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Book Week Series: The Art of Literature and Illustrations ft. Laura Wippell | Ep.7
20 Plays10 months ago
Welcome to our seventh podcast episode, where we have the privilege of diving into the world of literature and illustrations with Laura Wippell. This special episode is a part of the Book Week Series.
Join us as we embark on Laura Wippell's journey, from her early days as a budding writer in Australia to her influential role as a celebrated children's author in Chile. In this episode, we'll uncover Laura's passion for connecting local and global perspectives, her dedication to inspiring young minds through engaging stories, and her remarkable achievement of winning the 2022 Bee Ethicool Author Contest among over 5,000 entries.
Whether you're a parent, an educator, or simply curious about the world of children's literature, this episode promises to provide valuable insights and inspiration from Laura Wippell's fascinating career. So, join us as we step into the imaginative world of storytelling with Laura Wippell, whose debut picture book "Feeling Hopeful" is capturing hearts everywhere.
About Laura Wippell:
Laura Wippell is an Australian children's author living in Chile in 22 she won the bee ethicool author contest which received over 5000 entries. Laura's debut picture book "Feeling Hopeful" is out now with a background in education. Laura aims to connect and reflect on the local and global aspects of life. She resides in Santiago with her husband and cat and enjoys house plants boots chocolate and 80s rock music. Laura's website: https://www.laurawippell.com/
About Book Week Series:
Book Week Series is a celebration of authors and illustrators from around the world. For the past two years, this series has been a favorite on Studimation, where we've explored the art of storytelling through insightful interviews. This year, we're excited to move the series to The Zainab Khan Podcast, now available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, iHeart Radio, and more. Join us as we highlight diverse voices in literature, sharing their journeys, inspirations, and advice. Whether you're a literature enthusiast or an aspiring writer, our Book Week Series offers enriching and inspiring conversations. Tune in to The Zainab Khan Podcast and celebrate storytelling with us!
To see the video version of this episode subscribe to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thezainabkhan
Website: https://thezainabkhan.com/
Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/zainabkhanpodcast/
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Transcript
Introduction to Laura Whipple
00:00:00
Speaker
Laura Whipple is an Australian children's author living in Chile.
00:00:03
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In 2022, she won the Pretty Cool Author Contest, which received over 5,000 entries.
00:00:09
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Laura's debut picture book, Feeling Hopeful, is out now.
00:00:13
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With a background in education, Laura aims to connect and reflect on the local and global aspects of life.
00:00:19
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She resides in Santiago with her husband and cat and enjoys houseplants, boots, chocolate, and 80s rock music.
00:00:28
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Hi!
00:00:28
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Thank you so much for joining in today.
00:00:39
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Thank you so much for having me, Sanif.
00:00:41
Speaker
It's lovely to be here.
00:00:43
Speaker
Are you excited for the interview?
00:00:45
Speaker
Absolutely!
Laura's Background and Journey Back to Writing
00:00:47
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Can you tell us more about your journey into children's literature and what inspired you to become a children's author?
00:00:53
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Of course.
00:00:54
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Well, I grew up on a farm in regional Australia, so I had a lot of time outside.
00:01:00
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I was always playing teachers with my sister or writing very silly little poems about the animals that I had on my farm.
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So I think the elements of sort of education and writing were really present in my life from a young age.
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I think as I grew older, I stopped writing as much.
00:01:21
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I think it's very easy to sort of
00:01:23
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get busy in life and to sort of explore other pursuits.
00:01:28
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So it was sort of always something that I always thought, oh, I really want to come back to that.
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But, you know, life gets busy and it's very easy to think that you don't have enough time.
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So I guess when the pandemic hit and a lot of other things were going on, I found my way back into writing and I haven't stopped since.
00:01:50
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That's cool.
00:01:51
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Was there a particular aha moment that made you join like Churin's book?
00:01:56
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Yeah, as I said, I think it's something that I've always enjoyed doing from a young age.
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And when I was looking for sort of a new hobby to pursue during the pandemic, writing was just an obvious choice because I was reflecting on my childhood and I thought, you know, why did I ever stop doing that?
00:02:17
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Because I loved it so much.
