Kara Dennison Interviews Nick Campbell

A slight change in format here today... as Kara Dennison interviews Nick Campbell about his recent book...  which is part of a celebratory anniversary sextet of books published by www.obversebooks.co.uk


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Every saga needs a beginning: a curiosity in a junkyard, a boy on Tatooine, the entire planet Earth exploding. Obverse Books’ anniversary Sextet is no different, and it opens with two formidable figures: transtemporal adventuress Iris Wildthyme, and author Nick Campbell, who steers her anniversary adventure.

I sat down with Nick at a tea room (whose name and location I shall not reveal, as we didn’t technically have reservations or pay for our food) to discuss the kickoff for the miniseries, The Mystic Menagerie of Iris Wildthyme. In the time until we were discovered and had to beat a hasty retreat out the ladies’ room window, I had a delightful chat with him about the novella and his experience writing it. Join me, then, as we discuss time travel, fantasy, and inspiration over a pot of stolen English Breakfast:

Kara Dennison: You've written for Iris Wildthyme a few times now, but what was it that first drew you to her and her world as a reader?

Nick Campbell: About twenty years ago, I was informed that Paul Magrs was one of the most interesting writers for the Doctor Who books of that time: by a member of the Sisterhood of Karn, as it happens (the gay fan group from Kings Cross, that is). My first experience of Iris was a story called Old Flames, from a Who anthology released on cassette. In this incarnation she was played by Nicholas Courtney. She was more benevolent in that story than later on, but even there, she's doing the wrong things, saying the wrong things (sacreligious at that time to even refer to the Doctor as an 'old flame'), and being generally unpredictable - and lovable, too. In all Paul's stories about her, she's both attractive and subversive. She can enter any story we think has been done to death, and quicken its pulse.

KD: She does have a different energy from the Doctor when she crashes into someone's life, that's for sure. How did you bring that pulse-quickening feeling to life for Mystic Menagerie?

NC: Well, I thought the best way was to make her a rogue element in someone else’s life. We’ve got poor old Lynne having a bad day at work, and then Iris rides in out of nowhere, bringing chaos in her wake. In some ways I was paying homage to the great writer of children’s fantasy and ghost stories, Edith Nesbit (who actually had a daughter called Iris, so I’ve always thought of her as someone related). In things of hers like Five Children and It, perfectly ordinary kids happen across these wildly fabulous magical beings who involve them in fantastical adventures whether they like it or not.

KD: There are definitely a lot of looks-in from the fantastical throughout the book. Are there any in particular you can clue future readers into, or should they come in as unprepared as Lynne?

NC: I can reveal that there is a flying horse. In fact, I think he's my favourite character. There's a touch of Larry Grayson about him. There are all sorts of weird beings from antiquity, the sort of thing that E. Nesbit specialised in, and then there is the Sisterhood of King's Cross, which belongs much more to the world of Iris Wildthyme. I quite frightened myself writing about the Clock Watchers, if that's not giving too much away. They live in the gaps between one moment and the next, and in some ways they're the direct antithesis of Iris. They're joylessness, hopelessness, despair, and this is really a story about fighting back against all that. I'm not making it sound too serious, am I? Another scone for you, Kara?

KD: I should while I can — they don't make them like this at home. It's never hopeless if there's someone there fighting back, I think. And they do help Iris shine for Obverse's anniversary... which this is for, of course! How much bearing did the celebratory aspect of the Sextet have over the story?

[Things paused briefly here as a server seemed to realize we were no longer with the party we’d snuck in with. We moved our discussion, and our tea, under the table.]

NC: The main bearing it had, initially at least, was terrifying me with the responsibility of the thing. Obverse is a truly wonderful enterprise in a dirty world, simply devoted to putting fabulous adventures and eccentric heroes and mad ideas into the world (and then there’s The Black Archive, The Annual Years and other reference works celebrating the same spirit). It started with Iris and has gone on to explore all the other worlds that are celebrated by the other Sextet titles. I wanted to write a massive, mad escapade for Iris - and then I was asked to feature one very special moment. But that, for now, must remain a secret...

KD: It's a daunting thing, but you've done a fantastic (and fantastical) job! So go on, give us a peek... any particular lines or quotes you're really proud of? You can even leave out the context to make it extra enticing, if you prefer.

NC: Well, here's a bit that hopefully doesn't give too much away, Kara.

'Listen,’ said the woman. Her voice sank unexpectedly to a hush. ‘No, really listen. Stop yammering on for a minute, be here now, and pay attention.’

Lynne clenched her jaw shut furiously, but she obeyed. She listened to that pure, disquieting silence, and that persistent ticking clock. More than one, in fact, ticking and tocking out of time as though in conversation. She heard a gentle soughing, like the sound of a storm in-between the thunder and the flash.

‘Doesn’t sound quite the same, does it?’ The woman’s eyes roved around the walls. ‘This isn’t the place you used to know. It’s changed. This place that you belong to and ever so vice versa – it doesn’t belong to you anymore. You have no claim on it. It’s been taken over.’

‘What do you mean? Taken over by who?’

‘Ha!’ The old woman grimaced a smile. ‘By people like me, of course!’ She looked wonderfully excited, and fairly chomped on her cigarette.

‘Like you?’

‘That’s right. Slightly mad, slightly homeless, slightly unearthly, more than slightly fabulous people. They’re in charge now. This place is going to run to their rules.’

KD: That's just the right amount of enticing! Unfortunately it looks like we're about to be kicked out, so while I'm getting the last of these scones in my bag... where else can people read your work once they're done with Mystic Menagerie?

NC: Well, I've written a variety of short stories for Obverse, including stories about Iris and Brenda the Bride of Frankenstein, as well as the mysterious Corrective Tender and the sinister Grandad with Snails. I've had short fiction and non-fiction published all over the place, and I'm working on something bigger - but for the time being, I'm writing a regular blog celebrating great children's literature: arguably the most fundamental books there are, sometimes the most interesting and inventive, which nonetheless receive minimal coverage from print and TV journalists. Visit my Impossible Library, here: impossible.home.blog.

Many thanks to Nick Campbell for his wonderful interview, and to [Redacted] Tea Room at [Redacted] for their swift service and impressive security. If you’re interested in picking up a copy of The Mystic Menagerie of Iris Wildthyme, or any other book in the Sextet, you can do so from the Obverse Books website.