Ann Pilling (born 17 October 1944)
[ is an ]English
English usually refers to:
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* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
author and poet best known for young adult fiction
Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
. She has also written horror fiction
Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian ...
under the pen name Ann Cheetham.Guardian Children's Fiction Prize
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author ...
, a once-in-a-lifetime book award judged by a panel of British children's writers.[
Pilling was born in ]Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
, Lancashire, and grew up in a house "groaning with books". She started writing poetry when she was eight. At twelve years old she took herself to church because 'I had a strong sense of God'. Her religious faith is important to her but she more often choses secular subjects. She read English at King's College London and wrote a Master's thesis on C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
., her first introduction to contemporary children's books.
Works
Horror stories
The first four books (Dark Powers series) were originally published as by Ann Cheetham.
*''Black Harvest'' (1983)
*''The Beggar's Curse'' (1984)
*''The Witch of Lagg'' (1985)
*''The Pit'' (1987)
*''The Empty Frame'' (1997)
Children's books
*''The Year of the Worm'' (1984)
*''Henry's Leg'' (1985)
*''The Friday Parcel'' (1986)
*''No Guns No Oranges'' (1986)
*''Our Best Stories'' (1986), eds. Pilling and A. Wood
*''The Big Pink'' (1987)
*''The Beast in the Basement'' (1988)
*''Dustbin Charlie'' (1988)
*''On the Lion's Side'' (1988)
*''Stan'' (1988)
*''The Big Biscuit'' (1989)
*''The Jungle Sale'' (1989)
*''Our Kid'' (1989)
*''Getting Rid of Aunt Mildred'' (1990)
*''The Donkey's Day Out'' (1990)
* ''Before I Go to Sleep: Bible Stories, Poems, and Prayers for Children'', selected and retold, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
Kady MacDonald Denton (born 22 July 1941) is a Canadian creator of children's books, primarily an illustrator of picture books. She observed in 2011 that "I'm in that quickly-shrinking group of illustrators who doesn’t use a computer at any s ...
(London: Kingfisher, New York: Crown Publishers, Toronto: Kids Can Press, 1990); reissued 2000 as ''A Kingfisher Treasury of Bible Stories, Poems and Prayers for Bedtime''
*''The Boy with His Leg in the Air'' (1991)
*''Vote for Baz'' (1992)
*''Considering Helen'' (1993)
'Dustbin Charlie Cleans Up' (1994)
* ''The Kingfisher Children's Bible: Stories from the Old and New Testaments'', retold, illus. Denton (2003); reissued 2003 as ''The Kingfisher Book of Bible Stories''
* ''Realms of Gold: Myths and Legends from Around the World'', retold, illus. Denton (1993); reissued 2003 as ''The Kingfisher Treasury of Myths and Legends''
*''The Baked Bean Kids'' (1993)
*''Mother's Daily Scream'' (1995)
*''The Life of Jesus'' (1996)
*''Noah's Ark'' (1996)
*''Amber's Secret'' (2000)
*''Why Bear Has a Stumpy Tail and Other Creation Stories'' (2000)
* ''The Catnappers: The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat'' (Collins, 2003), as by Ann Cheetham, illus. Clare Mackie
Adult books
*''A Broken Path'' (1991)
*''Considering Helen'' (1993)
Poetry
*'Growing Pains' (2008, winner of Smith/Doorstop Pamphlet Competition)
*'Home Field' (2008) Arrowhead Press
*'The Dancing Sailors' ( 2011) Indigo Dreams Publishing
*'Ground Cover' (2015) Indigo Dreams Publishing
*'Ways of Speech' ( 2020) Shoestring Press
Awards
* 1986 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author ...
for ''Henry's Leg''.[
Her 1988 children's books ''On the Lion's Side'' and ''Stan'' were shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.][
]
See also
References
External links
*
Ann Pilling
at publisher Puffin Books
Ann Pilling
at Fantastic Fiction
*
* (including 1 as Ann Cheetham)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilling, Ann
English children's writers
Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners
English women poets
1944 births
Living people
Alumni of King's College London
People from Warrington