My First Time...with Megan Hunter

Megan Hunter was born in Manchester in 1984 and now lives in Cambridge with her young family. She has a BA in English Literature from Sussex University, and an MPhil in English Literature: Criticism and Culture from Jesus College, Cambridge. Her poetry has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and she was a finalist for the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award with her short story ‘Selfing’.

Megan’s first book The End We Start From is published by Picador in UK, has been optioned by publishers everywhere from Germany to Canada and the film rights have been snapped up by Benedict Cumberbatch's production company no less. We can't wait to see it!

Here's the blurb for The End We Start From:

In the midst of a mysterious environmental crisis, as London is submerged below flood waters, a woman gives birth to her first child, Z. Days later, the family are forced to leave their home in search of safety. As they move from place to place, shelter to shelter, their journey traces both fear and wonder as Z's small fists grasp at the things he sees, as he grows and stretches, thriving and content against all the odds.

This is a story of new motherhood in a terrifying setting: a familiar world made dangerous and unstable, its people forced to become refugees. Startlingly beautiful, Megan Hunter's The End We Start From is a gripping novel that paints an imagined future as realistic as it is frightening. And yet, though the country is falling apart around them, this family’s world – of new life and new hope – sings with love.

Describe the exact moment you decided to write your book.

It was a Saturday in July almost exactly two years ago – my husband took our children to the park and I had a couple of hours to write. I sat at the kitchen table and began.

What’s the one thing you wish you’d known before starting to write it?

To trust the book’s own logic and shape and size. I got the hang of this part-way through, but I suppose it would have been easier to know it from the start.

What’s your go-to procrastination method?

Tabs, tabs, tabs. The usual. I have to throw my phone to the other side of the room and use the Self Control programme on my laptop.