Barry Cunningham tells The Independent that he’s discovered “a new literary creation that may just fill the void left when J.K. Rowling’s outrageously successful” Harry Potter series publishes its final volume next month. Cunningham was the editor at Bloomsbury who pulled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone from the slush back in 1996 (is it truly only 11 years ago?).
Now, as managing director of Chicken House, Cunningham is singing the praises of his newest discovery, Tunnels, a “classic fantasy tale with a science fiction edge written by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams.” Tunnels features “a boy archaeologist who discovers a lost world under London by digging into tunnels beneath the city.”
Cunninghams says the best writing offers children a portal into another world. He cites classics such as Alice in Wonderland and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. “I knew from page one that Harry Potter was magic,” he said. “Digging into Tunnels gave me the same thrill, discovering a world of imagination just beyond our everyday lives. I’m always on the lookout for something that has a transforming imagination. Children love portals that start in the everyday world and use magic or wardrobes to take them somewhere else.”
“As a boy, I was obsessed with the idea you could dig a tunnel which would take you to another world, a mysterious door to another existence. All children believe the world is much more mysterious than adults let on. The idea of a world behind a world is a fantastically gripping idea,” he added.
British authors Gordon and Williams met while they were in college, and began writing the book together when Gordon lost his job as a banker in 2001. They originally self-published it with a limited print run, which sold out within a day in Gordon’s local bookstore.
Since his discovery of Harry Potter, Cunningham has built himself a reputation as one of the leading figures in children’s literature. His other stars include Cornelia Funke, the author of Inkheart, which is currently being adapted into a film starring Helen Mirren, and Kevin Brooks, who has recently been shortlisted for the Carnegie Awards for children’s writing.