My interview with…Catherine Johnson

Welcome to my interview with Catherine!

Firstly, thanks need to go to Catherine for her time, a few weeks ago now, and I apologise for my rambling style of interview, as this is the first one that I have ever conducted over the telephone (usually its an email or DM), and I was experimenting with talking, listening and writing notes at the same time, because I couldn’t get my recording device to work. To that end, I apologise to Catherine if I have interpreted my notes incorrectly. Some questions and answers I have merged together or move their order, just to help the flow of the piece. However, what an amazing lady Catherine is, and I really enjoyed our chat revolving around Matthew Henson and her book: ‘Race to the Frozen North’. We had an enjoyable discussion about his life and the amazing things he achieved against such a disappointing backdrop of racism and discrimination, which was sadly rife at that time in America and in other places around the world. Plus, we talked about her writing style, approach to writing, and her upcoming projects. Here we go…

How were you introduced to Matthew Henson?

I always liked learning and finding out about the Arctic and Antarctic and the exploration that happened there. I found Matthew’s name in some of the books I read about that time. I always remember looking at the articles in the Blue Peter annual and seeing the pictures of frost bite! This is actually the second book I’ve written about Matthew (the first one being – ‘Arctic Hero: The Incredible Life of Matthew Henson’, 2008). He is a fascinating person to write about, because he is extremely hard-working and extremely noble.

Are you an explorer? Where would you like to go?

I love learning about these areas of the world, but would rather not actually go there, unless I could just be transported straight there and straight back again!

Were there any emotionally difficult parts of the story to write?

I have read a lot of history already and grew up listening to stories about slavery, so sadly none of the story was too shocking or difficult to write about. I’m used to it.

Do you have any writing routines?

Yes. I impose discipline upon myself. I get up early to write. I make sure I swim regularly and treat my writing as a normal job. It’s really difficult to write for a living, so often I will have more than one project on the go at a time. Most writers do the same thing, either writing for television or radio, while writing their books (more about this in a later question).

I then asked Catherine about a hot topic of the moment in the creative industries, AI.

I think eventually it will mean less jobs for writers, but not at the moment.

As a teacher, I’d like this blog to be useful to other teachers. How would you like teachers to use your book in the classroom?

This would fit in well with an exploration module (unit of work – I’ve done this in Year 5 where we looked at Shackleton’s expeditions in the Antarctic – a great hook is to hide a newspaper cutting advertising for workers to come on his mission in a cube of ice – one for each child!). Matthew’s story is about overcoming adversity while others thrive due to their privileged background. The best thing that we can give our children is a command of different languages and communication skills along with a wide array of new and different experiences. Some kids just hoover up new knowledge and they need to be exposed to lots of different things. Matthew was 11-years-old and couldn’t read or write until he met the Captain. However, this didn’t stop him from trying to explore the world and challenge himself.

You must have really got into Matthew’s psyche while writing the book. Were there any moments where you felt he could have done things differently?

There were a lot of limits on black people in those days, so, no I don’t think I would have done anything differently. Josephine Baker, a super star, was shut out of clubs at that time. (Freda Josephine Baker nee McDonald, June 3rd 1906 – April 12th 1975 was an American born French dancer, singer and actress and was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture – 1927s silent movie: Siren of the Tropics’. She refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States, and, is noted for her contributions to the civil rights movement).

Who inspired you to write?

When I was at primary school I had brilliant teachers. I can still remember all my teacher’s names! I especially liked writing. However, things changed when I went on to secondary school, I felt stupid. If you had asked me at the age of 8, would I ever get my writing published one day, I would have definitely said, yes. But, if you had then asked me the same question at the age of 13, I would definitely have said no. (I can empathise with this, having also found secondary school a tough time. It’s such a pivotal moment in a young person’s life. Secondary schools have such a huge responsibility to make this work for all children). One thing that made things easier for me, is that I had a Jamaican/Welsh uncle, who wrote books in Welsh. (This shows just how important it is for children to have a role model to look up to). I then wrote a wide mixture of things in my 30s, which opened doors for me. I had to learn  how to write books, rather than essays, as these are very different things.

What’s your next project?

I’ve currently written a radio play for radio 4, which will hopefully come out soon. I have a kids book idea which is in the pipeline. Writing for children is so important and writing with righteous indignation. But it has to be fair. Plus, I’m working on an adult novel and various television projects.