birth stories

Elleke — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:34:31 +0000

Isn´t it interesting how few stories there are out there about children coming into the world, written from the mother´s eye view? Is this because of the fabled amnesia women are meant to suffer regarding the birth process. (Btw, I don´t really believe in the amnesia myth.) My Nile Baby starts with a kind of birth yes, but the baby is rather unusual, and looks to have been born before. For real live birth stories which also fill a major gap in the book market – excuse the pun – see the new book of Birth Stories out from Jacana this month!

Writing Risks

Elleke — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:53:28 +0000

In my new novel Nile Baby, just out, I’ve taken some to me new risks in writing – drawing on West African myth to interpret women’s hunger for babies, and also baby loss in Britain; writing about children and from a child’s eye view for the first time. Creating experiential interfaces between Africa and England – that was a challenge in particular. I wonder whether others out there feel similarly preoccupied, overexcited, anxious and afraid when striking out on new writing pathways.

Elleke Boehmer

birth stories

Writing Risks