The World of Norm… and Tractors by Jonathan Meres
He’s a best selling children’s author who is perhaps most famous for his hilarious World of Norm book series (if you haven’t read them, what have you been doing?) Read on to find out more about the inner workings of this award-winning children’s writer, including his fondness for, err, agricultural machinery...
Barnes Children’s Literature Festival: What would you be doing if you weren’t an amazing author?
Jonathan Meres: Wishing I was an amazing author.
BCLF: What did you want to be when you were growing up?
JM: Footballer.
Cricketer.
Bus driver.
Train driver.
Tractor driver.*
Zoologist.
Jockey.
Astronaut.
Rock star.
*Or, in other words, a farmer.
BCLF: The best thing about what I do is…
JM: Making stuff up.
BCLF: My favourite word is …
JM: Tractor.
BCLF: My greatest fear is…
JM: A world without tractors.
BCLF: My hidden talent is…
JM: …so well hidden, that even I don’t know what it is.
BCLF: My superpower is…
JM: Eating an entire packet of biscuits, in one go.
BCLF: Who is your favourite literary villain?
JM: The farmer, in Farmer Duck.
BCLF: If you could ask another author a question, who would you ask and what would the question be?
JM: I’d ask Charles Dickens, where he got his ideas from.
BCLF: You’re the fantasy festival programmer. Who would you love to see come to Barnes?
JM: PG Wodehouse, Enid Blyton & whoever’s written a book, called Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Tractors.
