Mal Peet
Mal Peet
Mal Peetwas an English author and illustrator best known for young-adult fiction. He has won several honours including the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Prize, British children's literature awards that recognise "year's best" books. Three of his novels feature football and the fictional South American sports journalist Paul Faustino. The Murdstone Trilogyis his first work aimed at adult readers...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionYoung Adult Author
Date of Birth20 June 1947
sentence
A sentence that clots in your mouth is unlikely to flow in your mind.
kept money rejected second spending taking third won
After being rejected for years, I found a publisher for 'Keeper,' and it won prizes, and then I had to write a second and a third book because I kept taking the money and spending it.
grind grumpy man pull seems synonymous teeth whenever
Normally, I'm a grumpy old man - whenever I read about celebrity, I start to grind my teeth and pull my hair; it seems synonymous with idiocy.
attempt brought disguise generating genres seemingly sets sort whimsical
I see genres as generating sets of rules or conventions that are only interesting when they are subverted or used to disguise the author's intent. My own way of doing this is to attempt a sort of whimsical alchemy, whereby seemingly incompatible genres are brought into unlikely partnerships.
'Keeper' is about fathers, ultimately. and also conservation, commitment and ambition.
art bit draw
I was a bit odd. I read books and wanted to draw and go to art school.
burger crossing heavy history less liquor prevents store traffic
History is the heavy traffic that prevents us from crossing the road. We wait, more or less patiently, for it to pause, so that we can get to the liquor store or the laundromat or the burger bar.
convincing good magic novel remember
Remember that a good football novel has to have the same ingredients as any other good novel: drama, convincing and interesting characters, a strong story-line, and some kind of magic in the writing.
teenage tend trying
I tend to boycott all teenage reading while I'm trying to write my own stuff.
faster mark quicker sharper
'Smart', in American usage, is slicker and sharper than 'intelligent'; faster off the mark and quicker on its feet than deep thought.
movies
I have to make little movies. I have to sit and film.
If I were to try to describe the way in which I write, the only word I would use without qualification is 'slowly.'
knew school sports
I never knew that Americans would take up soccer, and it's a gender-free sport in high school there.
authors people
I'm working with published authors and some very young undergraduates and lots of people in between. They are lovely people, and they can write.