Video transcript
2018 NSW PRC author interview - Chris Riddell

[music playing]

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Hi, I'm Tamara Rodgers, from the Premier's Reading Challenge. We're here at Riverside Theatres at Parramatta for the Sydney Writers Festival. It's all day YA today. And they've got-- gathered an amazing collection of authors, illustrators, film makers-- people who are obsessed with stories. And the highlight of the day for me is that we're sitting here backstage with the amazing Chris Riddell. Hi, Chris.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: Hello.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: It's great to be here with you. So you've just finished up a session as the UK laureate for a couple of years. Tell us what that was like.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: Well, it doesn't feel as if I've just finished, in a way. I mean, I finished last July.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: OK.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: And-- or rather June.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: --to be more accurate. It felt like-- I'm dropping my sketchbook. It felt like a sort of incredible sort of rush of energy. I thought I might be completely exhausted by the number of things I did. In fact, it was just great fun. And it allowed me to talk about things I really care about-- reading, reading for pleasure, school libraries and how important they are in our schools. I'm sure it's the same in Australia.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: It's absolutely the same here. And as, you know, before my life with the Premier's Reading Challenge I was a teacher-librarian, and so it's--

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: You know the importance.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: It's something we're very passionate about, yeah.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: And encouraging the reading of books, not necessarily for exams, and not necessarily for tests, but just to love books.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: I mean, that is something that we all share, I think.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Absolutely.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: I am an Illustrator, because I was first a reader. And I loved books when I was young. I just absolutely devoured books. I wanted to work in that field. I also loved drawing. And to me it seemed the perfect way to bring the two together. My love of reading was to be that person who could read books, and then do the illustrations, too. One of the great pleasures I've had is working with fantastic writers, because that brings out the reader in me.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yes, and that was going to be one of my questions, because you've gotten the opportunity to illustrate for some incredible names.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: Oh, yes, yes.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: So do you want to tell us a little bit about that? Who's-- who's been the one that we've gone, oh, my goodness! I'm getting to-- to draw--

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: I think that would be unfair actually to say this, that. I love them all.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: I'd probably say I don't think I've worked with a writer that I haven't really enjoyed working with. And that sounds, you know, as if a-- oh, he would say that, wouldn't he? But that-- it is true.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: I know. But it's like trying to pick a favourite book.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: It is. It's a tad like that.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Because it's very difficult. SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: It is. And I like the differences. You know, working for many, as I've worked with Paul Stewart. And working with Paul has been a wonderful privilege, because Paul has allowed me to get inside his imagination, and suggest things that he might then put into the narrative. Sometimes I've written with Paul. So we've produced things that are a combination of our work together. And that's been fantastic.

But then when I worked with Neil Gaiman-- I mean, the wonderful thing about working with Neil is that he just sends you this story completely finished, and says over to you. I'm not going to tell you how to draw the characters. I'm not going to tell you anything about this. You must read it. And respond to it.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: What an extraordinary privilege that is--

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: It really is.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: --to have a beautiful piece of writing that then you get to add a life to.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: Yes. And I use-- then I use my imagination as a reader, in a way. And I think it's very important when I illustrate that I don't get in the way of the reader. I think it's important to sort of have an experience when you read a book, where you can enter an imaginative world that's conjured up by the writer. But also as an illustrator, I'm there to help. And if those two things work together, then you shouldn't notice the work I do, in a way. You should just notice the book, and enjoy the book.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: So one of the books-- one of the collaborations that you and Neil have done, that you've brought into the world is the story 'The Sleeper and the Spindle.'

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: Yes.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: And so can you tell us a little bit about the process of that? Because it's not just Neil's story. There's so much cultural history behind where that story came from.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: I think the term is mash-up, isn't it?

