Interview about historical fiction with Catherine Johnson, author of novels for young adults and children (transcript)

This is the transcript of an interview with Catherine Johnson, the award-winning author of historical novels for children and young adults. 

Catherine Johnson’s historical novels are principally set in the eighteenth-century and feature the adventures of young people who are Black or of mixed heritage. 

The topics Catherine discusses with Kate Loveman include: the roles for historical fiction in representing the experiences of Black Britons; the appeal of the eighteenth-century for writers; the types of sources that can provide inspiration; the depiction of sensitive subject matter, such as slavery and sexual assault, in novels aimed at young people; and tips for aspiring authors of historical fiction. 

This is an intelligent transcript of the audio recording, which is publicly available. The interview took place on 25 April 2022. It was conducted as part of the ‘Reimagining the Restoration’ project, funded by the AHRC.