"Look for the wildness and secrets..."
Let us introduce Katya Balen, the author of October, October! The young British writer has a remarkable amount of novels published, but it is the first time you could read her work in Hungarian. Have a look at our interview with her below!
Can you tell us a little about your journey? (How did you become a writer? How old where you when first started writing? How does someone become a writer in the UK?)
I always wanted to be a writer. When I was little, I used to tell stories in my head the whole time, even if I was just narrating what I was doing! But as I got a bit older, I was a bit embarrassed about the dream, so I kept quiet and got on with university and jobs working with children with special needs. But I still had stories in my head, and one of them was getting louder and louder. So one day, I sat down and decided to have a go at writing it. I was very lucky that this story got me a wonderful agent, who sold the book to my publishing house in the UK!
And what do you do when not working?
I spend a lot of time reading and cooking. I also go for very long dog walks, which helps me think of new book ideas. I live in London, so I’m always out and about seeing exhibitions and plays – I love the buzz of the city.
Your main character, October is so vivid and realistic. Who was your inspiration for her?
I think she’s a mix of a few people I knew growing up, a bit of me, and mostly entirely invented! I think writers tend to absorb lots of life around them, rather than basing a character on a particular person.
Did you have similar close-to-nature experiences as October? What gave you the idea for their forest life?
I actually love city life and I was never much of a nature person. But then my father-in-law built a house in the woods and started living off-grid. I started discovering the beauty of the wild, and I think the reason I love writing about nature is that it’s like I’m seeing it for the first time. It feels fresh and beautiful.
As you guys in London, us in Budapest also have a great river full of secrets and history. How do you think a sight like that would effect the townspeople’s mindset?
I hope when city people read October, they’re inspired to look for the wildness and secrets all around them!
Have you ever tried mudlarking yourself? Did you find anything interesting?
I have! I go quite a lot, but I’m not very good at it. I find lovely stones and smooth river glass, sometimes bones and coins. I’ve never had anything worth any money, but I just love the idea I might be the first person to touch or see this thing for hundreds or thousands of years.
It feels like mudlarking means way more in your novel then just a hobby for your main character. Can you tell us a bit about the importance of this part?
Mudlarking connects October to the wild. It shows her that secrets and nature and stories are everywhere. She is always telling stories, but when she moves to London she can’t find them anymore. Mudlarking opens up her world. It gives her the language to communicate with her mother and her father, with her new friends, to talk about the things that matter to her.
We sure are very happy that October, October will soon be available for Hungarian younglings to read. Do you have any message to them? "
I love the word younglings! I just want to say thank you for reading, and I so hope you enjoy October’s story. I also hope that maybe you’ll go out into the world and find stories too.
