of Dover, her world has always been
one of storms and secret tunnels and stories about
sea monsters. But now the cliff tops that she knows
so well have become a terrifying battle ground
and her family is being torn apart. This is the story
of a girl who is small and unnoticed and afraid, a
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girl who freezes with fear every time she hears
the enemy planes ripping through the skies
overhead, a girl who is somehow destined to
become part of the strange, ancient legend of the
Daughters of Stone…
It’s historical fiction with something dark and
supernatural bubbling away beneath the surface.
As one of my young readers said in a review –
“Not for the faint-hearted!”
Did you always want to write for children?
I think years of being a teacher made this feel like
a very natural age group for me to write for. I felt
that I knew and understood my audience, and I
wanted to create stories for them that were
challenging and beautiful – stories that felt like
‘classics’ but were more modern in style. It’s such
an interesting age group to write for – when young
people are thinking so much about their identities,
and yearning for more independence and control.
Because of this, my books often deal with feelings
of frustration and powerlessness. Having said all
that, I would like to write a novel for adults one
day too! – I’ve got a lovely idea simmering on a
back-burner in my brain…
What are your plans for the future?
Well… it’s going to be a busy year! My next book,
The Ghost of Gosswater, is being published this autumn
(keep an eye out for it if you like gothic adventures
and ghost stories!) and I’ve just signed a contract
with my wonderful publisher Chicken House for
two more books so I’ll be doing LOTS of writing.
I’ll also be doing school visits, and readings in
book shops all over Kent – so please do come
along and bring your wonderful young bookworms
to say hello! Follow me on Twitter to find out
where I’ll be and when: @theLucyStrange
www.lucystrange.org