SDG Book Club Interview with Maya Fowler

1. Why do you write children/young adults books? Tell us about the attraction of this genre.

Children have such wonderful imagination and exuberance. Writing for children allows the writer to engage with these aspects of the child.

2.   Talk to us about your book in the context of SDG7: Affordable and clean energy. How does it address SDG concerns?

      Generating electricity through wind power is an excellent way of moving towards sustainable development, because it creates an alternative to the unsustainable method of generating power from fossil fuels. What’s more, William’s wind turbine is made from items thrown out by others. In other words, William embraces the ethic “reduce, reuse, recycle” completely.

3.   Tell us about the research process for your books in general, and for An African Legend in particular?

      Since An African Legend tells the story of Malawian inventor William Kamkwamba, I was able to do sufficient research using newspapers and the Internet. William has his own website, and has done a TED talk to explain his work.

4.   How do you work with your illustrator? Walk us through the process.

The process varies from book to book, but in this case the illustrator was able to base the artwork on photographs of William Kamkwamba and his project which are freely available.

5.   What are the advantages and disadvantages in modelling characters after people you know?

Modelling a character after a real person, such as William Kamkwamba, means your readers have the opportunity to use this character as a role model. The disadvantage is that real people can go on to make mistakes in life, and then we wouldn’t necessarily want them associated with our work – as we see from time to time with celebrities and advertising endorsements.

6.   What in your opinion are the most important elements of good writing?

      Characters that are truly engaging and writing that gets to the point without being flowery.

7.   In view of your book’s status as a UN SDG Book Club Africa book pick, what would you like to see in terms of impact and reach?

      It would be thrilling to see the work widely circulated at schools. I believe the story will excite and inspire youngsters to become more geared towards sustainability themselves.

8.   If you could meet any one your characters, from any one of your books, which would it be? What kind of conversation do you envisage having?

      I’d love to meet Tortoise from Tortoise Finds His Home. I’d ask him what the world looks like from way down there, and how he thinks people could live in harmony with nature.

9.   Finally, what words of wisdom do you have for today’s children, growing up in our social media and screen dominated world?

      Nothing beats the thrill of a great story, and reading on paper is extra special, because it gives your brain the space to really sink into the story world.

Author Profile

Maya Fowler is a South African novelist, editor and translator, currently living in British Columbia, Canada. Though she speaks several languages, she works in English and Afrikaans, a South African language that developed out of Dutch in southern Africa. Her novels Patagonia, The Elephant in the Room and “Tebatso gaan see toe” (Tebatso by the Seaside) fall in the general fiction/literary fiction category.

Her current focus is literary and general fiction, although she has produced award-winning work for young adults and children. In 2014, Tortoise Finds His Home, a picture book for young readers, won the UN Prize for Best Author: Early Childhood Literature.