Cork author: ‘Had I known what my journey entailed, I never would have started’

I asked God for direction in my career and I got it, loud and clear, when I was made redundant.

So said children’s author Nadine Hughes Campbell who found herself at an uncertain crossroads after publishing three books in the very successful Noah’s Adventure series that’s inspired by her son.

Born and raised in Montreal and living in Cork city, the mum-of-two had been working in recruitment with Amazon, while continuing with her writing, until she was made redundant at the start of the year.

But far from being shocked or upset, Nadine describes it as a ‘blessing’.

At this point, the self-published, award-winning writer had launched Noah’s Adventures in Cork, Kerry, Galway and Berlin.

“And I had always been asking God to give me a sign, because I needed to either move my writing forward or move away from it, but I didn’t know exactly I should do. And then I got my sign – it couldn’t have been any clearer!

“I really believe that if something is for you, it will find you, and this has found me and isn’t letting me go,” she said.

Nadine’s passion for writing began when she noticed a lack of representation in children’s literature, particularly stories that reflected her own son, “a proud black Irish boy”.

“When my son was born it was during covid and we didn’t have access to the library so all the books we had to read to him were gifted to us. There was one particular book that he kept going back to because the little boy on the cover looked like him. So I decided to write a book like that for myself.

“I didn’t think it would turn into anything and I only ordered around 100 copies to give to friends and family, but it all spiralled from there because I wanted my kids to feel seen in the books that they were reading.

“Had I not had kids, I wouldn’t have been able to do that because I wouldn’t have been in that situation – you don’t know what you don’t know,” she said.

It’s only now that Nadine feels comfortable introducing herself as a writer – Noah’s Adventures in Waterford is coming out this year – and winning the Network Cork Ireland Creative Professional at this year’s awards helped to give her that confidence.

“I feel that Cork has allowed me to accept that I’m now a writer, and gave the room to do that because the creativity in this county is unreal and so is the support. I feel like I landed in the best part of the country to do this so I can proudly say now I’m a writer, even if I was a little unsure to start.”

Nadine has lived in Ireland now for almost nine years.

“I came to Dublin when I was 31 on a work contract with travel tech company Expedia. I had just bought a house at home and the plan was to stay for a year and then return,” she said.

“But that one year contract really turned into something else!’ she said. “On a visit to Cork I met my now husband, John who flipped the script. When my contract was up, I made the bold decision to stay for another year, and moved to Cork. Then, in 2020, covid hit, I found out I was pregnant, we got married and had my first born during lockdown – what followed was two years full of craziness! Everything happened in a blur!”

Nadine and John are now parents to a six-year-old son, a three-year-old daughter, and are expecting a new arrival in September.

Cork is finally starting to feel like home, she said, even if it took time. Like all cities, it has “its negatives when it comes to racism”.

“I have definitely encountered microaggressions here, and that’s not to say there’s any issue with Cork. There’s no perfect city; I’ve experienced them in Montreal too. Ireland has been a country of Caucasians for so long, and it is slowly changing, but I hope the one question my kids never have to answer is ‘where are you really from?’ because people will automatically think from looking at their skin tone that they’re not Irish when they 100% are.”

Her connection to Cork really became established when she joined Network Cork three years ago.

“It sounds cheesy, but it’s true. There were so many ex-pats in the group, we related to each other, and we were so like-minded. That gave me the confidence to go out and do my thing. It’s been a really positive experience – members are so kind, supportive, the ultimate cheerleaders. Everyone is from different sectors, they may not know the answer for something you’re looking for but they’ll help you find someone who does.”

Winning the Creative Professional award was so unexpected. “To get validation that I was at that level was so unreal. Holy crap!

“I didn’t think that just three years ago, that me writing a little story for my son would lead me to this moment in my life. It’s starting to sink in now. I know that I’m not at the end of my journey, but I’ve gotten over that hump that a lot of people fail at, the hump of the days where you think I’m not going to sell this book or that it’s too hard. I feel like I’m over that and at the point where the path is open to me. That recognition feels nice,” she said.

Her advice to anyone who feels the same uncertainty that she did is to simply focus on today.

“Don’t look forward to tomorrow. Had I Googled what my journey entailed, I would never have started. Take it day by day. If you ask too many questions, the fear will consume you, and you’ll think it’s too much to handle. Focus on where you are now.”