posted on 09 Oct 2019

An Interview With A. A. Wise

The Letterpress Project has asked authors and illustrators to think about what has inspired them as artists, what their favourite books are and how they relate to their audience - we've also asked them if they themselves are book collectors.

We are delighted to present an exclusive interview with the author, A. A. Wise. The 33-year-old has already had two novels in the 'Blackwood Chronicles', Inock Tehan and The Phantom of the Ruins and Inock Tehan and The Forbidden Clan,  with another new title, Samuel Blackwood & The Demon’s Key, a book for children and young adults due out soon.

A.A., who hails from Uganda, has been inspired by the tribal tales of his youth, as he revealed:

“As a young boy I was raised on magical stories involving witch doctors, witches, ghosts, spirits, mythical creatures, warring tribes and all kinds of magic. These stories were passed down through the generations and told around the campfires of my grandfather’s tribe the Baganda and the Batooro, from whom some of my other family come from.

One of these stories involves a mad king who demanded that his people worshipped him as a god and I have so much rich and fantastic material to base my writing around and that is something I am truly grateful for. So, all of this has provided me with a fantastic inspiration for my books and also given me an opportunity to preserve some of my people’s heritage in my storytelling and that is something I am both excited and proud about.”

Allan Andrew Wise was born in Uganda, East Africa and moved to England as a young boy. His interest in fantasy literature appeared at a young age and he has been devouring fantasy novels ever since.

A.A.'s twitter account can be accessed at:  @AAWise4

Read what A.A. had to tell us by clicking on the link below.

einterviews_questions_A_A_Wise.pdf