We're delighted to have George Ivanoff's "Murder of Crows" in our Clamour and Mischief anthology, and hope you head to our YouTube channel to listen to George reading from his story.
What is the most unexpected tidbit you learned while researching your story?
I’ve always associated certain collective nouns with particular birds, like murder with crows and parliament with owls. I never realised that so many birds actually had multiple collective nouns. As well as a murder, crows can be a mob, a horde, a cawcus, a clan, a brood, or a number of other terms depending on which part of the world you live in. Owls can be wisdom, a jury, a study, a bazaar or a glaring.
What was your favourite thing about writing a story for Clamour and Mischief?
I enjoyed writing my story in the style of kids’ fairytale, but with murder and violence. Lots of fun!
Which is your favourite corvid and why?
I wrote about crows, simply because I wanted to write a story with the title “Murder of Crows”. But they are not my favourites. My favourite corvids would have to be Australian Magpies, mostly because of their swooping reputation. I love the fierce protective nature behind the swooping. And I adore that the magpies’ swooping because, like so many other things in the magnificent country of Australia, it seems to terrify the tourists.
My website is https://georgeivanoff.com.au.
Read all the Q&As with our Clamour and Mischief authors.