Anne Ursu, author of Not Quite a Ghost
Middle Grade Literature Category, sponsored by Education Minnesota
Each week leading up to the 37th annual Minnesota Book Awards, we are featuring exclusive interviews with our finalists. You can also watch the authors in conversation with their fellow category finalists here.
What inspired you to write this book – or inspired you while writing it?
I came down with a sudden and debilitating illness my senior year of high school, and eventually got a diagnosis of what is unfortunately called chronic fatigue syndrome. The experience of having a chronic illness that is incapacitating while also barely acknowledged as a real illness is something I’ve always wanted to write about, but couldn’t find my way in. Then kids started getting Long COVID, and figuring it out felt more urgent.
My problem was always that fantasy generally requires kids being able to get out of bed, so how could I possibly write a story about a character who couldn’t actually have an adventure? The answer was in horror, where bad things happen to you that are completely out of control, and no one will believe you if you tell them about it.
What is one detail you wanted to include in this book, but couldn’t find a place for?
I had a number of my own medical experiences that I tried to put in the book but couldn’t because they did not seem believable!
Tell us about someone (whose name isn’t on the cover!) who proved instrumental to the creation of this book.
I truly wouldn’t have been able to do this if not for my husband encouraging me the entire way. It is by far my most personal book, and also one that has a lot of emotional baggage for me. Part of the experience of this illness is that it’s been ignored and even mocked by both the general public and the medical establishment. So the book’s reception was awfully fraught for me; what if no one believed me? What if no one cared?
Please tell us something about yourself that is not widely known. (It doesn’t have to be about the book in question – or even about your writing at all!)
I used to have a rather niche but popular Minnesota Twins blog.
Share your thoughts about the role and value of libraries.
I don’t think I would be a writer today without the Walker Library. My mom took me there every Saturday when I was growing up, and I just inhaled all of the books on their shelves. Libraries gave me a place where I felt at home, and I am not alone. A library is the soul of a community.
Anne Ursu is the author of the acclaimed novels The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy, The Lost Girl, Breadcrumbs, and The Real Boy, which was longlisted for the National Book Award. She is the recipient of a McKnight Fellowship Award in Children’s Literature.