> About
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
James Winston Henry Carter (what are you sniggering at?) was born November 27, 1959. He can’t remember a single thing about it.
Alice is James’ strange but loveable cat. Or, more likely, James is Alice’s strange but loveable owner. When they first met in the pet shop, Alice the month-old-kitten jumped onto James’ shoulder. She still does this.
Mmmm...what else? James lives in Oxfordshire with his wonderful wife, Sarah, and two delightful daughters, Lauren and Madeleine, and not to forget the-cat-that-thinks-it’s-a-parrot.
Every time he visits a school, children ask ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ - to which he replies that he gets his ideas from the magic wood at the back of his house.
Seriously though, James believes there is a magic wood - your imagination - which takes things from your life, things you’ve done, seen, daydreamed, remembered - and turns these into poems. Of the poems in Time-Travelling Underpants, White Horse is based on a dream he had about the white horse carved into the chalkhill at Uffington. ‘Reindeer Haikus’ was inspired by the reindeer skeleton in the Natural History Museum in Oxford. The title poem came from watching Doctor Who. Some poems, like ‘The Big Things’and ‘Empty Bucket’, are true stories.
Catching an idea when it comes, James believes, is essential. This is why he has an envelope in his pocket at all times - and because he heard that Paul McCartney wrote the lyrics to Hey Jude on the back of an old envelope.
Always listening to music, James’ particular faves include The Beatles, Tom Waits, XTC and The Decemberists. James feels that songs are like little poems wrapped up in music.
Reading (not Reading!) is something that he has always been mad about. As a boy he loved comics and TinTin books.
Trains are where he does most of his writing. James visits Primary schools all over the UK, so catches many trains. If you see someone sat on a train writing a poem on an envelope, that could - just could - be him.
Electric guitars have been a lifelong passion. In fact, James takes his guitar (called Keith, of course) with him to play during his poetry performances. He likes doing this a) because it's great fun and b) it frightens the teachers a bit. He encourages children to bring along their air guitars and join in.
Reading (not reading!) is where James was born. He still can’t remember anything about it. He wonders if Alice remembers that time in the pet shop...
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––