Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Eames.
Andrea, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was born in England when my mum moved back there for a while, but I am Zimbabwean, and lived there for nearly eighteen years under Mugabe’s regime in the 1990s. I was always passionate about writing and reading, particularly fantasy, and I wrote my first novel when I was fifteen years old. My parents had sent me to stay with my grandparents in England when the violence in Zimbabwe was at its height in 2000, and I occupied myself by writing a fantasy story. It was published in 2001 (and I have since re-edited and re-released it this year).
We moved to New Zealand in 2002 to escape the political troubles, and I studied English and creative writing at university before working as an editor at a publishing house. I went back to school to do my MFA in Creative Writing, and wrote The Cry of the Go-Away Bird, a novel based on my experiences in Zimbabwe, for that MFA, which was published by Penguin Random House in 2011 shortly after my move to Texas. Since then, I’ve just kept writing! I published another book set in Zimbabwe, The White Shadow, which was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2012, as well as two collections of poetry, a YA novel (Heartbreak), the first in a kids’ series about the Renaissance Faire, Rennies, and the first two books in a kids’ fantasy series called The Lost Land Chronicles. A third book about Zimbabwe, The Strength of a Fish, will be released this winter.
As well as writing, I work as a fairy character at Sherwood Forest Faire, and perform at events and children’s parties. I book events where I can sell my children’s books in character. I am passionate about getting kids to love stories and reading, and bringing as much magic to the experience as I can.
I also offer writing coaching and editing services for kids and adults.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I want people to come away from my work touched by a little magic, whether they’re reading my poetry or my novels. My books have been described as sad, magical, and haunting. I am fascinated by the spirit world in Zimbabwe, and my novels, although they deal with real places and historical events, also touch on this darker, more mysterious influence as well. I love magic realism. The children’s books I write have been compared to works by Neil Gaiman—they are whimsical, strange, a little dark in places, and vividly imaginative. My poetry tends to be very confessional, and deals a lot with the feminine—what it means to be a woman, a lover, a daughter, a mother.
What do you think it takes to be successful as an artist?
Success is a loaded word for me, because I have spent so much of my artistic life feeling like a failure for not doing more, achieving more, writing more. It’s something with which I’ve struggled since I was little. I am slowly learning to change my definition of success to mean joy and pride in my work—happy productivity—rather than a never-ending list of accolades and awards. Because of this, I would say that focus on the process rather than the finished product is the essential quality needed to live a joyful life as an artist, and, to me, a joyful life has come to be my definition of success.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can find all my books on Amazon.com, and at bookstores around the world, and you can find out more about me and my work at www.andreaeames.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.andreaeames.com
- Email: andrea.eames@gmail.com
- Instagram: @andrea_eames
- Facebook: facebook.com/andreaeeamesauthor
- Twitter: @impossiblecat
- Other: www.acatofimpossiblecolor.com
Image Credit:
Michael Falgoust, Sandi Johnson, Robert Self.
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