On Friday 8th May 2009 Shelley Instone interviewed the prolific children's writer, Kaye Umansky about the publication of her book, Pongwiffy, Back on Track. The Armadillo review is here. Part of a series this title celebrates the twenty-first anniversary of the publication of the first Pongwiffy book. Kaye discussed at great length the world of Pongwiffy and the underlying themes she uses in order to create it.
Through the course of the interview Kaye revealed her hopes and ambitions for Pongwiffy and the importance of the relationship that she felt should exist between writer and readers.
How did the idea for your character, Pongwiffy materialise?
Well, I am always writing for the child I was and the child I still am inside. Pongwiffy started her life as one line in a song because the first book I wrote was a book of songs called Phantasmagoria. I divided the songs up into three categories so children could present them in assemblies - they were ghosts, myths and legends and space. We were going to have a witchy section but at that time there was an anti-witch thing going on in schools. They didn't want authors coming into schools to talk about anything with a witch theme. It was all quite fierce! The witch material had to be taken out of the book anyway as there was not enough room for it. I'd written one song called the witches photograph and it comprised a whole load of witches queuing to have their photographs taken. I wanted a smelly witch so I looked up smell in my thesaurus and found 'Pong' and 'wiffy'. I just put the two together and liked the name. I thought I would write a few lines about her. I wasn't published so it was really for my own amusement! Then she just came alive and that was the first Pongwiffy.
Have the basic concepts of Pongwiffy remained the same over the last twenty-one years?
I think Pongwiffy has changed quite a bit and I think I have become a better writer because the books are part of a series. Luckily, I have had the chance to do some re-writing. I had to take out loads of apolitically correct stuff such as references to gypsies, smoking-genies and cigars! Also body image stuff. Jokes that I thought were hilarious at the time are not so funny now. It was off the wall silly stuff that didn't work (partly because I was not a good enough writer) that has come out. I'm terribly self-critical!
Can you tell us about the process you go through when you write a Pongwiffy book?
Well, I have a vague idea of the story in my head but it is only when the characters come alive that I can hear their voices as they chat away! I never really have a synopsis. I just write things on the back of envelopes. Often, the characters are competing against one another for my attention. They just muscle their way in, even if I don't want them to! I am always trying to control this vast cast, which is ludicrous, but they all want to be in the book! Sometimes, I have to try and keep them out!
Do you like your own books?
Not as much as I would like to! I get half way through writing one and I think it's not good enough and I have to rewrite it, which involves tying up the loose ends and tightening up the plot. The vision in my head is never quite captured on the page. I always want it to be that bit tighter that bit funnier; that bit more accessible. I'm a perfectionist!
Who has your writing been influenced by?
I have gods that I worship! People like Richmal Crompton. I love the Adrian Mole books and when I was a child it was Molesworth and Jennings. I was always drawn to the theatre, fantasy or funny books. I think all three exist in Pongwiffy as there is often a theatrical production or a competition happening. It has to be something that is being staged! In theatrical terms, I'm thinking of Pamela Brown's The Swish of the Curtain. I loved E. Nesbit for magic and humour. Those are the benchmarks that I aspire to, but am never as good as. The book that is in my head never ends up on the page!
Although Pongwiffy is renowned for her poor standards of hygiene and unkempt appearance, she is both resourceful and resilient in matters such as organising the witch Olympics. Do you deliberately intend for Pongwiffy's unconventional appearance and domestic habits to be interpreted as a message to the reader on how not to be afraid to be different?
Well, she's a witch of action. When I created her I started off with her smell but over the years that has faded into the background. I don't like complete gross-out humour, it doesn't make me laugh. She just happens to be smelly and she's proud of it! I don't know what she smells like but she doesn't care. So in that sense, it is absolutely a message to the reader but one that I never really intended! She's kind of like the teacher that you half-hate and half-love. I'm very fond of her because she's always in amongst the thick of it. These days the look of people seems so important, in fact, it is too important but not to Pongwiffy!
Wordplay such as the O'Lumpicks instead of Olympics alongside rhymes and odes remains an integral feature of the Pongwiffy series. Why does word-play interest you and is your enthusiasm for it a conscious effort in engaging the reader's attention?
Absolutely! I love word-play because it gives the reader something to think about. The books that I read have to suck me in and conjure up a world that I would like to live in. It's really important to find ways in which to engage with the reader. If readers like the world that I have created, my hope is that they will return to it and happily stay there for the whole series.
Your use of irony is particularly relevant regarding the character of Sharkadder, despite her efforts to try and be beautiful it is perhaps somewhat obvious to the reader that she isn't, as her use of cosmetics and perfume are rather over the top! This type of ironic humour pervades your Pongwiffy books however there is always a danger that the reader may not understand the joke. How carefully do you formulate your jokes and how important is it to forge a partnership with your reader that avoids talking down to them or laughing over them?
