Edward Blishen (29 April 1920 – 13 December 1996) was an English author and broadcaster. He may be known best for the first of two children's novels based on

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, written with

Leon Garfield Leon Garfield FRSL (14 July 1921 – 2 June 1996) was a British writer of fiction. He is best known for children's historical novels, though he also wrote for adults. He wrote more than thirty books and scripted '' Shakespeare: The Animated Ta ...

, illustrated by

Charles Keeping Charles William James Keeping (22 September 1924 – 16 May 1988) was an English people, English illustrator, children's book author and lithographer. He made the illustrations for Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels for children, and he creat ...

, and published by

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...

in 1970. For '' The God Beneath the Sea'' Blishen and Garfield won the 1970 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, 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 ...

. There is also his series of autobiographical books, including ''A Cack-Handed War'' (1972), a story describing his experiences as a conscientious objector, set against the backdrop of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, and ''Roaring Boys'' (1955), an honest account of teaching in a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

secondary modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usuall ...

in the 1950s, a book still valuable to understand teaching in a "rough" part of a city. Its sequel, ''This Right Soft Lot'', was published in 1969. He finished the concluding volume of his autobiographical sequence, ''Mind How You Go'', in 1996, just before his death; it was published posthumously by

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

in 1997.

Biography

Edward Blishen was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, England. He attended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Barnet, and after failing his exams at the age of 17 he left school to work on a local newspaper. When the

was declared he registered as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

(CO), although he came from a long line of soldier ancestors. His father had served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, from which he returned wounded, suffering from shell shock and silent about his experiences. As Blishen recalled: "He wasn't sympathetic to pacifists. He felt that if he had fought a war, then I ought to fight a war as well." But having read some of the now-famous books revealing the horrors of the First World War, the younger Blishen realised: "I can't be somebody who does that to someone else." Registering as a CO was an uncomfortable experience: "Everybody was declaring themselves at one counter, and there was this other forlorn counter for you to declare you weren't going to join in. It felt as though you were separating yourself from the rest of the world." Later, he taught for three years teaching in a

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough of ...

prep school, before going on to a secondary modern school in

Holloway Road Holloway Road is a road in London, in length. It is one of the main shopping streets in North London, and carries the A1 road as it passes through Holloway, in the London Borough of Islington. The road starts in Archway, near Archway Unde ...

, north London, where he wrote his best-selling first book, ''Roaring Boys'', in 1955. Following its success, he gave up teaching in 1959 – although he did some part-time teaching at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and sta ...

between 1963 and 1965 – in order to devote more time to writing and then to developing a career in broadcasting. Fans of ''Roaring Boys'' and its sequel, ''This Right Soft Lot'', ranged from the novelist

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social and ...

to former Labour Party leader

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader o ...

. For more than 33 years, from its inception in 1961 until, at least, 1994, Blishen was the editor of the ''Junior Pears Encyclopaedia'', published by Pelham Books. Blishen had a regular column in '' The Young Elizabethan''. As a broadcaster, Blishen did some notable work with the BBC's African Service and later was a presenter of the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

programme '' A Good Read'' and regular contributor to '' Stop the Week''. He also compiled a number of collections in the Kingfisher ''Treasury of Stories'' series and ''Children’s Classics to Read Aloud''. In June 1995, Blishen was awarded an Honorary Degree from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study of ...

as Doctor of the University. He had two sons and was married to Nancy Smith.

Selected works

*''Mind How You Go'' (Constable, 1997) *''The Disturbance Fee'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1988) *''The Outside Contributor'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1986) *''A Second Skin'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1984) *''Donkey Work'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1983) *''Lizzie Pye'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1982) *''Shaky Relations: An autobiography'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1981) *''A Nest of Teachers'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1980; Allison & Busby, 1985) *''Sorry, Dad'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1978; Allison & Busby, 1984) *''Uncommon Entrance'' (Thames & Hudson, 1974; Trafalgar Square Publishing, 1983) *''The Golden Shadow'' (Longman, 1973) ‡ *''A Cack-Handed War'' (Thames & Hudson, 1972) *'' The God Beneath the Sea'' (Longman, 1970) ‡ *''This Right Soft Lot'' (Thames & Hudson, 1969; Panther, 1971) *''Roaring Boys: A Schoolmaster's Agony'' (Thames & Hudson, 1955; Panther, 1966) :: ‡ by Blishen and

, illustrated by

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blishen, Edward English children's writers English memoirists Carnegie Medal in Literature winners English conscientious objectors People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Boys 1920 births 1996 deaths People from Chipping Barnet 20th-century English novelists