Jacqueline Wilson: ‘I never wanted to be anything else but a writer and I feel so lucky that I am’

Despite writing over 100 books and receiving a slew of awards and honours, at 76 years old much-loved children’s author Jacqueline Wilson is showing no signs of slowing down.

“I’ve got so used to thinking about the current book that I’m writing – early in the morning, late at night, going for a walk with the dogs, in the queue at Morrisons,” she said.

“I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have a book on the go. It’s just part of my life now.”

In clockwork fashion, the former Children’s Laureate published two books last year, which she will be speaking about in an event at the Southbank Centre on February 20.

The first is a Victorian adventure story called The Runaway Girls featuring Lucy Locket, a lonely girl whose father has got remarried, and Kitty Fisher, a street performer who has also found herself alone.

The book has many of the hallmarks of a Jacqueline Wilson novel, from unreliable parents to money struggles, but with a Victorian glow – as Ms Wilson points out herself, the historic backdrop gives her a little freedom.

She said: “I couldn’t possibly write about runaway children now because it might look as if I’m encouraging unhappy children to run away from home – but you can get away with all sorts of things if it’s a Victorian book.”

But as well as its more hard-hitting aspects, the central theme of the book is one Ms Wilson’s fans will be familiar with – the power of friendship.

She said: “I wanted to show that you can have all the clothes and books and toys and fancy lifestyle in the world but if your parents aren’t particularly concerned with you and if you’re desperately missing the nurse that has always looked after you can be just as unhappy as a child scratching for a living on the streets.

“I liked that they made friends and helped each other.

“I think most of my books have been about friendship of one sort or another and how, even if your family’s circumstances aren’t that great, it doesn’t mean that situation is going to last forever.

“All sorts of interesting things can happen to you.”

In her other book published in 2021, The Primrose Railway Children, an updated version of classic children’s book, Ms Wilson found she had the opposite challenge – how to make E Nesbit’s story more relatable for modern readers.

She said: “In E Nesbit’s book, mother is a particularly good, splendid mother. The children themselves actually say ‘Isn’t mother splendid?’.

“I can’t imagine modern children ever saying that about their mums.”

Because of the length of Ms Wilson’s writing career – her first novel was published in 1969 – she also has the unique challenge of adapting to each new generation of children.

She said: “I don’t try overly to use the latest cool words or reflect the things that people are passionately interested in at the moment because by the time a book comes out it’s probably a bit dated.”

But Ms Wilson the rise of mobile phones has forced her to be crafty with the plot, saying: “It used to be the case you could hide away or you wouldn’t know where someone had been, but now everybody can check on where everybody is.

“Sometimes my characters lose their phones or it’s confiscated or something. You have to work your way around it.”

Mobile phones have been a challenge in the real world too, forming a constant distraction for any would-be reader.

Ms Wilson said: “You have to be sure that from the very beginning a book will grab the attention and I think it’s a difficult one.

“I feel it’s up to us writers to try hard to keep writing books that amuse and entertain and move children and hopefully they will still want to hear stories.”

Inspiring reluctant child readers to pick up a book remains Ms Wilson’s proudest achievement of her career.

She said: “When children who haven’t liked reading come up to me and say I used to hate reading when I was younger but then I read one of your books, or even somebody else’s books, and say I love reading now I think that’s just so splendid.

“It’s lovely to feel that you have encouraged a lot of people to enjoy books.

“I always find it very touching when I speak to adults and they remember the books that they read as a child and can talk about them.

“It still really surprises me and makes me feel great. I never wanted to be anything else but a writer and I feel so lucky that I am.”

Pictured: Jacqueline Wilson ©James Jordan