PHOTO: V. E. Schwab | Photo credit: Jenna Maurice
Exploring Identity And Humanity Through Fiction
V. E. Schwab discusses themes of monstrosity, grounded fantasy, and her personal inspirations, offering insights into her creative process and timeless storytelling across all age categories.
V. E. Schwab stands as one of the most remarkable and inventive voices in contemporary literature. With a body of work spanning over twenty books, she has carved an indelible mark across middle grade, young adult, and adult fiction. Whether through the morally complex “Villains” series, the vibrant and intricately woven “Shades of Magic” universe, or the hauntingly beautiful masterpiece The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Schwab’s stories resonate with an unmistakable blend of humanity, wonder, and the unshakable belief that worlds—both strange and familiar—are just waiting to be explored.
In this candid and illuminating interview, Schwab opens up about creativity and the deeply personal origins of some of her works. It is a privilege to share this interview with a writer whose fiction doesn’t simply tell stories, but challenges the very fabric of reality. Readers, enjoy this glimpse into the thoughts of an author who continues to redefine what storytelling can achieve.
V. E. Schwab crafts stories that transcend boundaries, weaving intricate worlds filled with humanity, magic, and emotional resonance beyond compare.
How did your background in medieval art and book design influence the way you build your stories and worlds?
Full transparency: I’m not entirely sure my degrees have actually come in handy–I changed my undergraduate major six times, because it turned out what excited me most was simply the idea of learning, the narrative behind the subjects, and I got my Masters while on deadline for three separate books. But I will say that both required an attention to detail that I’ve put to use in everything I do. An understanding that stories exist on multiple layers, from the initial impact of, say, a cover, or work of art, to the intricate context beyond the book or frame.
“My greatest goal as an author is to make you doubt your reality.” – V.E. Schwab
What draws you to the theme of monstrosity, and how do you approach writing morally grey characters like Victor Vale?
I think what I’m most drawn to is the binary concept of monstrosity and humanity, the implication that there are hard lines instead of porous boundaries. None of my characters are morally rich or morally bankrupt, because I want them to feel human, and humans don’t exist at either end of the spectrum. Instead, each of us not only exists, but is continually moving, along the line.
Many of your stories span time and reality—how do you keep the balance between grounded emotion and fantastical elements?
All of my fantasy is deeply grounded in reality. I like to stay as close as I can get, so that instead of convincing a reader that magic or power or supernatural elements exist only in the pages of a book, I get them to wonder if maybe, just maybe, it’s out here in the world with them. That it’s not a matter of whether the strange and wondrous and monstrous exist, but whether you’ve noticed them.
How do you manage writing across multiple age categories without confining your stories to a specific audience?
Truthfully, I never feel confined, because I’m writing for a different version of myself, but always for myself. I might be writing for 12-year-old me, or 17-year-old me, or present-day me. But it’s always me. My priorities at those times might change, but my underlying identity doesn’t.
Do you have a particular memory or place that inspired The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue?
I remember vividly going on a hike in the Lake District, and sitting in the dewy grass overlooking the rolling hills, with not a human in sight, and thinking about the difference between lonely and alone. It wasn’t a detail, but a feeling, a kind of weary gladness, an optimistic grief that’s hard to explain. But it became the source of Addie. For Bury Our Bones, I remember the grief in Addie’s wake, and the fear that I’d never fill the void, and the precipice that sensation carved in me. Little did I know, that same grief would create Alice.
What’s the most surprising response you’ve received from a reader about one of your books?
That it changed them. Sometimes in small ways. Sometimes in big. That it’s stayed with them. It’s surprising, because I never take it for granted, but I’m grateful every single time. (Even better is when they name a pet or child after someone I’ve created, or tattoed a word I invented.
How has living between Edinburgh and Denver shaped your perspective as a writer?
I’ve always been tethered to place. It shapes my tone, my writing, my mental landscape. Denver and Edinburgh are so wildly different, but both speak to me creatively. Both have vast swathes of nature, big sea or big sky, places where the world feels big and I feel small inside it, and few things help me dream as much as that.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to aspiring authors trying to find their voice across genres and formats? Write for an audience of one: you. Write what you want to write. Write what you want to read. Write what excites you, and inspires you, and keeps you entertained, because you will be its first reader, and its biggest fan, and you will never fully control how well the story does, but you can control how happy you are with it. Write like that, and you’ll never regret a word.
