Ivory Boy by Tara Khan is shortlisted for the 2021 Author of Tomorrow, 12-15 years.

Ivory Boy: My story follows a boy, descending from a family of ivory poachers. Once aware of the trap this future was, until the killing of his brother by an elephant causes his mind to pollute with revenge. This then results in him diverting to the world of poaching, resulting in a perilous journey across the African savannah to seek his brother's killer, a raging bull elephant. This journey causes him to experience a roller coaster of emotions, while questioning his own beliefs and identity.

An Interview with Tara:

WNSF: What is your favourite book?

Currently 1984 by George Orwell. It was the most shocking novel I've ever read. I too felt as if I was being brain-washed by Big Brother, believing in his vision and way of controlling his people.

WNSF: Who is your favourite author? Or one who has inspired you and why?

Dr Suess. I grew up reading those books and was inspired by how although he created worlds which seemed very different from our own, he still managed to make them personal to the reader. Also, how he made each story so different from the next; a very different message shone through in each book. 

WNSF: What is your favourite subject at school? 

Physics, because I feel without understanding how the universe works, I will never appreciate how extraordinary it is. But there's something so thought-provoking about it, after every physics lesson I find myself thinking about how much we still have left to discover; and how world-changing those discoveries could be. 

WNSF: What does ‘adventure writing’ mean to you? Why did you choose to try your hand at an adventure story?

Adventure writing is something I have always been intrigued by, how an author details how a character reacts in the face of adversity with authenticity. I have never written an adventure story before, as I thought it was generic and structured, but now I realise how you can truly craft it to break the typical stereotypes. I attempted to do this in Ivory Boy, crafting an adventure with more focus on emotion rather than the physical experience.

WNSF: If you could ask an author anything, what would you want to know?

How do you find the motivation to keep on writing, even if you have a lack of confidence in your work? 

WNSF: Who would you consider one of your heroes and why?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, I believe she is inspiring because of how she is attempting to reform politics, and because of her activism and how she uses her voice and power admirably. 

WNSF: Where do you find inspiration for your stories?

Usually through my experiences, but sometimes I find them through documentaries. For example, Ivory Boy was inspired by the documentary When Lambs Become Lions. I would recommend it! Also, through regular cinema, I find that it is essentially the visual representation of words. Wes Anderson films are particularly poignant, simply because of how the characters can display a variety of emotions and each are surrounded by a world of their design. 

WNSF: What is the most adventurous thing you would like to do, or place you would like to visit and why?

I would like to go far out into space, until our world merely becomes a pale blue dot. It would put things into perspective. I would truly understand what Carl Sagan meant when he said our home is just "a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam." It is unlikely to happen, but just going to space in any context, leaving the confinements of our world would be so freeing. 

WNSF: If you could time travel, where would you go and why?

I would go very far into the future, to see Humanity become multi-planetary, to see us form alliances with alien species, to see us terraform planets. But that's only if we can get past climate change. 

WNSF: What three words would you use to describe your story?

Choice. Identity. Promise.