Samantha Shannon
Samantha Shannon
Samantha Shannonis a British writer of dystopian and paranormal fiction...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth8 November 1991
aware both death emily genre john life poets ways
I was not really aware of the dystopian genre before I read 'The Handmaid's Tale.' Many poets as well, like John Donne and Emily Dickinson, would be the influences; I specialized in Emily Dickinson at university. Both of those poets have really interesting ways of looking at life and death.
gets
I do take this insane pleasure in world-building. I get the world in my head, but I have to make sure everyone else gets it.
belonged bit fantasy felt freedom gave genre seemed
I always felt that sci-fi and fantasy were my thing. Bit of a geek, I'm afraid. But I like creating worlds, and I felt it was a genre that gave me more freedom. It just seemed like I belonged there.
things-in-life nests never-forget
There are certain things in life that you never forget. Things that dig deep, things that nest in the hadal zone.
dad family four half marriage mom retired stepfather three university works writer
I am the first one to go to university in my family. I am the first writer as well. My dad is a retired policeman, and my mom works for a glass-processing company. She is health-and-safety manager, and my stepfather is a plumber. I have four half siblings, one from my mom's marriage and three from my dad's marriage, so we are kind of scattered.
bone four novel since spent thirteen until wrote
I've been writing since I was about thirteen but didn't start a book until 2007. I spent four years writing a sci-fi novel before I wrote 'The Bone Season' at nineteen.
mind nuances rogue tune
I was a hacker of sorts. Not a mind 'reader,' exactly; more a mind 'radar,' in tune with the workings of the aether. I could sense the nuances of dreamscapes and rogue spirits. Things outside myself. Things the average voyant wouldn't feel.
fresh hours mum outside reached recall spend stories sure
I was so sure I wanted to be a novelist. I would spend hours and hours every day writing. Little stories about nothing in particular. I recall one about someone with an illness. But my dedication wasn't really healthy, and it reached the point where I wasn't sleeping. My mum would tell me, 'You need to go outside to get some fresh air.'
cut libraries people places question rest round students
People question what I thought of Oxford. Students used to talk about the 'Oxford bubble' because the place can make you feel cut off from the rest of the world. I would forget there were places like London that were not centred round libraries and essays.
classes good learned people university
I worry that people think you have to go to a university to be a good writer, which is categorically untrue. I don't think I learned how to write at Oxford. I did not go to any creative writing classes or anything.
asking bone keeps
'The Bone Season' is violent. There's sex. My little brother keeps asking to read it, and he's 9, so I'm like, 'No, it's not happening.'
oxford small town
What I like about Oxford is how small it is; it's really more of a big town than a city.
braces wearing
I was a shy child, and when I was 13, I started wearing braces on my teeth. I used to be acutely self-conscious, and I think writing was a way of withdrawing into my own imagination.
eight oxford quite time weeks
It is a strange world, Oxford - quite claustrophobic. I was often glad I was only there for eight weeks at a time.