An interview with John Christopher

John Christopher is a well known, prize-winning writer. His adult novelThe Death of Grass was runner-up for the International Fantasy Award when Tolkien'sThe Lord of the Rings won first prize. Similarly his children'sTripods trilogy,The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, andThe Pool of Fire, were all runners-up to the Guardian Award, whileThe Guardians won the Guardian award for 1971. HisSword trilogy, The Prince in Waiting, Beyond the Burning Lands, and The Sword of the Spirits, has been reissued by Puffin in a single volume. Some critics, such as John Rowe Townsend (inWritten for Children), have accused John Christopher of an underlying pessimism, or of male chauvinism. Christopher has not replied to these criticisms. He prefers to let his books speak for themselves. Unlike other writers who keep a high public profile, he has not spoken at conferences on children's literature or published essays which present or defend his point of view.Early in 1983 I wrote to John Christopher. What began as a simple fan letter developed into a series of questions, which he was kind enough to reply to at length: from this correspondence, with John Christopher's agreement, I have compiled the interview which follows.He has published articles on C. S. Lewis's Narnia Chronicles (Cle 25), Patricia Wrightson's Wirrun trilogy, and on aspects of language education. He recently completed a graduate diploma in children's literature.     

An interview with Robert Lawler

Robert Lawler is one of the key figures in the development of thinkable models and educational games. In this interview, dedicated to Seymour Papert, Marvin Minsky and Oliver Selfridge, he comments on his research notes and provides fascinating insights into the early days of artificial intelligence applications in education.     

An interview with Professor Barbara Comber

As part of this special issue on ‘Literacy for social justice’, and at this moment of post-pandemic transitions in education, we invited Professor Barbara Comber to reflect on the needs for and trends in critical literacy education, both in her local context, in Australia, and internationally. In September 2022, we met with Barbara online to discuss her thoughts about what critical literacy educators need, how scholars and educators can work together to produce change, and where we can see hope in critical literacy and social justice education right now, as part of promising anti-racist, decolonizing, and intersectional literacy frameworks and practices.     

With a straight eye: An interview with Charles Causley

Charles Causley is one of the most distinguished contemporary British poets. He was born in Launceston, Cornwall (in South-Western England), where he still lives. During 1940–46 he served on the lower deck in the Royal Navy, an experience which still influences his poetry. In 1967 he was awarded the Queen's Medal for Poetry. In 1977, he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Exeter and, in addition to awards for different collections of poetry, he was further honoured (in 1986) by the Queen for his services to poetry. He is an experienced and very popular performer at poetry readings. Much of the following interview, recorded in December, 1987, grows out of his long experience as a teacher of young children in his home town.Brian Merrick teaches English and Drama in the School of Education, Exeter University. He is coauthor (with Geoff Fox) of the widely circulated article, Thirty Six Things to do with a Poem,CLE, 12(1), Spring 1981, and coauthor (with Jan Balaam) ofExploring Poetry: 5–8 (NATE Publications, 1987).