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And I love children's books because I think,
00:02:22
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they're your first experience with art as well as a young child because you've got these beautiful, you know, multimodal texts.
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So you've got the words working with the pictures at once.
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So for me, children's books have sort of had a special place in my heart for that reason because I think they're magical.
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I think they're a beautiful way for people to connect as well.
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Storytime between, you know, the parent and the child at night is something that's, you know,
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was really treasured for me growing up.
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So I think sort of all of those things helped me easily choose writing for children rather than adults.
Winning the Be Ethical Author Contest
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Winning the Be Ethical Author Contest amidst thousands of entries must have been exhilarating.
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Could you share your experience of participating in the contest and how it felt to win?
00:03:15
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No, absolutely.
00:03:16
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It was exhilarating.
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So I wrote a story that I was really passionate about and I entered and because there were so many entries, I didn't really have high hopes.
00:03:28
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But the editor chose three finalists.
00:03:32
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And when I was contacted and told that I was one of the finalists, it was such an amazing boost.
00:03:39
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And then the really interesting part happened where they had a two week voting period and the public had to vote for their favorite story.
00:03:47
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And that was just the most lovely experience because obviously I had to spread the word and just having family and friends and strangers from all over the world vote for my story and voice their support for it was just the most amazing feeling of connection
00:04:07
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that I'd had in a long time.
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So when I won, I just felt like it was my story, but it was everyone else who, you know, put the time and effort to vote for it.
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And so that for me was just such a wonderful experience.
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I felt really, really grateful for everyone who supported me.
00:04:30
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Awesome.
00:04:30
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How has this been affected your career?
00:04:34
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Well, it really kick-started it, I would say, because before that, I think it's very easy to be writing a lot, but submitting can be hard.
00:04:46
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If you want to be traditionally published and have a publishing house publish your book, then through the submission process, you're going to receive a lot of rejections.
00:04:59
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So I think a lot of people like myself
00:05:02
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They might like to write, but they might feel quite intimidated in terms of actually getting their work out there.
00:05:08
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So with this whole process of the competition and having so many people vote for me and believe in my words, it really just was such a motivator for me to say, okay, I have to keep going and focus more time and energy into this hobby of mine.
00:05:29
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Awesome.
Inspiration Behind 'Feeling Hopeful'
00:05:30
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Your debut picture book, Feeling Hopeful, sounds captivating.
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What was the inspiration behind this particular story and what message do you hope young readers take away from it?
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Well, something interesting about this story was it was obviously the result of the competition and the competition.
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I found quite unique because it actually started off with this illustration.
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So they said, you have to create a story based on this particular illustration.
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And I liked it for two reasons.
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Number one was that you can see a dragon here and it's not a dragon that's portrayed in the usual
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fire breathing scary light.
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It's a dragon in a very vulnerable position.
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And I just kept wondering, you know, why is the dragon crying?
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So the illustration really spoke to me.
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I thought it was a really unique way of depicting a dragon.
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And as I kept reflecting on those questions, you know, why is the dragon crying?
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What could the reason be behind it?
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I got to a point where I
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thought, you know, wouldn't it be amazing if we could release our fears through tears.
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So that was sort of where the story began.
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And they're really the main two elements of the story, hope and fear, because the dragon in the story represents hope.
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So in terms of what I'd like children to take away from it, I hope that they can be inspired to look for hope in everyday situations.
00:07:01
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That's a beautiful message.
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Thank you.
00:07:04
Speaker
Living in Chile as an Australian, how has your cultural background influenced your writing, especially in creating stories that feel local yet have a global appeal?
Cultural Influences in Laura's Stories
00:07:14
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That's a really good question.
00:07:16
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I think when I sit down to write stories, I don't necessarily think about what cultural aspect I want to portray, but
00:07:27
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like any human, your context affects you.
00:07:30
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So I think in terms of my writing style, a lot of the stories I write can sort of be quite short and punchy and that's sort of influenced by my Australian background and how Australians have this wonderful way of speaking quite directly and to the point.
00:07:46
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But obviously, as you've mentioned before, nature sort of tends to feature fairly heavily in a lot of my stories and that's definitely inspired by Chile because
00:07:57
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I've been living here for 10 years, but the landscapes that this country has, they just take my breath away.
