STEVE TURNER
We were only asking...

Steve is one of the UK's best loved and most widely read children's poets. His first book - The Day I Fell Down the Toilet - sold over 100,000 copies. Here he answers some of your questions.

When did you start writing?

When my mum gave me a crayon. But seriously… I started making up 'things' (they weren't really poems or stories) when I was about three or four. My mum used to put them in a file and so that made me realise that they were quite special.

Why do you write poetry?

I suppose I write it because I enjoy reading it and hearing it read. I want to be able to make people have the same feelings that I have when I find poems I love.

Do you write anything other than poetry?

Lots of things! I have written journalism for newspapers and magazines I've also written biographies - the stories of people lives. The most recent biography I wrote was a life of an American
musician Johnny Cash.

How long does it take to write a poem?

A long time! Most often I start something and then pick it up again several times before I finish it. What seems like a bad idea one day can look like a good idea the next. The best thing is to have a lot of half finished things in a file so that when you feel in a 'poetry mood' you've got something to work on.

What is the most unusual event to inspire a poem?

Usually it's very normal events that inspire poems. I've been inspired by my son saying 'I don't like vegetables', a fly landing on my tea cup and a bee hitting the window of my living room. It's being able to make the normal and make it seem strange that makes a good poem. Typically you see something happen and you start to think…'I wonder, what if…' What if the vegetables took offence at what my son said? What if I was to fall down the toilet? Sometimes a phrase comes into my head, as it did with 'The day I fell down the toilet… 'Ok, if I start a sentence with 'The day I fell down the toilet…' how would it finish?

Do you visit schools?

Quite often (but only when I'm invited). I don't like to tell children how to write poems. Instead I like to read my work, explain how I came to write each poem and then invite questions. I hope that the children will be inspired and that maybe some of my examples will help them with their own work.

Do you travel?

I travel more with my biographies than with my poems. For my Johnny Cash book I had to go to America two or three times. For another book I wrote, 'Amazing Grace'. I went to Sierra Leone in West Africa to see where they used to take slaves.

Have you been on TV and radio?

I've been on both, usually to promote a book I've just published. Next May (2005) BBC Audio Books will bring out THE DAY I FELL DOWN THE TOILET on CD. Fortunately they asked me rather than an actor to read the book. Now you'll be able to listen to me in your car!

I Was Only Asking by Steve Turner
Illustrated by Nigel Baines
Lion Publishing

Have you any poems coming out in the future?

I'M ONLY ASKING just came out in paperback. It's a collection of poems based on the Big Questions (Who am I? Where do I come from? Etc) With each book I like to have a theme. For THE DAY I FELL DOWN THE TOILET it was poetry itself, for DAD YOU'RE NOT FUNNY it was my memory of growing up and for THE MOON HAS GOT HIS PANTS ON it was the 24 hours of the day.

Do you have any pets?

I don't but I grew up with a dog (Prince) and a cat (Kitty) who I loved very much. My children had a hamster (Hammy) but he ran away and we never found him.

What could schools do to improve the way poetry is taught?

I think it already taught in a better way than when I was young. We used to have to copy poems out to improve our handwriting and then learn them off my heart. I think the best development has been having poets in schools. It shows people that poetry is a living art and allows to children to ask questions.

Thanks Steve.

For more information check out the Lion Publishing website

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