Interview: Paul Lyalls

Paul Lyalls is the current writer in residence at the Roald Dahl Museum. 

This blog has been lucky to track down this whoopsy-splunkers writer, and he has kindly agreed to be interview by us!!! 

I hope you agree Paul is Phizz-Whizzing and Whoopsy wiffling for getting involved- and his answer are whizz-popping!

Photo Credit: Paul Lyalls

1) How did you get involved with The Roald Dahl Museum? 
RD appoint a writer each year.  This year they wanted a poet.  I applied and got it.  To get the job you had to write for both children and adults and also be published for both and be able to perform and workshop with children and adults.

 2) What is your favourite aspect of the Museum? 
I like the dinkyness and old worldlyness of the place.  I like the fact that it's a museum with a lot to read and what a good read it all is.  I like the fact that it is in the writers home town and that it is just a converted stables or some such thing, full of quirky bits and pieces of his life.  It's like he's just popped out for a Kit-Kat, and will be back in 15 minutes!
 
3) What is your favorite Roald Dahl work? That's a tough one. Maybe Matilda because she is such a heroine and ultimate best friend.  I like the Twits as well because of the originality of the humour and the situations.
 
4) Do you feel Roald Dahl has influenced your work at all? 
It's starting to, I'm taking to branching out in some of the themes and making some situations much more surprising and much more extreme which is what RD did. My latest Kids collection which only came out a month into the residency reflects his influence, particularly in poems like 'Two types of parents' and 'Heaven'.
 
5) You run workshops at the Museum, what does this involve?  
Part show, part writing exercise, aimed at adults and children.  I have been getting people to write poems and also I've spent time sitting in the chair writing poems to order from people wandering past on whatever they've wanted (Dreams,  turning six, Spitfires etc).  Also I am visiting schools in Buckinghamshire on behalf of the Museum. These involve performing whole school assembly shows  and visiting selected classes for focused writing workshop.
 
6) How to both Children & Adults react to Roald Dahl's work? How do they react to the your workshops? 
Everyone seems to love RD's work and the fact that I am poet for RD goes down a storm.  Adults and kids are in awe at my appointment. It's the champions league of the residency world! 
I don't want to be the one to say it, but everyone loves my workshops and work.  All the stuff I do is fun and funny from start to finish and adults and kids love my poems and performances. 


Paul will be sitting in Roald Dahl's chair again and writing poems for anyone on Sunday 12th Jan 11am to 3pm if you would like a poem written there and then, come along,  if you can't make it contact him here- see if you can arrange to tell him what you'd like a poem about and he'll write it in the chair for you.
You can also follow Paul on Twitter (@PaulLyalls) or have a click around his website.

Paul's latest books show that poetry is necessary for all ages! 'Catching the Cascade' (adults)& 'A Funny Thing Happened' (kids) can be found on Amazon and at most good bookshops (and probably a few indifferent ones too).
His latest collection "Do me a favour & favour" is new this year!  Available from The Roald Dahl Museum or The big Green Bookshop.

The Roald Dahl Museum & Story Centre

The Roald Dahl Museum & Story Centre, in Great Missenden Buckinghamshire, is an interactive, dream world dedicated to the promotion of Dahl's life, achievements and works. Central to the museum are Dahl's Children's Books, but it is also home to the 

Roald Dahl Archives. 

Photo Courtesy of Britain Magazine

 The museums was opened as a charity in 2001, stating its aim to "further the education of the public in the art of literature by the provision and maintence of a mseum and literature centre based on the workds of Roald Dahl"

This aim is realised through an extensive interactive collection, referencing Roald Dahl's Characters as well as his life. Discovering Dahl is made possible across all the floors of the museum, the Boy Gallery, the Solo Gallery and the Story Centre. 

Photo Courtsey of Hawkins Brown Architects

 The museum is set in a former Grade II coach house, with a courtyard guarded by the gates of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.
The museum includes three galleries, an archive, a café, a writer in residence studio, a shop, offices and interactive education spaces.

The Boy and Solo galleries details Dahl's History, whilst the Story Centre is home to the museums Writer in Residence: David Lyalls.

Snapshots of the Museum can be found on the website, and you can also take a virtual tour.

One of the main attractions of the museum is Roald Dahl's writing hut. When Dahl moved to Great Missenden in 1954 the shed at the bottom of his garden became his private study and writing area. Dahl would retreat to the hut twice a day, working on a very strict writing timetable. The hut was full of curiosities and notes from his imagination, however the space was off limits to anyone but Dahl. 

Photo Courtesy of London Calling

Thanks to a refurbishment project the Hut is now inside the museum, where it can be better preserved as well as enjoyed as you can sit in Roald Dahl's writing chair.  
 
Explore the hut here.

The Museum employs professional staff, has a board of Trustees and is supported by five Patrons.

Find out more about visiting here.

 

PREVIEW: The Roald Dahl Museum & Story Centre

Find out more about tomorrow's blogpost with this Phizz-Whizzing video: