This episode is a chat with Cressida Cowell, author of the How To Train Your Dragon books, the Wizards of Once series and the Which Way to Anywhere.
Cressida grew up in London where her Dad, Michael Hare, had significant roles in several well known organisations, which we’ll hear about in the course of our conversation.
Wilderness was of great importance to Cressida’s Dad. In the 1970’s Michael bought the island of Little Colonsay, which lies between Ulva and Staffa.
The island, it’s history, topography and setting had a profound affect on young Cressida’s imagination and her summers would be spent in a reverie of story making, listening to the tales her Dad would tell her of the people of these islands’ past.
These experiences lead to Cressida becoming an author, and not just any author. Her works have been translated into 38 languages and sold tens of millions of copies around the world. There are film and tv adaptations of her work.
In our time together we talked about her childhood memories of Little Colonsay and the people who helped her family to build their home there.
We talk about her father and his love of nature.
We explore the impact that the island had on her imagination, and how that lead to her career.
Cressida goes on to talk about her maternal Grandfather, Alan Hare, and his experiences in the 2nd World War in Albania and how that generation of people influenced her writing.
We then talk about the importance of the natural world and the nature of climate change.
We do talk about death several times in our conversation, both of older and younger people, so please do be aware of this if you
I owe a big thank you to my dear friend Colin Morrison for putting me in contact with Cressida.
Colin and his family run Turus Mara, which, departing from Ulva Ferry, to my mind, is the best way to see Staffa, Fingal’s Cave and to meet the puffins on Lunga for some puffin therapy.
Most importantly of all though at the end of this episode Cressida kindly took the time to answer three questions from Lachlan, one of her young readers who lives in Dervaig.
Everyone who takes part in the podcast gets a pack of the Island Bakery’s mouth-wateringly wonderful Lemon Melts or another pack of their delicious biscuits, so I’ll need to figure out a way to sail a box out to Little Colonsay for Cressida to enjoy as we spoke over Zoom…
Thanks for listening!
Episode Links:
Cressida on her time as Waterstones Children’s Laureate
National literacy trust
Michael Hare – Cressida’s Dad
Little Colonsay on Google Maps
Robert Louis Stevenson on Erraid
JM Barrie – Peter Pan’s Hebridean genesis…
Cressida’s Grandfather – Alan Hare
For more info on Albania during WW2:
Albanian Assignment by David Smiley
Illyrian Venture by Brigadier ‘Trotsky’ Davies
Kim Philby
Poem – The Viking Terror – c.850 AD
Seamas Carey – Help! I Think I’m a Nationalist tour
Robin Scott-Elliot – author and Grandson of Col Anderson, whose boat took Cressida and family to Little Colonsay.
What We Do In The Winter 
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