The Brighton Effect: I wouldn’t be a writer if it wasn’t for Brighton

New children’s laureate and bestselling author of the ‘How to train your dragon’ series, Cressida Cowell’s books have been published in 38 languages and adapted into a Hollywood film and tv series. But it all started at Brighton.

It’s not often children’s author-illustrator Cressida Cowell is lost for words. But, the prolific writer of over 20 bestselling books was literally gobsmacked on hearing she’d been named as the new Waterstones Children’s Laureate this summer. “I was at my dentist’s surgery with a mouthful of novocaine when I took the phone call,” she laughs uproariously. “So, when they told me the wonderful news, all I could reply was, ‘Arghgmfff!’ I actually couldn’t speak and was worried they thought I was being terribly rude.”

Truth be told, it’s hard to imagine children’s favourite Cressida ever being remotely rude. Warm and engaging company, she’s garrulous, wildly animated and fizzes with energy and humour. Not unlike her books, then.

But ask her about her aims as the 11th writer to take on the Children’s Laureate role, following in the footsteps of Quentin Blake, Jacqueline Wilson and fellow University of Brighton alumnus Chris Riddell, and she reveals a steely-eyed seriousness. “There’s so much to be done,” says the 53-year old, rising to the challenges ahead. “My main thrust is that all children should have a library in their primary school. Otherwise, if their parents can’t afford books, how on earth will they become readers for pleasure?”

She’s also equally passionate about creativity in schools. “It’s why I’ve launched a campaign called Free Writing Friday,” she explains. “Every Friday at school, kids have 15 minutes to write or raw anything they want in their own notebook. Spelling, grammar and handwriting aren’t important and it won’t be marked by teachers. It’s purely for fun and a practical solution that fits into the national curriculum. It also addresses a massive problem that creativity is just not valued in our schools anymore.”

A momentary pause for breath. “In this country, you now can’t take A-level History of Art at state schools! What does that say about our value of culture and creative industries? Our creative industries are out-performing the rest of the economy by double, yet our school systems attach such a low value to creativity and the art subjects. It’s appalling and depressing and something I’m determined to help put right.”

Don’t bet against Cressida doing just that. Because she has a history of making a roaring success of everything she turns her hand to. She grew up in London, read English at Oxford, and worked in publishing before studying MA Narrative Illustration/Editorial Design at the University of Brighton in 1996 where she excelled. “Oh, I loved it at Brighton,” she recalls. “I definitely wouldn’t be a writer if it wasn’t for that course.

“I actually wrote my first picture book, Little Bo Peep’s Library Book, on the course, so it was a real stepping stone to my future career. Sometimes students go to university and can’t quite see how what they’re learning is going to help in the outside world. Not at Brighton. It was so practical but fascinating and exciting. My personal tutor was George Hardie but I also had tutorials with John Vernon Lord and the wonderful Chris Mullen. Those three were so influential in shaping the way I made books and thought about telling stories. They gave such brilliant advice on pacing and characterisation.

“Chris was a real film buff and I remember him giving spellbinding lectures about the storytelling in Goodfellas. Other students’ projects were on death and destruction, or whatever, and I’d say, ‘My story is about Mr Orange – The Talking Carrot.’ So, I was never very cool. But I always knew it was important to take the carrot seriously.”

Judging by the number of green themes in Cressida’s books, the environment is clearly another subject she takes very seriously. “My father was an environmentalist and chairman of the RSPB, so it’s something I grew up with and have always felt passionately about,” she explains. “I drew burning forests on the front of my third book because it’s true, the forests are on fire. But I’ve found that children have a stronger grasp than adults of what actually is important. When I talk to thousands of them around the country, they all care passionately about environmental issues and the state of the planet. It’s like the children are trying to alert their parents that their trousers are on fire but the parents aren’t listening!”

When she’s not campaigning in schools or tucked away writing and drawing in the shed at the bottom of her west London garden, Cressida can now also be found schmoozing in Hollywood. Her How to Train Your Dragon series was successfully adapted into a billion dollar film by DreamWorks, who also acquired the rights to her latest adventure series, The Wizards of Once.

“I love getting involved in films and I’m about to head out to Los Angeles to the Emmy Awards Governors Ball,” she says, excitedly. “It’s all great fun but I’m not a frustrated screenwriter, I’m a book writer. You have to remember what made you want to do something in the first place. So it’s important to let go, remain humble and respect people working in different mediums who have their own creative vision of your work.

“I learned that at Brighton too.”

By Graham Wray