ALL ABOUT KATE DARBISHIRE AND HER LOVE OF READING, WRITING AND STORIES...
Kate lives in Dorset with her partner, the youngest of her five children, her foster daughter, an elderly springer spaniel and two scatty lhasa poos.
When she’s not writing, there’s normally a book in her hand. She also loves walking the dogs and wild swimming when the sun comes out.
Slugs, snails and a magic carpet
Kate’s father was a tall Scotsman with salt and pepper hair and a whiskery beard. When he wanted to look smart he wore a silk cravat about his neck.
One day, when Kate was 4 or 5, he came home with a Persian carpet rolled up under his arm. With great care, he unrolled it on the playroom floor, in front of the fireplace. He flamboyantly informed his assembled children that this was an actual, real magic carpet.
The four of them were to sit on the carpet and tell each other stories. Each child was assigned the type of story to tell: Kate’s sister was to tell tales about princes and princesses, her brother was to come up with the adventures of knights and dragons and Kate was assigned slugs and snails. To be fair, she always had a passion for snails and used to catch them and keep them in a special snail sanctuary in the garden. The youngest brother was too small to tell his own stories but always loved to listen.
If she is totally honest, however good the stories told, the carpet never lifted off the ground as expected. The ‘magic carpet’ may have performed the magic of keeping four unruly children in one place for spells of time – but no lift off and fly for the kids!
Hedgehogs, a blade of grass and the benefits of being bald
Kate continued to tell stories and soon to write them down as well. She wrote a whole series about a talking hedgehog in the lane behind the vegetable patch – now, (probably thankfully), lost forever in the mists of time.
Kate as a teenager, never without a book in her hand…
Or is it Alice?
When she was revising for her ‘O’ levels (the equivalent of G.C.S.E.s taken in the good old days by people who are now over 50), Kate was set writing challenges by her aunt to practice her skills.
She loved these – in particular, ‘The Blade of Grass’ and “The World Would be a Better Place if Everyone was Bald. Discuss.’ These kinds of exercises left Kate with a love of writing in all genres – non-fiction, poetry and fiction.
university and writing for young people
In 2003 – 2006, with four young children at home, Kate attended Bath Spa University, studying Creative Writing and Education. Her only regret is not opting for just Writing as it soon became apparent that Education as a future career was no fairytale! Near the end of her degree course, she decided that writing for children and young adults could indeed be a fairytale job.
What to write about?
Kate’s younger brother is autistic and has Down’s syndrome. Then, her own daughter was born with cerebral palsy and another chromosome condition called 22q11.
As she was trying to come up with ideas for a children’s book, she was also looking for representative fiction for little Katie and found there was very little out there. She wanted to write a book that showed someone with cerebral palsy and the struggles they might face. And so, the idea for Speechless was born.
Kate also spent many years working in special schools with children with a whole range of disabilities.
She is passionate about bringing stories that highlight the similarities between people, rather than the differences.
Now she has two books t0 share with the world...