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yes, yes.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: Where you take one story and you add another story into it, and it becomes a new story.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: And I think Neil does that so well. He doesn't tell us that this story is necessarily about Snow White, although there are some dwarves involved. They come and visit the queen. And we think the queen must be Snow White, and she has a history. Well, she-- he doesn't necessarily say that we're entering into the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. And yet obviously that is where the queen is going with the dwarves to this adjoining kingdom.

What was enjoyable was that the story existed as a story in an anthology that Neil had put together. And what Bloomsbury, the publisher, asked me to do is put the story into 96 pages. And said so we decided on the size of the work. It's like 96 pages. But that meant that there was lots and lots of room for illustration. And I love that.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: So when Neil describes getting into the city of the sleepwalkers, I had a whole double page spread to draw all those sleepwalkers individually. And that was really good fun. And the central image in the book that became very popular was where Sleeping Beauty has woken up with a kiss.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yes.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: And that was one line that Neil had in the story. And the minute I read that line, I thought this is such a powerful image. And as an illustrator, I love writers who can evoke powerful images--

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: --who can give me that sort of insight. And Neil does that incredibly well. He thinks very visually. He writes very visually. But he doesn't ever tell you how to imagine those things.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah. One of the things that I love about that book is this idea about the princess saving herself. So this idea of the ability of young girls, in particular, to have real agency in their life. That's something that features heavily in Neil's work and also in your own.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: I'm glad you say that, because I think it's important, in a way, when books can be used in a way in a good sense to empower to make us feel that we're not alone, to make us feel that we can empathise with the character. I think this is the great joy of reading-- the way that we can be transported into a way that another person might be experiencing the world.

Neil does this very well. I think 'Sleeper and the Spindle' is a strong story. And like all fairy tales, it has a timeless quality to it. And a relevance that that stretches not just from the youngest readers, but also to older readers-- I think they can enjoy this, even though it's essentially, I suppose, it's a 96-page picture book.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah. A very beautiful picture book.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: You're very kind.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: So you talked a little bit about illustrations for other people.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: Yes.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: You also do some of your own work. Now is that really just an excuse that you write the story, so you've got something else to--

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: You know, exactly that. Exactly that. I'm an Illustrator actually through and through. And if Neil Gaiman and Paul Stewart just wrote stories for me whenever I asked them to--

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: You'd be happy.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: I would be happy.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: But they don't. You know, they've got other things to do.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Aww.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: And so there are occasions where I'm sitting and thinking, I'd really like to illustrate something. Now what can that be? And, for instance, the Ottoline books began as two little sketches in the sketch book. I keep sketchbooks all the time. I have one with me. This is my sort of sparkly sketchbook that I brought over on my trip to Australia.

And I always start my sketchbook off with-- because can you see how beautiful this sketchbook is? It is a very lovely sketchbook. And I know that sometimes when you get a lovely sketchbook, you think, now that's too good to draw in, I'm going to spoil it.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: So what I do is I pre-spoil it. You know? So I just do a very silly drawing right at the beginning.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Mouse.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: And that just gets me started. And then I don't feel shy about drawing in it. So I always draw up a mouse in the overcoat just to begin. And then I just draw anything that comes into my head. So certainly sitting on trains and sitting on planes is a nice opportunity just to zone out and think of nothing at all, and just draw. And what happens when you draw without necessarily thinking about what it is you're drawing, characters appear.

And once you start drawing something-- that bear with spectacles, you start to think, well, where might he come from? What's his story? And this is where Ottoline and Mr. Monroe, the central characters in my Ottoline books, came from. They were in a sketch book. I drew them without really thinking. I just drew this little girl and this short hairy cub with a curtain of hair. And I thought, they must have a story. Who are they? Where do they come from? And I felt I must write that. And so I started to write the story all about them, which turned into the first Ottoline book.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Wow.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: And a very similar process with Goth Girl as well. I had an idea of a ghostly story. And I want-- and I started to think about-- I didn't want a scary story. I tried to think of the least scary ghost you might encounter. And I thought, well, what about a small mouse? That wouldn't be too scary. A small mouse a bit-- what if a small mouse appeared on a bedroom carpet. And I thought, well, why? What would have happened to that mouse? How did it become a ghost? I thought of a mouse trap. Stuck it in a mouse trap.

