Dave Rudden (born 13 February 1988) is an Irish writer of young adult fiction, juvenile fantasy and science fiction, best known for his ''Knights of the Borrowed Dark'' trilogy and stories from the ''Doctor Who'' universe. He is based in Dublin.

Early life and education

Born on 13 February 1988 in

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...

, Rudden is from Bawnboy, where he attended St Aidan's National School and St Mogue's College. He studied a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in St Patrick's College, Dublin, and graduated from University College Dublin, obtaining Master of Arts degree in creative writing in 2013. As a young author he won the Fantasy Book Review short story competition (2011) and one of ''

Literary Death Match ''Literary Death Match'' is a reading series co-created in 2006 by Todd Zuniga, Elizabeth Koch, and Dennis DiClaudio. Each event features four readers who read their own writing for seven minutes or less, and are then critiqued by three judg ...

es'' in Dublin (2014).

''Knights of the Borrowed Dark'' trilogy

Rudden debuted as a novelist in 2016 with ', described by the Internet Speculative Fiction Database as juvenile fantasy. The book was reviewed by '' The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books'', '' School Library Journal'', '' The Irish Times'' and '' The Guardian'', in which

S. F. Said S. F. Said (born 1967) is a British children's writer. His first novel was ''Varjak Paw'' (2003), illustrated by Dave McKean and published by David Fickling Books in January 2003; four months later in the U.S., ''Varjak Paw'' won the 2003 Nestlé ...

called it "a magical debut". It won the 2016

Irish Book Award The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given annually to books and authors in various categories. In 2018 An Post took over sponsorship of the awards from Bord Gais Energy. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. ...

for Best Senior Children's Book and the 2016 Great Reads Award for "Most Read" title. It was selected by the city of Dublin for its UNESCO-affiliated 2017 Citywide Reading Campaign for Children. According to figures compiled by Public Lending Remuneration the novel was one of top 20 books borrowed from public libraries in Ireland in 2017. The Irish

National Council for Curriculum and Assessment National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

chose ''Knights of the Borrowed Dark'' for the Junior Cycle English Indicative First Year Text List (2021–2023). It is the first part of the series continued with ' (2017), shortlisted for the 2017 Irish Book Award for Best Senior Children's Book, and ''The Endless King'' (2018). The trilogy is currently being developed into a film by

Arvind Ethan David Arvind Ethan David, (born 21 February 1975) is a Malaysian-born, British film producer, founder of Slingshot Productions, and Principal of Prodigal Entertainment. He is best known for producing a stage musical of ''Jagged Little Pill'', based on ...

''Doctor Who'' books and stories

Since 2018, Rudden has been writing science fiction books set in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' universe, at the invitation of the franchise's custodians at Puffin Books and the BBC. Combining various elements of the ''Doctor Who'' universe, they were initially two collections of short stories. ''Doctor Who: Twelve Angels Weeping'', released in October 2018, was the first ''Doctor Who'' book to feature the Thirteenth Doctor from the television series. It was shortlisted for the 2018 Irish Book Award for Best Teen & Young Adult Book. Rudden's third ''Doctor Who'' book, ''Doctor Who: Wannabes: A 1990s Story'' (2023), featuring the Tenth Doctor and

Donna Noble Donna Noble (later Donna Temple-Noble) is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Portrayed by British actress and comedian Catherine Tate, she is a former companion of the Tenth Docto ...

, is a novel in the six-book Decades Collection celebrating the 60th anniversary of the series.

Other literary activities

Rudden was Writer-In-Residence at Marino Institute of Education in Dublin in 2018–2019 and was appointed Writer-In-Residence at Dublin City University for 2022. During the COVID-19

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

, he regularly collaborated with the educational television programme

RTÉ's Home School Hub ''RTÉ's Home School Hub'', or simply ''Home School Hub'', and its companion show ''Home School Extra'', was an educational television programme which was created in response to the closure of all schools during the COVID-19 pandemic in the ...

, bringing writing tips and motivation to a national audience. He

mentors Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

emerging writers through Irish Writers Centre's National Mentoring Programme and serves as one of "Ireland Reads" campaign ambassadors. In 2023, he was nominated for the 2024

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award ( sv, Litteraturpriset till Astrid Lindgrens minne) is an international children's literary award established by the Swedish government in 2002 to honour the Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren (1907–200 ...

as one of four nominees from Ireland.

Bibliography

''Knights of the Borrowed Dark'' trilogy

* – First American edition New York: Random House. 2016. . * – First American edition New York: Random House. 2017. . * – First American edition New York: Random House. 2018. .

Early life and education

''Knights of the Borrowed Dark'' trilogy

''Doctor Who'' books and stories

Other literary activities

Bibliography

''Knights of the Borrowed Dark'' trilogy

Stories from the ''Doctor Who'' universe

References

External links

Further reading