Manon Steffan Ros
About Author
Carnegie-winning author Manon Steffan Ros tells ReadingZone about her new novel, Me and Aaron Ramsey.
Manon was born in Snowdonia and worked as an actress before becoming a writer. She writes for adults and children and has won the Wales Book of the Year for her adult fiction as well as winning the Carnegie Medal in 2023 for her young adult novel, The Blue Book of Nebo. She has also won Eisteddfod and National Theatre Wales awards for her drama writing. Manon lives in north Wales with her sons.
Interview
Me and Aaron Ramsey (Firefly Press)
May 2024
From Carnegie-winning author Manon Steffan Ros comes a new novel, Me and Aaron Ramsey, about family, resilience and of course, football. We spoke with Manon to find out about writing in her native Welsh, winning awards and what she enjoys exploring in her novels.
Read a chapter from Me and Aaron Ramsey
Q&A with Manon Steffan Ros
"I don't think you have to be a football fan to enjoy this book - it's really about families, and what it feels like
when life turns out differently from what you'd hoped and planned for."
1. How have you enjoyed life as an author since your award-winning book, The Blue Book of Nebo?
It's been really wonderful! So many opportunities have come up for me since The Blue Book of Nebo was published, and I'm very privileged- writing brings me great joy and I enjoy it so very much, so the fact that people are enjoying my stories mean a great deal to me. I'm working on new ideas now, which is my favourite part of the process.
2. What is your new book, Me and Aaron Ramsey, about and is it very different from what you've written before?
I've been writing books in Welsh for 18 years, and there have been so many different genres and for all age ranges too. Me and Aaron Ramsey is a middle grade book about football, and about family, and about what happens when those things start to go wrong.
It's quite different from the other books I've had published in English, but in Welsh, I have many middle grade books that have the same sort of themes and atmosphere as Me and Aaron Ramsey.
3. Why did you decide to make Aaron Ramsey your footballing star in this story?
I think he's a great player! And he always seems like such a kind, warm man. I watched many interviews with him when I was writing the book, and was always impressed by how normal and self-effacing he was, considering how brilliant he is on the football field.
I always translate my own work, and more or less everything I've written
has been in Welsh originally.
4. Do you always write your books in Welsh first? And how important is it to you as a writer to retain and reflect Welsh themes and settings in your books?
Yes, Me and Aaron Ramsey appeared originally in Welsh. In fact, it came after another middle grade novel about football - Fi a Joe Allen (Me and Joe Allen)! I always translate my own work, and more or less everything I've written has been in Welsh originally. I've been trying recently to write something original in English, but I admit I'm struggling to find my voice!
I don't really think about the Welsh themes and settings in my work - I write what feels right and familiar to me, and as I'm Welsh and have always lived in Welsh, that is what comes out of my pen.
5. Can you tell us about your narrator, Sam, and how his voice developed in this story?
Sam is a young man that's obsessed with football, and particularly with Aaron Ramsey, his favourite player. He and his friends spend a lot of their time playing football, watching football and talking about football, and Sam's father shares the same interest. But I don't think you have to be a football fan to enjoy this book - it's really about families, and what it feels like when life turns out differently from what you'd hoped and planned for.
6. Does Sam's passion for football reflect your own passion for the sport? Are the details in the book about players and matches based on true events?
I do love football and find it's a great theme for a book, because people are so passionate about it and it can be the cement that hold relationships together. I've mixed up truth and fiction in this book, so some matches and players are real and some are made up. I watched a lot of old matches on YouTube as research for this - It was joyful!
"I wanted this book to reflect the fact that children and young people often know better than adults
about a great deal of things, and are, in my opinion, wiser."
7. Why did you want to explore a father and son relationship in this book, including difficulties around communication as well as the shared passion of football?
I'm always very interested in relationships between parents and their children, especially at that time when a child is very nearly an adult, and start seeing their parents as normal, flawed human beings that have faults and insecurities and dreams that may never come true.
I wanted this book to reflect the fact that children and young people often know better than adults about a great deal of things, and are, in my opinion, wiser. Adults have a lot to learn from children!
8. You also explore the effect the depression of a parent can have on a family; how did you research this, and how did you work to keep the story positive, despite these family difficulties?
I did some research by reading books and chatting with people who had experience of this, and it was often quite tough and upsetting. It's not uncommon and it can be very difficult for the whole family. But I did want hope to always be present, because it's what guides us through when times are tough.
"I think that there's an unspoken belief that in order to be a success, you have to be able to
read and write perfectly"
9. Literacy is also a key thread, as we learn that Sam's father is illiterate. Is it important for boys to hear they are not failures if they struggle to read?
Yes, and I think it's part of a wider problem which is the misapprehension that only people who find it easy at school can be clever or successful. There is so much stigma around illiteracy - people don't really talk about it.
But I think that there's an unspoken belief that in order to be a success, you have to be able to read and write perfectly, and be good at maths, and be able to answer exam questions in a way that will get you good marks. It's just not true in my opinion, and I know of plenty of people far, far cleverer than me, who have struggled with literacy, or couldn't get on at school.
10. Given your passion for football, we have to ask - who do you follow? And what else do you enjoy doing to relax when you're not writing - or going to matches!
Wales- of course! And Liverpool. I actually have You'll Never Walk Alone tattooed on my foot!
I relax by walking, preferably with my family. I have three children and I love the chats we have when we're out in the mountains or on the beach, and there are no screens to distract us!
Me and Aaron Ramsey
The Blue Book of Nebo
