Haley, Gail E.

Wright, Christina

Charlotte, North Carolina

J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives

2008-01-18

1 audio file (1:21:00) : digital, MP3

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Gail E. Haley was a 68-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was born in Charlotte in 1939. She was educated at Richmond Professional Institute and the University of Virginia; and was employed as an author, illustrator, and college teacher.

Gail Haley, an author and illustrator of children's literature born in Charlotte, North Carolina, recounts her career in the 1990s. In this thirteenth of sixteen interviews, Ms. Haley recalls her work on Dream Peddler (1993). Ms. Haley describes how she was inspired to write this story while conducting research at the Library of Congress when she came across the story of John Chapman, the legendary Pedlar of Swaffham (a small town in Norfolk, England) who followed his dream and discovered a fortune in his own backyard. Ms. Haley was intrigued by the peddler's surname, which she connected with the selling of chapbooks, works of popular literature illustrated with simple woodcuts. She discusses the history of printing practices and chapbooks, and relates her decision to change the time period in her story to the 18th century when children's literature was emerging as a genre. In addition, Ms. Haley recalls the inspirations for her illustrations, which included the works of William Hogarth as well as images from original chapbooks. She also describes the techniques used to create the illustrations, including the utilization of a light box to transfer sketches onto canvas and layering paint on canvas to prevent stretching before painting the final image with acrylic paints. While discussing her illustrations, Ms. Haley highlights her usage of symbols and authentic historical illustrations to produce accurate depictions in order to create an enriched educational experience for children. Other themes in this interview include the importance of dreams, Ms. Haley's early collaboration with Francelia Butler, and her visit to England to research the town of Swaffham and the old London Bridge.

MP3 access copy created on ingest from WAV preservation master. Interview originally recorded on minidisc and digitized using a Digidesign 003 rack.

Authors
Illustrators
College teachers

Haley, Gail E.

Acrylic painting
Chapbooks
Children's literature
Folk literature
Illustrations

North Carolina--Blowing Rock
England--Swaffham

Interviews
Oral histories

1960-2010

Interviews with Gail E. Haley

Gail Haley papers, 1842-2005, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

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audio/mpeg

OH-HA0537