So you begin your-- your sort of ideas, I suppose, in the way that one might write stories, with small steps. You begin with one idea. You add another idea to it. It grows a little bit. You add another idea. And before you know it, you've got the beginnings of a story. And where you have the beginnings of the story, you need some pictures. And then they help you forward.

And my advice-- I would say to anyone who is interested in writing stories, maybe becoming an author, maybe becoming an Illustrator, is to get one of these, fill it up with pictures. And fill it up with notes. Fill it up with ideas for stories. You know, make this your workshop-- your beginning. And just get into the habit. Be that interesting person in the corner of a room, who happens to have a notebook out. And you might be drawing something. I think it always makes people interesting, because you're making notes.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: And so one of the sessions that you've been doing while you're here at the Sydney Writers Festival is with the wonderful Morris Gleitzman, who's the current Australian children's laureate. And the topic has been can children's stories change the world? So I know that most of us have not been to that session. Can we get a sneak peek? What do you think? Can children's stories change the world?

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: You know, I think Morris and I thought-- think they can. I think they can. And the reason is that children read children's stories. And there's this interesting thing that happens. Children read children's stories, and then they grow up into these curious people called adults. And then they go and do adult things, like run the country. Or teach, or become librarians, so you know, these very interesting things.

Now I think it begins with the books you read. When you're little, you've the books you love, the books that you grow up with. And that forms your character, you have things that you enjoy, the things you like. And then you will go on and change the world, I think. So it's incredibly important to have children's stories that are exciting, that are engaging, that say good and true things, because those are the readers that will go on and absolutely change the world.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yes. I agree, absolutely agree. What's next for you? Is there something specific that you're working on, that you can share?

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: Some very exciting things. Some very exciting things. The next thing is I've just taken on a teaching post, which I'm very sort of excited about. I'm the supply teacher at Hogwarts.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Lovely.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: That's like the awkward person comes in, that know the curriculum very well. Well, that's-- I'm him-- accepted at this wizarding school. So--

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: So we call them casual teachers here.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: I'm a casual teacher at Hogwarts, only for a term. That's all.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: OK. Usually those are the characters who die off, you know.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: And now I'm just a little bit worried, you see.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: But at the moment, I'm just a term.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: OK.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: I'm illustrating 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard.'

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Oh, how lovely.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: It's been really great fun. I'll be talking about that in the autumn. So--

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yes.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: So I think that will be coming to Australia this autumn. And after that, I'm going to be illustrating-- this is a dream come true-- I'm going to be illustrating 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and then 'Alice through the Looking Glass.'

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Oh, wow!

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: So I've got some really, really fun things to do.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah, that sounds fantastic, because they're such classic, timeless stories that everyone knows. And you get to be a part of how children will read and discover those in the future.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: I'm joining a wonderful group of artists who have illustrated those stories. And for me, the Alice books are where children's books, as we know them, began. So it's lovely to get back to the beginning, and be one of the illustrators to interpret those stories.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: It's been such a fantastic opportunity to get to chat with you, Chris. So I'm so glad that you popped backstage to spend some time with us. Thank you so much.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: The only trouble now is I've got to go on stage. You see, backstage is great. I love this.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: See, we've warmed you up, preparing you--

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: I could stay backstage the entire time chatting. It would be real nice.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: I'm OK with that. I'm OK with that. Thank you, everyone, wherever you are watching at home. Make sure you check out Chris's books on the Premier's Reading Challenge. Make sure that you grab a sketchbook, and start to pick up a pencil yourself. It's something that I'm going to do more often in the little notebook that I usually write my shopping list in my handbag. So thank you so much, Chris.

SUBJECT, CHRIS RIDDELL: My pleasure.

INTERVIEWER, TAMARA RODGERS: Thank you.