Tanya Landman: It was a horrible period in US history and I really wanted to be honest about it - An interview with the winner of the Carnegie medal 2015

An interview with the winner of the CILIP Carnegie medal 2015 with Buffalo Soldier, her tale of Charlotte turned Charley, an ex-slave at the end of the American civil war

Tanya Landman: I’ve got shelves and shelves of books about the American civil war, about slavery and its aftermath, about guns and weaponry and cavalry training and drills. Photograph: Walker Books

Emily Drabble and Tanya Landman

Monday 22 June 2015  The Guardian

First of all how does it feel to have won the Carnegie medal with Buffalo Soldier?
Absolutely AMAZING. It’s the kind of thing you daydream about but never expect to actually happen. I’m in a state of shock.

When and where did the initial germ of the idea of writing this story about what happened at the end of American civil war come to you?

It’s difficult to pinpoint an exact time and place because it was all mixed in with the research for another book – my novel Apache, also set in the American west in the late 19th century, about a girl warrior determined to avenge her brother’s death. I think the point at which I realised the Apache tribes had been hunted down and forced on to reservations by Buffalo Soldiers many of whom were freed slaves - that was probably when the seed of the idea sprouted.

What kind of research did you have to do to write this book?
A huge amount of reading – I’ve got shelves and shelves of books about the American civil war, about slavery and its aftermath, about guns and weaponry and cavalry training and drills. You have to absolutely pack your head with information – it’s the foundation of the book (even though only a fraction of what you know actually finds its way on to the page). Then there comes a point at which you shut all the books and let your imagination take over. 
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