00:08:07
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So I feel quite lucky that I'm able to be inspired by two different cultures and while they might not necessarily have a very tangible element in every single one of my stories, all of my stories are inspired somehow by a different cultural element.
Educational Approach and School Engagement
00:08:28
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With your background in education, how do you integrate educational elements into your children's book while still keeping them entertaining and engaging for young readers?
00:08:38
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That's another really good question.
00:08:39
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Thank you.
00:08:41
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I think that as a teacher, I've always been really inspired by concept-based curriculums or teaching or thinking about big ideas with students.
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So because I teach English as a foreign language, I can never just teach
00:08:58
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a grammatical aspect in isolation.
00:09:00
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I always have to connect it to a global theme or a big idea behind it.
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So I think that tends to feature quite heavily in my story, sort of having a big global or universal idea behind them.
00:09:15
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In terms of making them engaging for readers, I just try to think about how I felt when I was a child and what sort of stories I would like to read.
00:09:24
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And I love playing with language.
00:09:25
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I think in a lot of children's books, you can see features like onomatopoeia where you use really fun sound words like chomp or munch and just try and have language that sounds fun to be read aloud.
00:09:39
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Your passion for sharing your books with children and educators globally is evident.
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Could you share some of the ways you've connected with children and educators around the world to promote literacy and learning through your books?
00:09:51
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Absolutely.
00:09:53
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One of my favorite things to do is school visits.
00:09:55
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So I've connected with schools face-to-face.
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I've done library tours and I really, really love connecting with schools online.
00:10:04
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I think
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The fact that we're able to still use video conferencing nowadays is amazing.
00:10:09
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And, you know, one of the reasons why I get to talk to you right now, it's incredible.
00:10:15
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One of the other important aspects, I think, of this particular book is I really wanted to create a teaching resource that teachers could easily download and use in their classrooms that would require a minimal amount of planning because I know how it feels to be a teacher and how
00:10:34
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time poor teachers often are.
00:10:37
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So that was another aspect that I tried to spend a lot of time on.
00:10:42
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And that teaching resource can be downloaded on my website.
00:10:46
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And I hope teachers find it useful.
00:10:49
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Was there a critical moment in teaching that stands out to you?
Empowering Teaching Moments and Inspirations
00:10:54
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Oh, so many.
00:10:56
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I think as a child, I definitely had some teachers that really influenced me.
00:11:02
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I remember one teacher in high school, we had to write short stories and he was giving feedback to a friend and I was sort of waiting next in line to receive feedback from him.
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And he asked my opinion on one of the aspects of my friend's story.
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And for me, that was really empowering.
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to know that, you know, a teacher wanted to hear my opinion on something.
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So I'll always take that special moment with me.
00:11:31
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In my classroom as well, I think there have been moments of, you know, those beautiful light bulb moments sometimes that students have.
00:11:42
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There are lots that I can think of, but just knowing as well through teaching and through writing that,
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you know, you're having an impact on young people's lives and hopefully giving them a reason to smile.
00:11:58
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I think that's why teachers and writers get up every day.
00:12:02
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That's what we aim to do.
00:12:05
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Absolutely.
00:12:06
Speaker
You mentioned your fascination with industrious bugs like bees and worms in your compost.
00:12:11
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Do these natural elements often find their way into your stories?
00:12:14
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And if so, how do you incorporate them into your narratives?
00:12:19
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Yes, I think I'm very, very inspired by nature.
00:12:25
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I think I mentioned the pandemic before.
00:12:28
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We have a community compost that I organized through our local council here, and I'm in charge of that.
00:12:35
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And I remember during lockdowns,
00:12:38
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when a lot was going on, going down and visiting the worms and making sure the compost was okay.
00:12:46
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And it was very peaceful and impressive knowing that no matter what's happening in the world, you know, these little bugs are still working hard.
00:12:56
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So I guess that they inspire me to try and continue working hard in my area, no matter what is going on.
00:13:06
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In terms of natural elements in my story, once again, I don't think that I sit down and say, oh, I definitely want to write a story about this certain natural aspect.
00:13:19
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But there are lots of themes in terms of growth or change that I think are really nice to depict using metaphors from nature because it's something physical that children can see.
