The fifth and final interview in the series is with Annabel Pitcher, author of My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, who tackled the death penalty, guilt and retribution in her latest book Ketchup Clouds. Interview by Isla Ratcliff, who won an Amnesty protest song award for her composition about the death penalty.
Did you always want to write for young people?
Yes, when I wrote my first book, I didn't think about who I was writing it for, I just hoped it would find an audience. But since I had worked with teenagers and in schools, as an English teacher, and I read a lot of young adult fiction I suppose I was naturally interested in that sort of writing. I had seen how much books inspired young people and how excited they got when they really loved something, like Twilight, and it reignited my passion for books and stories and I thought, I want to have a go at this.
Did you set out to write about the death penalty?
The death penalty came fairly late on in the writing process actually. The first thing I wanted to do was write a novel about guilt. That really came first, the story about a central character, Zoe, caught in a love triangle between two boys – Aaron and Max, one of whom she ends up killing and so is carrying around this guilt. I like to explore themes in a larger, cosmic way and that's when I came up with the idea of making other characters in the book feel guilty about various things they have done; so there's a mother who feels guilty about something she has done and a sister who feels guilty. But I still felt that something was missing, that it was lacking an emotional punch. Then it occurred to me that Zoe could write to a man on death row confessing the secret, then that brings guilt in in another way. So actually the guy on death row came much later in the process, but he was the key really, that's when the story really took off.
What sparked your interest in the topic of the death penalty originally?
I had the experience when I was growing up of writing to a man on death row, I got involved in a scheme set up by Amnesty International when I was 18 and I could use all the kinds of research that I had done myself and I could incorporate all the kind of anger I felt about the death penalty, and all the passion of how I felt that it was very wrong, and bring those in to the book and so it became something very special.
Did you base the website on which she finds the man in death row on a real website?
It's based on a number of websites. It really is surprisingly easy to find the contact details for someone on death row, you sort of imagine they're going to be cut off from the world, but you just google it and loads of different websites come up. It was based on my own experience really, I wrote to a man on death row, when I was 18 and I used that more than anything else really. I had been to listen to a talk by a nun organised by Amnesty and I felt really inspired to do something, to offer these men some sort of human companionship and compassion so I started to correspond with this man at death row. So a lot of the book was based on my own experience, though it wasn't all a confessional thing – I didn't actually kill anyone when I was at school.
What's more important to you, producing a work of art or delivering a political message?
That's a very interesting question. I think the thing that's most important to me is to tell a decent story. As a writer that has to come first. With this book, it had to work on the level of the love story and the reader has to be gripped by that predominantly, but when you have the reader you can bring in other things. I want the reader to care about issues of guilt and the death penalty, but I think they can only care about those things if they already care about the characters, so first and foremost it's the art, but the two have to be combined.
Isla Ratcliff is the winner of the lyric section of Amnesty Protest Song award with a song about Troy Davis who was on death row for almost 20 years. To find out more about this year's awards visit www.amnesty.org.uk/youthawards
Inspired by the Amnesty teen takeover to get involved? Here are 10 ways to stand up for human rights with Amnesty
1. Inspired to write about human rights? Write an article or song lyrics and enter our Youth Awards…
2. If you are a photographer, performer, or if you're already an Amnesty activist or fundraiser find out about the awards - you can win too
3. Save lives with your phone. Join Pocket Protest and we'll text you with urgent actions
4. Watch an Amnesty youth group in I Talk Out Loud and find out how you can set one up in your school
5. Take action right now – find out the most important thing we're asking you to do today
6. Read a book or watch a film with a human rights theme – check out our recommendations
7. It's official - cakes are a great way to stand up for human rights. Raise money and awareness by holding an AmnesTea
8. Sign up for email, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram for the latest news and actions to take
9. Invite an Amnesty speaker to visit your school and give an assembly or lesson
10. Join us – for £5 a year you can become a youth member of Amnesty
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