Lecture by Lynley Dodd

I went to a lecture by Lynley Dodd, one of the most popular children's book authors in New Zealand, at Auckland University this morning. The lecture was part of an event called the Distinguished Alumni Speaker Day.

Although I have read some of her famous picture book series, Hairy Maclary, and I like her illustrations and stories, I didn't know her background at all. So, I enjoyed today's lecture, in which Mrs Dodd talked mainly about her background and Hairy Maclary, including what kind of environment she grew up in, what kind of illustration she drew when she was working as a illustrator, how she came to publish her first picture book as a joint project, how Hairy Maclary was born, and what procedure she takes to produce a complete picture book.

I found that she is a competent entrepreneur as well as a talented picture book author. She says that the story and the pictures come up to her mind at the same time. She must have vast, unconstrained imagination. On the other hand, she also takes account of her books being published overseas, so she tries not to put too much Kiwiness into her stories. A funny thing is that those who don't want local specific things, which they don't understand, in the books are actually publishers, not readers!!