David Bartlett Rees (8 May 1936 – 22 May 1993) was an English author, lecturer and reviewer, known especially for

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

and

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 ...

. For ''

The Exeter Blitz ''The Exeter Blitz'' is a children's historical novel by David Rees, published by Hamilton in 1978. Set in the southwestern England city of Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approxima ...

'' he won the 1978 Carnegie Medal from the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, since 2017 branded CILIP: The library and information association (pronounced ), is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge management, knowle ...

, recognising the year's best children's book by a

British subject The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...

Life

David Rees was born in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

in 1936. He attended

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London and ...

, Wimbledon, and

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

, where he attained a BA in 1958 and an MA in 1961. He worked as a school teacher before becoming a lecturer at St. Luke's College, Exeter, in 1968. Ten years later he became lecturer in education when the college became a part of the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

. He remained at the University until 1984, when he began to write full-time. In 1986 he founded the publishing company Third House with fellow writer Peter Robins. His autobiography, ''Not For Your Hands'', was published in 1992. Rees died in London, 22 May 1993. He was afflicted with

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

and had once said, "I've nothing left to write about and it's Aids as much as anything that has done that," but he did not stop writing until 1992.

Writer

Much of his work can be classed as

. Some of his fiction was contemporary, some

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, with settings including

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and Ireland. ''Quintin's Man'' (1976) and ''In the Tent'' (1979) were the first teen books in the UK to have gay central characters. ''The Milkman's on his Way'' (1982) was cited in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

for promoting homosexuality, in 1999 debate on

Section 28 Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...

. Baroness Knight of Collingtree said that it "explicitly described homosexual intercourse and, indeed, glorified it, encouraging youngsters to believe that it was better than any other sexual way of life." Rees published two collections of essays on contemporary writers of fiction for children and young adults: ''The Marble in the Water'' (1980) and ''Painted Desert, Green Shade'' (1984).

Selected works

*''Storm Surge'' (1975) *''Quintin's Man'' (1976) *''The Missing German'' (1976) *''Landslip'' (1977) *''The Spectrum'' (1977) *''The Ferryman'' (1977) *''Risks'' (1977) *''The Exeter Blitz'' (1978) *''The House that Moved'' (1978) *''The Green Bough of Liberty'' (1979) *''In the Tent'' (1979) *''Silence'' (1979) *''The Marble in the Water'' (1980) —essays *''Holly, Mud and Whisky'' (1981) *''The Milkman's on His Way'' (1982) *''The Estuary'' (1983) *''Painted Desert, Green Shade'' (1984) —essays *''Islands'' (1984) —short story collection *''Out of the Winter Gardens'' (1984) *''A Better Class of Blond: A California Diary'' (1985) —memoir *''The Hunger'' (1986) *''Watershed'' (1986) *''Twos and Threes'' (1987) *''The Wrong Apple'' (1987) *''The Flying Island'' (1988) *''Quince'' (1988) *''Flux'' (1988) —short story collection *''The Colour of His Hair'' (1989) *''Letters to Dorothy'' (1990) —short story collection *''Dog Days: White Nights'' (1991) —essays *''Not for Your Hands'' (1992) —autobiography *''Packing It In'' (1992) —essays *''Words & Music'' (1993) —essays

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, David Academics of the University of Exeter English children's writers Carnegie Medal in Literature winners English gay writers People educated at King's College School, London Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge 1936 births 1993 deaths English LGBT novelists 20th-century English novelists AIDS-related deaths in England

Life

Writer

Selected works

See also

References

External links