'Finding stories in History's margins'

 

“I always try to find a story in the margins of history, but I don't like to do too much that's improbable.” – Philip Kerr

 

Born in Scotland on Feb. 22, 1956 Kerr (who died in 2018) earned accolades for his “Bernie Gunther” historical thrillers primarily set in Germany during the 1930s, World War II and the Cold War.  He authored more than 30 books of fiction, several nonfiction works and a dozen children's books, including the Children of the Lamp series under the name P.B. Kerr.

 

Kerr started writing in middle school and in his lifetime was honored for his creative work by a number of British writing groups and organizations.  He also was a frequent contributor of essays to The Sunday Times and The Evening Standard, although his forte’ was historical fiction. 

 

Kerr said his best advice to historical fiction writers was to "immerse yourselves in the time period" about which you are writing. 

 

“History asks us to imagine ourselves in a period, but it's a very different situation when you're in that period and faced with those situations,” he said.  “The hardest thing is to write about people. First and foremost, you have to encounter their humanity. That is the only way you can make them live as characters on the page.”