A panel of four writers spoke about their recent children’s books which tackle topics including child slavery, forced migration and people-trafficking. Each writer read extracts of their work and discussed their motivation for telling these often-overlooked stories.
“It’s only when something completely catastrophic happens that we learn about the people that make the things that we wear, or use” said Mitch Johnson, author of Kick, “everyday human rights abuses just go unnoticed”. Kick tells the story of Budi, a young sweatshop worker in Indonesia, who makes football boots but dreams of being a footballer. Johnson’s inspiration came from working in a sports shop and finding a piece of rubbish in a box of shoes, which gave him an idea of their manufacturer’s hunger and exhaustion.
Ele Fountain’s Boy 87 and Steve Tasane’s Child focus on migration and the refugee condition. Fountain follows a boy forced to leave his country for Europe without his family and Tasane sets his narrative in a refugee camp. In both narratives, place names were removed in an effort to depoliticise and rehumanise the story. Yaba Badoe, author of A Jigsaw of Fire, said the book has been in the planning for many years, and that she felt energised to write stories which often remain untold.
The panel stressed the importance of balancing the engaging and educative aspects of these stories with humour and accessibility. Tasane also advised the young audience, “don’t just keep reading what you agree with, read what you disagree with”, noting that oppositional views can help form one’s own ideas.
pictured; Yaba Badoe signing books at Hay Festival.
If you missed this you might enjoy Event HD85, Amy Lamé in conversation with Jenny Valentine on Saturday 2nd June at 2.30pm.
Please visit Hay Player for the world’s great writers on audio and film; https://www.hayfestival.com/hayplayer/default.aspx?