Francesca simon author biography example
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And that people thought nothing of spending a fortune on drink, but kept their rooms unheated to save money. I was shocked by how conservative it was, and how homogenous the students were – mostly privately educated, middle and upper class, barely a black or Asian face to be seen. I discovered that British people are more cautious about friendship, in a way that Americans aren’t.
I also had to learn that inviting someone to tea, and not lunch, was the most casual invite.
It was quite a fairy tale, and definitely the best creative experience of my life. Oxford made me AngloAmerican, and enabled me to straddle both worlds. Her engaging tales of mischief and everyday adventures continue to captivate and charm audiences worldwide.
When you tell an American you are going to Oxford, it’s like saying you are going to heaven.
How did that come about?
This story is almost too good to be true: writer gets first opera commissioned and performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, to rave reviews. When writing the Henry books, do you consider your adult audience too?
Always! Where and when do you prefer to write?
Believe it or not, Eystein Smelly–Fart was a real name. I also realised a few years after I started writing the books that Horrid Henry and Perfect Peter are two sides of everyone: the desire to be good and to conform; the desire to disrupt and go your own way. There was no specific person who inspired the stories, apart from myself: I was perfectly behaved at school and less so at home.
Hack and Wack are proud to be the worst Vikings in the village, but have they met their match in Grunt the Berserker?
Author Francesca Simon tells us about her Two Terrible Vikings books that include facts about the Vikings within a fast-paced, funny story about two young - and very bad - Vikings!
Q&A with Francesca Simon
1.
How do you think you would have coped with life as a Viking child?
Dreadfully! A medievalist and one-time freelance journalist, she is perhaps best known as the author of the award-winning Horrid Henry series of books for children (and greatly enjoyed by adults too). Can you tell us a little about the series?
I love funny stories about wild, rebellious children, and I love Norse mythology, so I'm surprised it took me so long to get the idea for Two Terrible Vikings.
And learning to eat a three-course meal in 22 minutes, and not sitting in Hall where a certain scout always splashed soup on you. Do you enjoy writing about children who like to break the rules?
I do love rule-breaking characters, it’s true. It’s lovely to tweet at an author you don’t know, especially new authors, to say how much you’ve liked their book.
On one level their sibling rivalry has been going on since Cain and Abel; it’s also cathartic to read about a character who never thinks about consequences but lives entirely in the moment. I found my course very difficult (Old and Middle English language and literature) as it was so philologically-based, and I am much stronger on literature.
Francesca Simon, alumnus and author
She has published a range of other books for early readers and older children, including The Lost Gods, The Sleeping Army, Two Terrible Vikings, Helping Hercules, and The Monstrous Child, which she adapted for opera in collaboration with composer Gavin Higgins and was performed during the 2018/19 winter season at the Royal Opera House.
Wednesday is WODENSDAY and Thursday is THORSDAY.