Category: Interview

BackStory: Five Questions with Clio Velentza Author of The Convert What inspired you to write this piece? The word ‘convert’. I had been turning it over in my mind for more than a year, looking for the story in it.…

BackStory: Four Questions with Diane E Tatlock Author of Hidden in Darkness What inspired you to write ‘Hidden in Darkness’? This piece was inspired by a visit to the caves at Beer Stone Quarry in Devon. I had to overcome…

BackStory: Six Questions with Elizabeth Burton Author of Promiscuous What inspired you to write this ‘Promiscuous’? I first became interested in eugenics and forced sterilizations several years ago when I heard a report on the radio about individuals who had…

BackStory: Six Questions with Grace Palmer Author of In 1960… What inspired you to write this ‘In 1960…’? I was researching a story about medical research and how, historically, drug trials were not routinely tested on women, or pregnant animals.…

BackStory: Five Questions with Ellen Goldstein Author of Marie Curie’s Kitchen What inspired you to write this “Marie Curie’s Kitchen”? I read Barbara Goldsmith’s Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie (UK / US), and was struck by the…

BackStory: Five Questions with Amy Barnes Author of The Garden Statue What inspired you to write ‘The Garden Statue’? I read an article on 18th century monks that lived in gardens as precursors to garden gnomes. But there was more…

BackStory: Five Questions with Ceinwen E Cariad Haydon Author of Gutted What inspired you to write ‘Gutted’? I was involved our local Workers’ Educational Association’s ‘Turbulent Times Project’ which looked at the decade after the end of the World War…

BackStory: Five Questions with Olivia Fitzsimons Author of Shoes in the Wall What inspired you to write ‘Shoes in the Wall’? I renovated a cottage from 1920s a few years ago and my dad mentioned that there might be shoes…

BackStory: Five Questions with Kate Finegan Author of The Fire She Feels What inspired you to write ‘The Fire She Feels’? The line from Hamilton (which is basically my brain’s soundtrack) where Angelica says, “It’s Ben Franklin with the key…

BackStory: Five Questions with Emma Venables Author of Snow in March What inspired you to write ‘Snow in March’? I’ve been researching and writing about Nazi Germany for a while now and I’ve long been fascinated with the image of…