Meet the Creator: Karen Comer

I loved the Narnia series, Anne of Green Gables, Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series, A Wrinkle in Time. And I absolutely wrote Enid Blyton imitation stories!

Being an editor certainly hindered my writing in the early stages of writing first drafts – I was too critical of myself and compared my first drafts unfavourably to published books. But now it is a strength – after the first draft. I can use those discerning editorial skills on my own manuscripts to improve and polish them before I send them to my publishers.

On a good day, I’ll write in the mornings and edit in the afternoons. But I find that answering emails and preparing for school visits can creep in anywhere.

I was in the laundry folding washing and ironing shirts (so banal!) while listening to a Margaret Atwood interview. She had been invited to contribute a manuscript to the Future Library of Norway, a project which began in 2014, where a writer would be invited to contribute a manuscript, one a year for one hundred years. The library would collect the manuscripts, keep them safe, unpublished, until one hundred years when they would all be published together. They planted a forest around the library, with the intention for the trees to be felled in order to make paper for the one hundred books in 2114.

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I was entranced by this idea, and instantly saw how it could become a book in three parts – contemporary, future and a story contributed to the library linking the two times. The idea of collecting manuscripts which wouldn’t be read for one hundred years is such a hopeful project, so altruistic to create something for humans in the future, even though you will not see the results. So I began with the idea of the library, set it in Australia, beginning in 2025, and then imagined the characters around that idea.

“The idea of collecting manuscripts which wouldn’t be read for one hundred years is such a hopeful project, so altruistic to create something for humans in the future, even though you will not see the results.”

It has definitely been busier! I have been invited to festivals and to speak interstate as well as in Melbourne.

I instantly add my flickering idea to my notes app in my phone. If the idea keeps growing over a few months, I know it’s a keeper. I might not be able to write it immediately, but I’ll make an art journal, gather more of my ideas, then write the first draft by hand.

I used to be a one-book-at-a-time writer but I’ve had to learn to juggle a few books, all at different stages.

Making an art journal for each book is such an important part of my process. It helps me gather together all my ideas slowly – I work in fragments. I didn’t do this for Sunshine on Vinegar Street (the first book I wrote, but my second second to be published) but I’ve made one for Grace Notes and Once Upon Tomorrow, and I’ve made them for books I’m working on now. The colour and pattern invite me to think in non-linear ways. It’s a tactile way of writing.

I’m looking forward to talking about Once Upon Tomorrow, and its themes of libraries, AI, fairytales and the climate crisis at this year’s festivals.

I’d love to write a book of poetry.

Once Upon Tomorrow is out now. Find out more about Karen Comer at karencomer.com.au or follow her on Instagram @karen__comer