Kevin Crossley-Holland
Kevin Crossley-Holland
Kevin John William Crossley-Hollandis an English translator, children's author and poet. His best known work may now be the Arthur trilogy, published around age sixty, for which he won the Guardian Prize and other recognition...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth7 February 1941
bottom charged coins dating fossils people possession prized proudly shed shield took
When I was a boy, I took over the shed at the bottom of the garden and displayed fossils and potsherds and coins in it and proudly called it my 'museum'. I charged people to come in, and my most prized possession was a Saracen shield dating from the Crusades.
dozen time
Most writers, by the time they're 60, must have revisited their childhood a dozen times.
altogether dismissed
Before Arthur, I'd dismissed altogether writing fiction. You only have so many semi-sharp arrows in your quiver, I'd told myself, and I was not going to be able to write a novel.
almost dozens guess means pick revealing rewriting simply throw trick
For each detail I include, I throw dozens away. So I guess the first trick is to pick the right details, the most revealing details. Then I think one must simply write quick, clean, bright prose. For me, this means rewriting and rewriting: almost never adding, almost always cutting.
given great interested issues life personal point psychology questions seriously trying
I am seriously interested in the psychology of childhood. And I've given a lot of my life to trying to see questions of personal development, as well as the great issues of the day, from a child's point of view.
european human legends medieval mine rather represent sum time tremendous
There are Arthurian legends in 14 or 15 medieval European languages. They are the product of no one time or place. On the contrary, in sum they represent a tremendous mine of human understanding, rather as the Bible does.
adventures children device equally happening post publishers using
Think of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.' It is equally intoxicating for children and adults. All this 'crossover' talk is something publishers are using as a selling device - a kind of post hoc rationalisation of what was happening already.