Oxford Australia Blog

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Thirty years of Winnie and Wilbur: author Q&A

The much-loved duo of Winnie the witch and Wilbur her cat have celebrated their 30th year.

Friday the 13th of October marked three decades since Oxford University Press published the book series. Winnie and Wilbur are popular around the world, including in the UK, where they stared in a stage show in Birmingham and debuted on television, voiced by famous actors Katy Brand and Bill Bailey.

To celebrate the milestone and the release of the paperback Winnie and Wilbur Meet Santa today, we asked author, and Australian ex-pat, Valerie Thomas about her writing life.

When did you decide to become a writer? I think I always wanted to be a writer, and to publish at least one book.

How many books have you had published? I’ve had about 25 books published.  I signed the contract with OUP Australia just before they decided not to publish children’s fiction any more. Leigh Hobbs was the illustrator.

How did you meet illustrator Korky Paul? I met Korky Paul when the editor at OUP gave Korky my story, Winnie the witch, to illustrate.  It won a prize and so we kept doing more stories.

How long does it take you to write a book? Some stories take a long time. It’s thinking up the ideas that is hard. Once I have the story in my head it doesn’t take too long to write down.

What are you working on now? I am working on the next Winnie and Wilbur story at the moment, and thinking about the one after that.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers? I have two writing tips. 1. Read as much as you can.  2. Write as much as you can. The more you write, the better your writing should be, but there are no guarantees on that.

 

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