Stephen Kelman talked to Insight Radio's Robert Kirkwood about his Booker Prize nominated first novel Pigeon English.
You said you felt like you were gate-crashing the Bookers, why was that?
I did feel that initially, coming from the background I did and not really knowing anybody who had those kinds of ambitions. There's a whole whirlwind journey from the point of publication, then on to being longlisted and then shortlisted. It was all totally unexpected and I was waiting for the letter telling me it was all a mistake. But I'm now getting used to the idea and consider myself very lucky.
Although it's been a short journey from publication to success, was it a long journey to publication itself?
It was, yes. I've wanted to be a writer since I was six years old. It's the only thing I can remember ever wanting to do. It then took me 30 years to get to the point where I had a novel I wanted to try and sell. To then reach a situation where 12 top publishers were interested and then be shortlisted for the Booker prize has been a very long but very enjoyable process.
How long did it take to write?
It took me about six months to write the first draft. I was fortunate in a way that I'd just been made redundant so that gave me the time to push ahead and get it written. Once I'd found an agent we decided it was too long and I needed to trim it down so all in all it took about a year.
The story is told through an 11-year-old immigrant from Ghana. How hard was it for you to find his voice?
It was surprisingly easy. I've lived in a very diverse neighbourhood and been surrounded by people from many different countries for as long as I can remember. Recently there's been an influx of Ghanaians who lived near me so I was able to absorb the way they spoke and interacted. I lived just five minutes from the local high school so I would listen to the kids' banter when I was out buying milk or whatever and I think it rubbed off on me quite naturally.
The character of Harrison is fictional but the incident he investigates is based on fact
Yes, Harrison, our protagonist, decides to investigate a murder: a boy he knew has been knifed to death on the high street. I took as the starting point for my story the death of Damilola Taylor which took place about ten years ago and really caught the public imagination. Not only was it a tragic and senseless waste of life but the media coverage told us what a bright and sensitive kid he was. He had come here with his family for a better life and his great ambition was to become a doctor so he could find a cure for his sister's illness. I think that sense of the loss of his potential struck me. My story explores some of the fallout from the Damilola case.
What's the significance of the title, Pigeon English?
That's just your run-of-the-mill play on words - I'm not particularly proud of that pun! There is a character in the novel, a pigeon, who appears from time to time and helps to compensate for the absence of Harrison's father who has stayed behind in Ghana. The title also reflects immigration, the fact that we live in such a diverse society with people from all over the world mixing together.
Pigeon English is available in braille 4v, giant print 3v, TB in production.
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