Interview: Clare Pollard chats about her new middle grade fantasy ‘The Untameables’

Can you tell us a bit about your book, The Untameables?

I’ve always absolutely loved Arthurian myth, from the sword in stone to the lady of the lake, faeries to questing beasts. But reading the tales to my children I was suddenly very conscious both that the legend of the ‘round table’ has been used historically to defend the idea of a ‘ruling class’, and that the stories are very violent. I suddenly had a very clear vision of Rowan and Elva, two children who live below-stairs, setting off on a quest to get to the holy grail before the knights do. And I knew they had to get the grail with kindness, not force.

What made you want to set your book in Camelot?

Tales of Camelot are often considered part of the ‘Matter of Britain’. In many ways, Camelot has always been an idealised version of England and Englishness. I began writing this around the time of Brexit, and I wanted to explore what it is to be born under a ruler you don’t agree with. And, historically, England has of course done lots of very bad things. What if your nation are ‘the bad guys’? How can we embrace the best things about our history and culture, whilst resisting the narratives of those in power?

What if your nation are ‘the bad guys’? How can we embrace the best things about our history and culture, whilst resisting the narratives of those in power?

You have created some brilliant characters. Who were your favourite characters to write in this story?

Elva is my favourite, I think. She just came to me fully formed, with all her righteous fury! Quests are all about overcoming obstacles, and young people who have disabilities or are in pain have a whole extra set of obstacles they have to overcome every day. She is a total heroine.

You must have had so much inspiration at your fingertips writing a book based on Arthurian legend. Was there any particular inspiration you had when it came to creating your version of this world and its characters?

I love T.H. White’s Sword in the Stone. It actually has a dog-boy in it, which I think I must have half-remembered when I invented Rowan. I’m also a poet, so I was very inspired by poetry – Simon Armitage’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott, Browning’s Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, as well as medieval riddle poems. I’ve been enjoying going into schools and getting children to write their own.

As a writer, are there any other fantasy worlds that you would want to breathe life into?

I am currently working on another children’s book about the voyage of the Argonauts. I am crazy about Greek myth, so am having a lot of fun with this. There’s a little girl who wants to be the Oracle of Delphi when she’s older who has joined the crew. Also a six-year-old siren with a really horrible singing voice!

Here at PaperBound, we love behind-the-scenes stuff when it comes to authors’ writing journeys. What has your route to publication been like?

I actually found it very hard to get The Untameables published. It was rejected by a lot of publishers. I think the children’s book world can be naturally quite conservative and the fact it has political parallels – that the round table is a sort of Bullingdon club – put them off. I also got asked if I could rewrite it so Rowan wants to be a knight! Little boys are supposed to be ‘knights-in-training’. So I think the fact this book is anti-knight worried editors. It was in a drawer for a couple of years before I saw that The Emma Press, who I knew as a wonderful poetry publisher, had a call-out for children’s chapter books and I submitted. I think as a small press they’re more open to radical texts, and I also knew they would make a very beautiful book. I am so happy they asked Reena Makwana to illustrate it – she is a total joy to work with.

Are you working on anything new at the moment?

I’m promoting my adult novel The Modern Fairies, and have a poetry book coming out next year. But yes, I have started another children’s book – my children are 8 and 11, just the right age, and there’s nothing like the pleasure of reading them a new chapter every night. It makes me feel very lucky.

Clare Pollard

Clare Pollard has published five collections of poetry, most recently Incarnation (Bloodaxe). Her play The Weather (Faber) was performed at The Royal Court Theatre. Her translations include Ovid’s Heroines, which she toured as a one-woman show. She has also written a non-fiction title, Fierce Bad Rabbits: The Tales Behind Children’s Picture Books (Fig Tree), her first children’s novel, The Untameables (The Emma Press), and two adult novels, Delphi and The Modern Fairies (Fig Tree).

With thanks to Sophie Davidson for this image.