00:13:32
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And I think nature is an endless source of inspiration.
00:13:36
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Once again, not all of my stories are about nature, but I think a lot of those, you know, critical themes like growth or change are often found in the stories I write.
Incorporating Fantasy and Acceptance in Stories
00:13:49
Speaker
Fantasy world seems to be another area of interest for you.
00:13:52
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How do you blend elements of fantasy into your children's book?
00:13:55
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And why do you believe it's important for young readers to explore imaginative worlds?
00:14:01
Speaker
Very good question.
00:14:03
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I think the way that I...
00:14:05
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write is influenced by the way that I read or how I like to read.
00:14:09
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And as a young girl, I used to love reading to escape or to travel to different worlds.
00:14:16
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So I always loved fantasy for that reason as a young reader and I still do today.
00:14:22
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And I love elements of sort of magic realism as well, where you might have a story that's set in a real setting, but there might be a character that has a special magic power, for example.
00:14:33
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And I think that it's really lovely and important to include, you know, maybe little elements of magic or fantasy in your stories because it helps young readers look for the magic in their everyday lives.
00:14:49
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And it makes you think about, you know, what could be possible.
00:14:53
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So I think we can learn a lot from fantasy worlds for sure.
00:14:58
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Can you name particular authors or books that have inspired you?
00:15:03
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A lot.
00:15:06
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In terms of, well, obviously growing up, I grew up reading the Harry Potter series.
00:15:11
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So it was always really fun for me to think about the fact that there might be witches and wizards going off to school at the same time that I was.
00:15:23
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I always loved a lot of the writers like Ina Blyton, who had some fantastical elements in her stories as well.
00:15:33
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And nowadays there are so many amazing children's authors like Oliver Jeffers or even John Classen who have these really amazing storytelling styles where they might use natural elements in their stories.
00:15:52
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And they don't necessarily include magic, but I think the way that they illustrate and the way that they use words, they sort of
00:16:01
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sometimes portray the natural world as being quite magic.
00:16:05
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And I think that's really inspiring for young readers as well.
00:16:10
Speaker
It's interesting that you think witches often get a bad rap.
00:16:13
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Do any of your stories shine stereotypes or explore themes of acceptance and diversity?
00:16:19
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:16:22
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I think it's fantastic nowadays that we have so many, we still need to improve in this element.
00:16:30
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There are more diverse stories in the marketplace nowadays.
00:16:34
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And we can look at traditional characters like witches, for example, in a new light and think about, you know, positive attributes that they might have.
00:16:46
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And that was one of the reasons why I was so inspired by Stella Mongody, the artist who drew the picture of the dragon crying, which inspired my picture book, because it is depicting a dragon in a new light.
00:17:00
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And I think that it's a way of showing children and everyone how we can see people in different ways and become more accepting.
Joy of Writing for Children
00:17:11
Speaker
Writing for children seems to bring you immense joy and energy.
00:17:14
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What is it about writing for this audience that resonates with you so deeply and how does it fuel your creativity?
00:17:21
Speaker
Oh, I think, I think children are hope.
00:17:24
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I think that when we look at children, we think about what they could be and, and, and the dreams that we had when we were children and, and,
00:17:39
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how we can try and leave the world as a better place for them as well.
00:17:44
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So writing for children brings me a lot of joy because it reminds me of the sense of wonder and excitement that I had as a little child.
00:17:55
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And that in turn gives me so much energy.
00:17:58
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And I think that anyone, no matter what your creative outlet is, it could be painting or running, literally anything,
00:18:08
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I think that if we dedicate time to things that inspire us, then that automatically gives us energy and makes us better people as well.
00:18:18
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So it's something that I'm really, really happy that I found my way back to.
00:18:23
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And now I'm fiercely, you know, putting aside time every week so I can continue exploring writing because it's important for me.
00:18:37
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Absolutely.
00:18:38
Speaker
Can you share any upcoming projects or future plans you have in store for your readers?
Future Writing Plans
00:18:43
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:18:45
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So last year, my book was released.
00:18:47
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So last year was a lot of promotion and visiting schools and a lot of sort of events to do with the release of the book.
00:18:56
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This year, along with Book Week, I'm still doing that.
