Librarians who write!

I've lost count of the number of times people have said to me: "You should write a book!" Sometimes this is said after I have told a funny story, sometimes when they realise that I belong to not one but three book groups, but quite often it is said simply because I work in a library.

This got me thinking about how many librarians have actually written books. Let's start with real live librarians working in Christchurch City Libraries right now:

• Dylan Kemp is one of the Poets in Residence at a Christchurch community library. He has three published books of poetry to his name. Dylan is a poet who often focuses on relationships in his writing. In real life he speaks just like his poetry: thoughtfully, honestly and with kindness.
• Andrew Bell is our resident coastal poet. He has two poetry books and a book of short stories in our collection. Andrew takes situations and observations from life (and Andrew is very perceptive) and turns them into beautiful writing that makes you want to say: Yes This Exact Thing Has Happened To Me!
• Beaulah Pragg has the first of her Young Adult, Fantasy/Science Fiction novels - The Silver Hawk - in our collection. In a world of gender-role reversal set somewhere out there on "the rim", Beulah's imagination appears unstoppable - there is even a sequel in the offing.

But wait there's more. In the past, authors Sarah Quigley, Bill Nagelkerke, Dave Welch, Richard Greenaway and Margaret Mahy were all librarians working at Christchurch City Libraries. And internationally, well-known authors who have worked in libraries include: Philip Larkin, Anne Tyler, and Angus Wilson.

Sophie Divry, who wrote The Library of Unrequited Love, has a main character who (in a ninety page rant to a man who slept the night in her basement workplace) tells the story of her dead-end library job and her fantasy love-life for a customer. She has to have written this book in a library.

Librarians who have actually written and had books published know the hard yards that have had to be done to write a book, get it onto a shelf, and to have a hand reach out and choose it. They know best whether a library is a great place for an aspiring author to work.

As for me, I remain.....The Hand That Reaches Out!

List of Librarian Writers

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