Meet Frances Durkin
Today, it is a joy to welcome Frances Durkin for a chat! I first met Frankie when ‘The Histronauts An Egyptian Adventure’ won the NSTBA Information Category in 2018. This series of history based adventures quickly became favourites in school, combining adventure, history and a graphic novel approach and making the adventures both accessible and enjoyable. There are four books in this series- apologies that ‘A Greek Adventure’ is missing from the photos (I have lent it someone)- each supporting an area of the curriculum. Many thanks to Frankie for answering my questions.
1. Your ‘Histronauts’ series make history accessible and fun, allowing children to enjoy the benefits of a great story with plenty of historical detail. Did you enjoy history lessons at school?
Thank you so much. We did set out to make the books as accessible as possible while conveying loads of information and being fun to read. I think it’s so important to nurture curiosity about the past at a young age. I really enjoyed history as a child, but I was home educated so I didn’t quite have the conventional school experience of history lessons. I was a voracious reader and I worked through so many books on different subjects. I also had the advantage of living in an area that was full of historical places to visit, and I think it was the sheer number of day trips that really made the greatest impact. York was always a favourite place to go and the smell of the Jorvik Viking Centre (if you know, you know) is really evocative even today. Grace (Cooke) and I visited it when we were researching our Histronauts book about the Vikings and it brought back so many childhood memories
I also used to develop obsessions with certain subjects and would devour as much as I could about that one thing. My first biggest passion was ancient Greece, so it was amazing to revisit something I once knew so well for the latest Histronauts book.
2. If time travel were possible, which period of history or which historical event would you most like to visit?
Oh, that’s such a good question! There are lots of events that I’ve written about that I would love to see with my own eyes. It would have made my PhD a lot easier if I could have just popped back to France in 1095 to see the crowd’s reaction to Pope Urban II announcing his idea for what we now call the First Crusade. And I would love to watch the craftsmanship that went into building somewhere like York Minster with its beautiful stonework and amazing stained-glass windows.
There are also lots of people I’d love to sit and chat with. Can you imagine sitting down with Marie Curie or Alan Turing and just asking them about their work when they had no idea about the impact that they would go on to have on the world?
But I would definitely only want to visit and not to live in the past. I love hot, running water and the internet far too much to stay.
3. If you could change one thing at any point in history, what would it be?
Eek! Where to start? I don’t know! Is it arrogant of me to want to try to do something that made an impact for the good? But I have no idea what I would choose. I could stop a war. But why just that war? Or save people from a catastrophe. But why that particular catastrophe? Or prevent global warming. But which one thing would do that? As a historian I only hope that I can share the information about the past that stops people from repeating the same terrible mistakes.
4. Grace Cooke illustrates the books wonderfully, bringing both characters and setting to life. How did you come to work together?
Isn’t she amazing?! I used to work with her sister and when I was creating some education resources and looking for an illustrator, she suddenly said ‘My sister can draw’. So, it was meant to be. And it’s always important to point out that we are co-creators of The Histronauts. Once we met and started sharing ideas, that first idea for education resources turned into The Histronauts books. That’s because of her amazing creativity. We make a great team and it’s a pleasure to work with her!
5. Richard III (I am a huge fan!) needs someone to write an excellent, child-friendly novel about him. Would you like to do this and if not Richard III, which historical figure would you choose to write a novel about?
That’s a very interesting question! And I would definitely read a novel about Richard III, but I don’t think I would be the right person to write it. I like to look for more unusual narratives and I think there’s so much room for looking at subjects outside of the monarchy or ruling classes of any particular time period. There will always be new information about, or new ways to interpret the histories of kings and queens, and there are amazing historians doing exactly that right now. But I want to share the forgotten or hidden stories that get lost when we focus on a handful of individuals.
6. What can we expect from you next? Are there more adventures for the Histronauts on the way or are you working on something else?
I have two new books out with b small in 2023 but I’m not sure if I can shout about them yet. You’ll know about it when I can. There is also talk of doing more with The Histronauts and I can’t wait to work with Grace again.
7. And lastly- and most importantly according to my niece- what is your favourite cake?
All the cake! Any cake! Actually, I’m not a particular fan of lemon drizzle. But one of the great advantages of being a historian is the wonderful range of tea shops in museums, so cake is always a very big part of my research trips.
Twitter: @HistoriaFrankie
Instagram: @historiannextdoor
Thanks very much, Frankie! I can’t wait to find out more about your new books- and I’m very excited to think that the Histronauts will be off on their adventures again!
You can read my review of The Histronauts: An Egyptian Adventure here.
