"Creative autonomy is worth more than fleeting validation": Meet Pete Jordi Wood
24 March 2025
Meet Pete Jordi Wood, AKA Basic Witch. A graduate of Animation BA and Illustration: Authorial Practice MA, and now studying for a practice-based PhD, Pete has overcome many challenges on his journey to becoming a professional storyteller. From signing a two-book deal with Penguin Random House — bringing his queer fairytales to life — and researching magical arts and folklore, to the clever creation of Basic Witch, his avatar in a digital world, Pete has crafted a truly inspiring creative career on his own terms.
"I'm Pete Jordi Wood, AKA Basic Witch. Basic Witch is a semi-fictional persona. I guess he’s my avatar in a digital world."
"I'm a screenwriter, an author-illustrator, a researcher, and a cartomancer. I guess what ties all of this together is that I'm a professional storyteller, but it's taken me a while to understand that I call myself that."
"I grew up in a single parent family in Essex. In my 20s, I was working two jobs and tried to juggle that with being a carer and writing in my free time, and eventually I got burnt out, which landed me in the hospital."
"I was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and honestly, I thought my dream to be a storyteller was over, but I couldn't let go of the feeling that I still had something to offer creatively."
"So, I decided to apply to my local university in Cornwall."
"I began to research queer fairy tales, and I found this really rare story about a sailor who finds his own handsome prince in an old book of Danish folktales."
"I initially self-published my own original English language variant of the story, The Dog and the Sailor, and I created an online interactive exhibition."
"Forbes featured my discovery of the tale and I signed a two book deal with Penguin Random House."
"Since my master's, I've continued researching queer fairy tales. I collaborated with a global team of LGBTQ+ illustrators on an anthology of queer folklore called Tales from Beyond the Rainbow."
"I applied for a PhD at Falmouth to continue my research and I received a studentship."
"Ultimately, I've learned that creative autonomy is worth more than fleeting validation."
"So if you're out there waiting for permission to do what you want to do, stop."
"Create for yourself. Share your work. Build your audience. And rejections will come. But so will opportunities."
"Every setback is a chapter in your story, and it is a story worth telling."