Boxgrove 88-year-old achieves dream career as a children's author

An 88-year-old woman from Boxgrove is proof that you should never give up on a dream, having recently written her sixth children’s book.
By Megan Baker
Published 6th Oct 2022, 16:33 BST
Updated 6th Oct 2022, 16:47 BST

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88-year-old Iris from Boxgrove is proof that you should never give up on a dream, having recently written her sixth children’s book.88-year-old Iris from Boxgrove is proof that you should never give up on a dream, having recently written her sixth children’s book.
88-year-old Iris from Boxgrove is proof that you should never give up on a dream, having recently written her sixth children’s book.

Lady Iris Watts said: “As a child I was someone who was happy with her own mind, I invented stories.

"When I was at primary school we used to have a lesson on a Wednesday afternoon to write compositions and mine were put in the cupboard and brought out on Friday afternoons when the teacher read them to the class.

"So, I was always a storyteller, you see.

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Iris's children's books.Iris's children's books.
Iris's children's books.

“Obviously with marriage and traveling and so on this all got suppressed.

“But when retirement came and I had more time, one day I suddenly thought I’ll get the typewriter out and see what comes out!”

The former creative writing teacher has previously published novels inspired by local history, including her series based on the protagonist Nicholas Peverell.

She was prompted to start writing children’s books due to her lifelong love of cats.

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Iris said: “Up in the Priory one day I thought I saw a black and white cat stroll across the graveyard and I thought, ah, I could write about Thomas and I could call him the

Priory cat who lives up in the Priory.”

Iris has regular carers from Chichester’s Home Instead and has found that this gives her independence and the time to write.

She said: “With the support Home Instead are delivering I can remain here at home and continue to enjoy my retirement.

"After all, at age 88 there’s lots more I want to do in life!”

You can find Iris’s novels on Amazon.

Related topics:Amazon