Student's publishing career takes flight with first children's book
By: Communications
Max Wrigley, a third-year Creative Writing and English Literature student at UEA, is spreading his wings in the literary world as he has today (Thursday 26 October) released a children’s book titled Sammy the Seagull.
Aimed towards children aged five to eight-years-old, Sammy the Seagull is about a hungry seagull craving his favourite food, which he is unable to find. He settles for something else, but it isn't good enough for him, especially when he has to learn an important lesson. Still hunting for his favourite food, the question is – will Sammy find it?
We spoke to Max to unpick the feathers of his new book and find out all about why he decided to dive into the world of children's literature.
What inspired you to write Sammy the Seagull?
MW: “Originally, I'm from Teesside and, after moving out of my parents’ house, I spent a year living in the coastal town of Hartlepool. I lived not that far away from the marina, which often attracted seagulls. After unconsciously observing seagull behaviour, I realised they were very much like children.
“In hindsight, the idea for Sammy came after a seagull decided it would be a great idea to land on my finger and steal a chunk of my freshly opened sandwich, and a separate event of watching two birds fight over a bit of bread on top of a streetlight from my lounge window. The legend, Stephen King, said ‘my idea about a good idea is one that sticks around’: the bread fight hadn't left my mind and that's when I thought of writing a book with lessons around ‘stealing is bad’ and the prospect of sharing.”
Why did you choose to take flight in the children's book genre?
MW: “I came to UEA in 2020 with the goal of graduating as a published author, though at the time, I was thinking more towards full-length novels. It wasn't until I started the New Forms: Writing in Collaboration module in 2021 and collaborated with illustrators from Norwich University of the Arts that I decided to go down the children's book route.
“Writing a full-length novel for publication before graduating sounded like a huge task on top of my university work – writing children's books sounded more manageable, given they are of a much less word count. I aim to write books which either have an educational aspect or underlying meanings connected to ongoing issues that people experience, with sexual orientation, gender identity and the benefits system being a few examples.”
How has your time at UEA helped you?
“I wouldn't have got as far as I have if I didn't come here to study at UEA. Writing children's books wouldn't have crossed my mind; I wouldn't have found out about the London Book Fair, which I attended earlier this year and had the privilege of talking to those in the literary industry; I wouldn't have discovered Stephen King's book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft or Andrew Cowan's The Art of Writing Fiction. And had I not done the foundation year, I wouldn't have been on Creative Writing and English Literature's first cohort of students!”
Any more creative projects on the horizon for you?
“I'm actually now in the process of writing the beginning of my first novel (which I'm submitting for my third-year dissertation in January) as well as my third children's book, which is the second in a two-part series.”
Sammy the Seagull is currently priced at £6.99 and is available to order online on Amazon and Waterstones. Book updates and future signing event details can be found on Max’s social media pages: @maxcwrigley16 (Instagram and X) and @maxwrigley16 (Facebook).