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Conversation: Author Neil Gaiman

Posted by Jeffrey Brown , January 30, 2009

The Graveyard Book "There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife."

That is the very scary first line of the book that's just won the Newbery Medal, the highest honor for children's literature.

Author Neil Gaiman is a man of many genres: science fiction, graphic novels -- some of you will know his 'Sandman' series -- screenplays, adult fiction, as well as books for young readers.

His Newbery winner, 'The Graveyard Book,' is the story of an orphaned toddler -- that 'knife' in the first line dispatches the rest of his family early on -- who is then raised by a community of ghosts in a graveyard.

Neil Gaiman grew up in England and now lives in Minnesota. One of his novels for young readers, 'Coraline' is just being released as an animated film. He joined us from Los Angeles, where he is promoting that film:

You can watch Neil Gaiman read "The Graveyard Book" in its entirety on his Web site.

Comments

Posted:
01/30/09 at
06:50 PM

David Eisner : Thanks for the interview, I enjoyed it. It's always fun to learn about an author's writing process and idiosyncrasies -- like first writing a middle chapter in this case. Here's an idea for future book-related interviews and stories: It might be nice to have a sample page or two (or even an entire chapter) posted with the entry, to give a feel for the writer's style.
Posted:
01/31/09 at
01:12 PM

MEB : Delightful. Inspiring. Innovative ideas. Thank you,thank you, Jeffery.
Posted:
02/ 2/09 at
07:24 PM

lindajs : I love your interviews because you actually let the author talk. You had a great Kate DiCamillo interview a few years back when she won the Newbery, and now this very good interview with Neil Gaiman. Thank you!
Posted:
02/ 2/09 at
08:45 PM

Julia a Neil fan. : Yes very inspiring. My dream job is to do what Neil does. His simple story telling, his creative spark, has sort of become a similar high for me also. Very intriguing, very exciting, and thanks.
Posted:
02/ 2/09 at
09:26 PM

pk pippin : Thank you for interviewing Neil Gaiman. I have read several of his books and stumbled across his website reading of The Graveyard Book. I love his style and agree that though it may be a children's book it is also a book that an adult can enjoy. His humor is wonderful.
Posted:
02/ 2/09 at
10:22 PM

Jimmy Thomas : Jeffrey, It was not obvious to me until visiting pbs.org that you are the _Arts_ Correspondent for the NewsHour. Your reports that get aired seem to cover politics and other drudgery a bit too often. Between this delightful interview with Neil Gaiman, and the bio describing your "real" job at pbs, I look forward to more interviews like this. The NewsHour is great. Thanks!
Posted:
02/ 3/09 at
01:28 AM

mae : Thank you for this!

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