00:19:01
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But I'm putting aside a little bit more time to explore other picture book projects.
00:19:07
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And something that I've been really enjoying lately is to start writing for older readers as well and delving into more of the chapter book area.
00:19:16
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So hopefully I'll be able to have some exciting news about that in the future.
Balancing Teaching and Writing
00:19:23
Speaker
How do you navigate the challenges of balancing your writing career with your personal life, especially living in a different country with your husband and cat?
00:19:31
Speaker
Yeah, it's definitely not easy.
00:19:34
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I think that most writers have a day job.
00:19:37
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You know, I teach children.
00:19:38
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I'm an English tutor.
00:19:41
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And you need to put aside time because otherwise other things happen.
00:19:48
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So I've blocked out a morning every week where I go to the coffee shop and I write.
00:19:54
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Aside from that, I do try and find little pockets of time
00:19:58
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every day where I can write.
00:20:00
Speaker
But for me, it was really important actually scheduling time on my calendar because I feel though if I do that, then it's an obligation and it's something that I have to dedicate time to.
00:20:15
Speaker
So I think when you have a look at a lot of movies or films, they often portray writers as just
00:20:22
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you know, having a brilliant idea and you sit down and write and the story comes out straight away.
00:20:28
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But that often doesn't happen.
00:20:30
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And it requires, you know, a lot of time spent, a lot of time mulling over the ideas and just a lot of time perhaps writing story ideas that don't work before you get to the story idea that you're really passionate about.
00:20:44
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So I think that sort of being dedicated and, and,
00:20:51
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blocking out regular time is really, really important for the process.
00:20:56
Speaker
How long on average does it take you to complete one book?
00:21:01
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It completely depends.
00:21:02
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There have been some books where I've been able to get the story idea down and go through a couple of drafts and get them to quite a polished stage within about a month.
00:21:12
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There are others, for example, that I've been working on for years and
00:21:17
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something's not quite right and I can't seem to get it to work.
00:21:21
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So I put it away for a couple of months.
00:21:23
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Then I come back to it and get some feedback from other writers.
00:21:27
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And it's just an ongoing process.
00:21:30
Speaker
So every idea is different in terms of time.
00:21:34
Speaker
Right.
Advice for Aspiring Authors
00:21:35
Speaker
Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring children's authors who are just starting their journey into the world of writing for young readers?
00:21:44
Speaker
I would say three things that are all sort of centered around support.
00:21:48
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So the first one would be supporting the process in terms of time, like I mentioned.
00:21:55
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And even if you don't have the time, maybe if you're a parent, for example, and you have to take your child to a swimming lesson, you know, even using that time when they're at their swimming lesson to write some ideas on your phone, you know, you're still, you're still writing them, but trying to really,
00:22:12
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find pockets of time or block out time that will allow you to write.
00:22:17
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So that would be the first one.
00:22:19
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The second one would be sort of supporting your craft and the importance of doing courses, enrolling in workshops, going to conferences.
00:22:29
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At those conferences, you can often get feedback from industry professionals and just looking at writing as being a learner and finding ways to improve
00:22:42
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your knowledge and brush up on your skills because no one is born an amazing writer.
00:22:48
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It's something that takes practice.
00:22:51
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And the third thing would be, I think, finding support in numbers and trying to find a writer's group or people that you can meet with regularly, not only to get feedback on your writing, but also to create a little bit of an emotional support network because writing is quite an isolating thing
00:23:10
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process and I think it's important to reach out and have contacts and friends that you can share the highs and lows with.
00:23:18
Speaker
That's a great piece of advice.
Resources on Laura's Website
00:23:20
Speaker
Before we end our conversation, where can the audience find your work?
00:23:25
Speaker
So the best place to start I think would be my website, laurawipple.com.
00:23:31
Speaker
There you can find links to where you can buy my book, you can download the teaching resource, you can find out more about our school events.
00:23:39
Speaker
Awesome.
00:23:40
Speaker
With this, we end our chat.
00:23:41
Speaker
Thank you so much for joining in.
00:23:43
Speaker
It was fun talking to you.
00:23:44
Speaker
It was lovely talking to you too.
00:23:46
Speaker
Thank you so much.