Interview: Ian Brownlie
- Little Thoughts Press
- Sep 4
- 4 min read
Ian Brownlie lives with his family in Marlow, Bucks (UK). His work has been longlisted for the Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition and Searchlight's Best Novel Opening award. He has had children's poetry published in The Dirigible Balloon, Tyger Tyger and The Toy magazine, and recently had a poem included in the anthology Sky Surfing (which can be purchased at dirigibleballoon.org/shop). He can often be found procrastinating on BlueSky: @ianbrownlie.bsky.social.
Little Thoughts Press: Our Ekphrasis Adventure issue is about using visual art as inspiration for poetry and storytelling.
What stood out to you in the illustration you chose to write about? What in the image served as the initial spark for your poem?
Ian Brownlie: I loved the picture by Olivia McGinty, it made visual art as an activity feel so happy and vibrant. I was impressed that Olivia had chosen to recreate the portrait itself in her picture, along with the subject of the painting, giving us two different views of her. It works really well. So the spark was really just being drawn in by that, then wondering what other kind of things this artist might get up to.
Little Thoughts Press: I love the way your poem “Ali the Artist” captures the way children so often fully throw themselves into their hobbies and activities, almost becoming obsessed with them for periods of time. Here, wherever Ali goes, whatever she's doing, she's capturing those sights and experiences in her artwork. With all the demands of adult life, we have a tendency to lose a little bit of that youthful obsession with the activities that bring us joy. In what ways does writing allow you to tap into some of that childlike ability to give yourself over to a creative activity just for the pleasure of it? When writing for kids specifically, what do you do to connect yourself to the emotions of childhood, the difficulties and the joys that are unique to growing up?
Ian Brownlie: Yes, exactly! Ali enjoys art so much that it takes over every aspect of her life. And the rat-a-tat-tat rhyming of the poem hopefully pulls the reader along on that journey with her.
Writing for children is very freeing, and there’s a huge pleasure in creating something silly or magical or just true that could resonate with children and lead them to think about things differently. Or just make them laugh. I think humour for its own sake is underrated in most creative fields.
Little Thoughts Press: This issue is all about celebrating and spotlighting artists. Do you have a favorite artist, or a picture book, comic, or graphic novel that you love and want to shout out?
Ian Brownlie: That’s tough, there’s so much great stuff I could pick. I couldn’t get enough Asterix books when I was young, and they are essentially graphic novels. At least half of the humour is in the brilliant pictures. The detail in Richard Scarry’s Busytown books meant you could read them over and over again. Chris Riddell is my favourite illustrator at the moment, especially his beautiful Ottoline and Goth Girl books.
Little Thoughts Press: How did you get started writing kid-lit and what do you find most challenging and rewarding about writing for kids?
Ian Brownlie: I had a really good idea for a children’s book sometime in the late 1990s. So I sat on that for a couple of decades, waited until my own children were too old to want to read my books, then decided to start actually writing something for kids!
Honestly, I think it was reading to my children as they grew up that reignited my love of children’s books, and gave me the desire to write them. It just took me a while to get round to it.
The most rewarding part of writing is the reaction you get when showing your new work to somebody (as long as the reaction is good, obviously.) The most challenging part is making time to write. I work part-time in the kitchen of a very small school for children with additional needs, and I have been known to lose myself in a poem about a yeti who is good at typing while trying to make spaghetti carbonara!
Little Thoughts Press: Which kid-lit authors and books were your favorites growing up?
Ian Brownlie: I loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books, and frequently cheated by keeping a finger in the previous page when I made a decision! I also re-read Roald Dahl’s The Twits quite a bit, as well as a long-forgotten book with the great title: Help! I am a Prisoner in a Toothpaste Factory.
Little Thoughts Press: What advice would you give to young writers?
Ian Brownlie: Keep reading and keep writing. And always be open to learning new things about language and writing, because there will always be new things to learn.
Little Thoughts Press: Is there anything else you wish I had asked? Any upcoming projects, publications, or other news you'd like to share?
Ian Brownlie: I’m still working on getting my first book out there! There are links to the poems I’ve written for various publications on my Bluesky account: @ianbrownlie.bsky.social
Also: my lucky number is 27 and my favourite punctuation mark is two full stops..
Comments