Jun 30, 2026 · 28 min · 12 segments
In this episode we have a roar-some treat: our intrepid host Jerry Brotton journeys to the legendary Barbaric Archipelago with best-selling children's author and illustrator Cressida Cowell…
Cressida CowellGuest
Jerry BrottonHost
Does it, um, bear any passing resemblance, presumably when you were drawing it, were you thinking about the archipelago where you spent your, uh, childhood? Is this very different? W- t- give me a sense of, of the connections and the, the distinctions.
I'm writing a story about growing up with a villain with a hook, about flying, about a little island, and about a Never Land, yeah, going back to my own childhood.
So when I draw the map of the Isle of Berk, you know, there are bits of the real island of Little Collins Bay that are poking through, like, just like the map of the Never Land.
Um, so I'll start drawing the map, the Isle of Berk, um, and this is the, the, the first book.
The first books are set, and the first movie's actually are set, but movie is set on, on the Isle of Berk.
Let's talk about this, 'cause I'm fascinated that you've, you've referenced this.
Does it, um, bear any passing resemblance, presumably when you were drawing it, were you thinking about the archipelago where you spent your, uh, childhood? Is this very different? W- t- give me a sense of, of the connections and the, the distinctions.
I'm writing a story about growing up with a villain with a hook, about flying, about a little island, and about a Never Land, yeah, going back to my own childhood.
So when I draw the map of the Isle of Berk, you know, there are bits of the real island of Little Collins Bay that are poking through, like, just like the map of the Never Land.
Um, so I'll start drawing the map, the Isle of Berk, um, and this is the, the, the first book.
The first books are set, and the first movie's actually are set, but movie is set on, on the Isle of Berk.
Let's talk about this, 'cause I'm fascinated that you've, you've referenced this.
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