As a picture book maker, I often find that my festival audience is similar to the crowd you’d expect to find at a death metal concert. There’s screaming, stage invasions and sometimes people wee themselves. Most terrifyingly of all, if my audience – who are largely under the age of 7 – are bored, they soon let me know.
The children at my first ever Hay event were, thankfully, exceptionally well-behaved and enthusiastic. They made loud animal noises and shouted out things for me to draw. Today I have been asked to draw a sheep’s foot, a fossil, “a flaming eyeball”, a fire engine and, somewhat inevitably, “a big poo.” My books feature bears, wolves and corpulent felines, so I was very much sketching out of my comfort zone.
Later on I had the pleasure of signing books for the young crowd. Some of the kids couldn’t quite grasp why a strange woman was drawing inside their shiny new purchase. Many suddenly came over all shy and buried their heads into their parents’ legs. In these situations, I find it is best to quietly offer them a sticker and tell them about how shy I was feeling standing up on that big stage. I’m not lying when I tell them that. The life of an author/illustrator is quite solitary and peaceful. I am certainly not a born performer or children’s entertainer. But just as the kids don’t spare me from their laughs, yawns or tears, I have learned to be more open about my nervousness, lack of finesse and enthusiasm for silly animal drawings.
That’s what I love about festivals. There’s no better place to get eyeball-to-eyeball with my readers. And it’s been a joyful, sometimes terrifying but always exhilarating experience.