The thing with Sharkadder is that she tries to do the best with what she's got. She thinks she's glamorous and she is…for a witch! I don't set out thinking of a certain way to write. The way I do it is very haphazard. I start off with a character with a dilemma and the jokes tend to come as I go along. Once you have the characters talking in your head the jokes come naturally. They just say what you expect them to say because they are real to me. They say things and I just write them down. I test my jokes out on my husband and my daughter. I think it's important not to patronise. The Richmal Crompton books have very sophisticated vocabulary and concepts and that's what I aspire to. If children don't understand something or don't know a word they'll ask! I don't think you should simplify vocabulary. I think children should be stretched. This also applies to humour.
Pongwiffy has a complex relationship with food and is constantly tempted by it! However, your latest book sees Pongwiffy confront the dangers of her bad diet and inadequate exercise regime! Is this recognition of the big issues affecting children of today?
It is actually! But it is more to do with me. I have a terrible relationship with food. I love all the wrong things! Her equivalent of skunk stew for me would be high fat cheese, red meat … all the things that are bad for you. I'm not big on exercise but I know I should be! In my latest book, Pongwiffy does learn a bit more about trying to be healthy. All the witches are a bit better for the training they put themselves through despite giving into temptation. Let's face it - if you go on a crash diet you'll end up pigging out! I'm trying to convey how we are all only human and the problems that can occur through having unreal expectations.
Is Grandwitch Sourmuddle's involvement with the media regarding the witch Olympics and the return of Scott Sinister a representation of modern society's obsession with celebrity?
It is a bit scary but it's just a story and things creep in as characters and themesvdevelop. I think I write to adapt to children and their worlds.
In group settings, such as the witch meetings, Hugo and the rest of the familiars are treated by the witches as subordinates. However, on an individual level it is noticeable that Pongwiffy and the other witches would find it hard to function on a day-to-day level without their good counsel. Are you subverting the role of animals such as Hugo or are you conveying something more profound to the reader on the importance of them?
The relationship between the witches and their pet familiars is a bit like adults and children. Children tend to know when adults want to be left alone. But the relationship between adults and children changes and comes into its own on a one-to-one level. I love animals and I thought it would be nice for the witches to have one each. Also, the animals do tend to resemble their witches both physically and personally!
Do you think that the comforting advice of Hugo the hamster in relation to Pongwiffy's domestic trials and tribulations is perhaps a representation of how the narrative voice may wish to covertly assist the reader in their own daily dilemmas?
That is very interesting and might have crept in without me even knowing. It could be true! Hugo is very important to Pongwiffy and she could not function without him. In fact, she is very dependent on him. But yes, he is a sounding board.
Sharkadder and Pongwiffy have a love/hate friendship, Sharkadder spends a lot of her time telling Pongwiffy off! Why did you create this kind of dynamic between them?
For me, the relationship is just such a girl thing! It's a bit like what happens to girls in the playground: one day someone is your best friend and the next they aren't. My own daughter went through all of that. When I talk in schools I often ask about friendships and the girls always say that they have said or done awful things to one another and that it feels like you're been stabbed in the back. Boys might have a fight but I don't think they are so verbally cruel. I love the fact that Pongwiffy and Sharkadder are such opposites but the main thing is that they always forgive each other.
Pongwiffy's broom often acts like a naughty child as Pongwiffy cannot always make it conform to her wishes and it appears to have a mind of its own? Was this a conscious development or a product of spontaneous writing?
I've never really thought of it like that! To me the brooms are just so odd. I got to know them a bit better in the second book. They didn't really have personalities in the first book, they were just broomsticks. But they muscled their way in and wanted personalities of their own. I'm not sure who they are really! They have their own personalities and language. I don't know why I did that because the books had so much going on in them already. The cast was full!
Your Pongwiffy books have a timeless appeal. Do you have plans to write more in the series and what ambitions do you have for the characters?
Well, I have written one for World Book Day that will be on sale next year. I'm so excited and thrilled about that. It was half the length (15000 words) of a Pongwiffy book so to get a decent plot in was quite a challenge but I really enjoyed it. Whenever I write a Pongwiffy book it's like putting on a pair of comfy slippers because I know the world so well. I slip back into it so easily. I do have ambitions for Pongwiffy - a film would be good but I think it would have to be animated. I won't hold my breath!
Thank you Kaye for such an insightful interview.
You are very welcome.
Shelley Instone is a reviewer for Armadillo and is currently finishing an MA at the National Centre for Research in Children's Literature at Roehampton University in London.