Scoring with a pen - a writer's life

by Nuala McCann
BBC News

Martin Waddell has won international acclaim for his children's books

Northern Ireland-born writer Martin Waddell's childhood dream involved a pitch and a cheering crowd.

It was one shared by millions of boys down the years.

Waddell wanted to be a professional footballer. He almost made it. But life had a different script in mind.

Fulham Junior Club's loss was literature's gain. In a writing career spanning 40 years, he has collected many prestigious awards and published about 230 books.

At the last count, roughly 20 million copies of his books had sold throughout the world.

Little Bear, the Owl Babies and Farmer Duck have worked their magic on young children across the globe.

He couldn't have written the story of his life. But Belfast's Linen Hall Library is hosting an exhibition featuring some of the highlights of Waddell's writing career.

Waddell is no stranger to drama. He was born in Belfast in 1941, just before the blitz.

It is said that the first night of his life was spent under a table with a metal top sheltering him from the bombs.

When the promising football career did not work out, he turned to writing because he loved it. In the beginning, he chose to write dark comedy thrillers for adults.

In 1966, his novel, Otley, gave him almost instant celebrity.

Martin Waddell lives in Newcastle, Northern Ireland

His novel was turned into a film starring Tom Courtenay and Romy Schneider.

That venture gave him the finance to return to Northern Ireland. His strong sense of home is very much a part of his writing.

"Come Back When I'm Sober" and "A Little Bit British" followed. But his career had its twists and turns.

In 1972, he was caught up in a bomb explosion at St Comgall's Church in Donaghadee.

He was not seriously physically injured but that bomb had a huge emotional toll.

A newspaper cutting at the library exhibition records the explosion and accompanying notes chart the effect it had on the writer's life.

"For six years, I was unable to sustain the effort of writing," he wrote. "I was back to square one, trying to prove I could write and failing."

In the interim, his wife went out to work and he stayed at home to look after his three sons.

"I became very close to my children, something that is denied many fathers.

"The day-to-day business of coping with them stored up all sorts of material I would later use to great advantage. I know it now, but I didn't know it then.

And his gift returned.

"Suddenly, in early 1978, the ability to tell stories came back," he said.

Opening the exhibition at the library, librarian John Gray traced a writing career which moved from adult fiction to teenage fiction to children's fiction.

'No easy answers'

His Troubles trilogy, Starry Night, Frankie's Story and The Beat of the Drum were, as actress Celia Keenan said "a truly serious attempt to depict the Northern Ireland Troubles for children in a way that did not oversimplify or stereotype the issues or the people."

Gray said that Waddell did not provide "easy answers".

"The real problems of families and, in particular, of teenage girls across a spectrum of issues are to the fore," he said.

At that stage, Waddell chose the name Catherine - one he liked -and Sefton - his grandmother's maiden name as a pen name.

He felt at home writing in the voices of women and teenage girls. It seemed an appropriate pseudonym for a different style of writing.

But it was his story books for young children, like Can't You Sleep Little Bear, that moved Waddell onto the international stage.

For six years, I was unable to sustain the effort of writing. I was back to square one, trying to prove I could write and failing Martin Waddell

In a lifetime of writing, he has won many awards but the Hans Andersen Medal is considered by many to be the Nobel Prize for Children's Literature.

Speaking at the launch of the library exhibition, Waddell said that he could not pinpoint one favourite book or one of which he is most proud.

Owl Babies and the Little Bear series had been very popular. He talked about the "Wuthering Heights effect" - tapping into exactly the right emotion for a child. It has to be significant to them without being explained.

He also paid tribute to other internationally acclaimed writers and illustrators from Northern Ireland like Sam McBratney, PJ Lynch and Paul Howard.

At the exhibition, visitors can see the Andersen medal.

Little Bear fans can admire the story books in a variety of translations from Brave Piccolo Orso onwards.

Original illustrations by Barbara Firth and others whose names are forever linked in the picture book world with Waddell are also on display.

Those who grew up with the young teenage novels are even treated to an old black and white photograph of Roseanna Gardner from 1840.

The author bought it in a junk shop and that, plus a bookish sister-in-law, proved the inspiration for In a Blue Velvet Dress.

Covers, manuscripts, pictures, paintings .... the collection is vast.

But if there is a wealth of literature, evidence of a life time's commitment to writing, the tone is never self congratulatory.

The exhibition runs at the Linen Hall Library, Belfast, until 2 May.