Meet Newcastle-based Teacher and Writer Naomi Kelsey
Teacher and writer Naomi Kelsey tells Living North how one lesson inspired her new novel
By day Naomi is an English teacher at a secondary school in Newcastle. ‘I’ve been teaching English for 15 years now,’ she says. ‘Before that I studied English Literature at York University, so I’ve been migrating steadily northwards! I’m at my happiest when outside – before having my two children (now six and three), my husband and I would usually spend weekends mountain biking at Hamsterley or Kielder, or walking on the North East coast, or in the Cheviots, which is where we got married. When I’m not teaching, parenting, or writing, I’m usually reading or sewing, or going for a run – I was a reluctant runner for many years, but have managed to trick myself into thinking of it as “mobile reading”: the lure of audiobooks has made me actually enjoy it!’
Naomi has written for as long as she can remember. ‘I wrote a story called The Little Prince when I was about six, and was thoroughly miffed to discover some bloke had nicked my title… My grandma used to send me Young Writer Magazine, which is sadly no longer running, but was an absolutely wonderful resource – I rediscovered one of their anthologies recently at my parents’ house, and was delighted to discover it also includes the juvenilia of children’s author Tamzin Merchant and up-lit writer Libby Page. As an adult, I entered various short story competitions, but my breakthrough definitely came when I won a Northern Writers Award in 2014. New Writing North organised a networking event in London where I met my agent, Anne Williams, at which point I panic-finished a draft of my novel about Arbella Stuart and signed with her. Ultimately, despite some lovely feedback from editors, that novel didn’t manage to find a publisher, but a few false starts later, The Burnings found a home with HarperNorth for a two-book deal.’
She describes her writing style as ‘dark, feminist and spooky’, and says her biggest influences are the historical fiction of Emma Donoghue and Margaret Atwood. ‘I love the textures and sensory descriptions in their prose, and their heroines are always complex, with layers of secrets that unfurl over the course of the narrative.
‘I envisaged ‘The Darkening Globe’ as a 16th-century Laura Purcell-esque tale, so I like to think readers of The Silent Companions and The Shape of Darkness will find much to enjoy here. There’s always an element of magic in my books, whether it’s the witch trials of The Burnings, or the fortune telling of The Darkening Globe. I read a lot of fantasy as a child, and still do, especially Jan Siegel, Robin Hobb and Terry Pratchett, and I love drawing folklore and the supernatural into real world settings.’
The Darkening Globe is Naomi’s new mystery novel which she describes as ‘a dark psychological thriller set in Elizabethan London on the banks of the Thames'. ‘When Beatrice’s husband returns from exploring the New World, he comes home with unexpected company: a mysterious woman, and an enormous painted globe. As Hugh refuses to explain who their female guest is, Beatrice’s foreboding grows. The unwieldy globe now strikes her as sinister – a reminder of the world of secrets pervading her household. Then one night, the great, hulking globe begins to turn of its own accord. Terrifying new illustrations appear on its face – and when untimely deaths ensue, Beatrice is convinced that the drawings are connected. Desperate to prove she’s not paranoid, Beatrice risks everything to uncover the truth. What sinister force is behind these killings? What really happened on Hugh’s excursion to the Americas? Who is the strange woman who won’t leave her house? And on this otherworldly map of murders, who will be painted as the final victim?’
Several serendipitous coincidences gave Naomi her inspiration for this story. ‘I’d been wanting to write about an explorer’s wife, and was thinking about Bess Throckmorton, Sir Walter Raleigh’s wife,’ she says. ‘I found the idea of these women fascinating: left behind for much of the year while their husbands ventured off to undiscovered lands, and often exiled from court for the grave offence of marrying one of Queen Elizabeth’s favourites, they must have had to develop real independence and resilience in an age that often didn’t prize or cultivate those qualities in women. I was also planning a creative writing lesson for my Year 10s, looking at haunted objects – there had been a “Creepy Object” challenge on Twitter [now X], where various museums made the case for the strangest items in their collections, from plague doctor masks to supposedly possessed dolls. At this point, the National Trust magazine came through our letterbox, highlighting five of the ‘125 Treasures’ in their new book, including the Molyneux Globe at Petworth House. I saw the images on this 16th century globe, which include mermaids and sea monsters, and knew it was the perfect item to model the creative writing tasks to my students, so I made a slide titled Mrs Kelsey’s Unwritten Novel Idea, and came up with responses to the prompts I was giving them – and was hooked!’
Naomi was determined to write a story that’s eerie, twisty, and haunting. ‘I hope the globe is suitably frightening,’ she says. ‘I love ghost stories where the writer offers up both a rational and a supernatural explanation, allowing readers to interpret as they wish. It’s something I think Laura Purcell does brilliantly in her novels, such as The Corset.
‘Another theme I wanted to explore was early colonialism and its deeply problematic consequences. The Elizabethan era is often described as the Golden Age of exploration, but it was far from golden for those in the newly-claimed colonies, or those who stood in the colonisers’ way. The likes of Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh are usually characterised as dashing, handsome, bold – and yet they were responsible for some truly horrific acts while on their expeditions. I wanted to challenge this stereotype, and consider the damaging impact of their actions. Black Tudors by Miranda Kaufman was an absolute talisman in the writing of this book. It made me look again at a period in history I thought I knew well, and I hope readers also reflect on their view of the Tudor age, and which stories may not have been written in the history books.’
Naomi is looking forward to continuing to write and publish historical fiction. ‘Of course the ultimate dream would be to write full-time, but I do seem to get most of my good ideas from teaching (my current WIP was inspired by an A Level Literature lesson, and my debut was inspired by a lesson on Macbeth) so perhaps I should be careful what I wish for,’ she laughs. ‘On a slightly more cheesy note, I’d like to believe that my being a published author helps my students see that they, too, can become published authors, and that a career in writing or publishing doesn’t have to mean moving to London, which is what I thought when I was a teenager. If they can see it, they know that they can be it.’
What was the last book you read?
The Fates by Rosie Garland: a Greek myth retelling with a difference…
Do you have a favourite local bookshop?
This is like choosing between my children… We are really lucky to have Forum Books nearby, and I love their branches in Whitley Bay and Corbridge, and Barter Books in Alnwick is a paradise for book lovers. Plus I wrote the first pages of The Burnings in Waterstones Newcastle, so I will always have a soft spot for them (and the café!).
Which authors inspire you?
For magical prose that makes me eager to grab a pen and start writing, Emma Donoghue, Maggie O’Farrell, Katherine Arden, Margaret Atwood and Robin Hobb. For their wonderful books, but also their superlative juggling of motherhood and writing, Katherine Webber and Kiran Millwood-Hargrave.
