Gillian Cross (born 1945) is a British author of

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

. She won the 1990 Carnegie Medal for ''

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

'' and the 1992 Whitbread Children's Book Award for '' The Great Elephant Chase''. She also wrote ''

The Demon Headmaster ''The Demon Headmaster'' is a series of books by Gillian Cross which were later adapted as a television series starring Terrence Hardiman in the title role and Frances Amey as Dinah. The title character is a strange being with the powers of hy ...

'' book series, which was later turned into a

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

in January 1996; a sequel series was produced in 2019.

Biography

Gillian Clare Arnold was born in London on 24 December 1945 to James Eric and Joan Emma Arnold. She was educated at North London Collegiate School,

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

, and the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

.Official biography Pt. 1
/ref> She married Martin Cross in 1967, and they had four children: Jonathan, Elizabeth, Anthony, and Katherine. Cross's first published book was ''The Runaway''. Three years later she inaugurated ''The Demon Headmaster'' series of seven books (1982 to 2002). She also completed ''The Dark Behind the Curtain'', a horror story illustrated by

David Parkins David Alan Parkins (born 2 November 1955) is a British cartoonist and illustrator who has worked for D.C. Thomson, publisher of ''The Beano'' and ''The Dandy''. Now based in Canada, he illustrates children's picture books. Parkins was born in ...

and published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. It was highly commended for the 1982 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 ...

. ''A Map of Nowhere'' was highly commended for the 1988 Carnegie and she won the Medal two years later for ''Wolf'' (Oxford, 1990). Before becoming a full-time writer, Cross held several different jobs, including acting as an assistant to a Member of Parliament. She is now a full-time writer who often travels and gives talks in connection with her work. In early 2014, Cross became a patron for the

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

-based charity Cord, after their work in

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

inspired her latest novel, ''After Tomorrow''.

Works

* ''The Runaway'' (1979) * ''The Iron Way'' (1979) * ''Revolt at Ratcliffe's Rags'' (1979) * ''A Whisper of Lace'' (1981) * ''The Dark Behind the Curtain'' (1982) *

series: *# ''The Demon Headmaster'' (1982) *# ''The Prime Minister's Brain'' (1985) *# ''The Revenge of the Demon Headmaster'' (1994) *# ''The Demon Headmaster Strikes Again'' (1996) *# ''The Demon Headmaster Takes Over'' (1997) *# ''Facing the Demon Headmaster'' (2002) *# ''Total Control'' (2017) *# ''Mortal Danger'' (2019) * ''Born of the Sun'' (1983) * ''On the Edge'' (1984) * ''Swimathon!'' (1986) * '' Chartbreak'' (1986); US title, ''Chartbreaker'' * ''Roscoe's Leap'' (1987) * ''A Map of Nowhere'' (1988) * ''Rescuing Gloria'' (1989) * ''

'' (1990) * ''The Monster from Underground'' (2009) * ''Twin and Super-Twin'' (1990) * ''The Mintyglo Kid'' (1991) * ''Gobbo the Great'' (1991) * ''Rent-a-Genius'' (1991) * ''Save Our School'' (1991) * '' The Great Elephant Chase'' (1992); US title, ''The Great American Elephant Chase'' * ''The Tree House'' (1993) * ''The Furry Maccaloo'' (1993) * ''Beware Olga!'' (1993) * ''What Will Emily Do?'' (1994) * ''New World'' (1994) * ''The Crazy Shoe Shuffle'' (1995) * ''Posh Watson'' (1995) * ''Pictures in the Dark'' (1996) * ''The Roman Beanfeast'' (1996) * ''The Goose Girl'' (1998) * '' Tightrope'' (1999) * ''Down with the Dirty Danes!'' (2000) * ''Calling a Dead Man'' (2001); US title, ''Phoning a Dead Man'' * ''The Treasure in the Mud'' (2001) * Dark Ground trilogy, or The Lost trilogy: *# ''The Dark Ground'' (2004) *# ''The Black Room'' (2005) *# ''The Nightmare Game'' (2006) * ''Sam Sorts It Out'' (2005) * ''Brother Aelred's Feet'' (2007) * ''Where I Belong'' (2007) * ''After Tomorrow'' (2013) * ''Shadow Cat'' (2015)

Notes

References

External links

* *
Gillian Cross at Fantastic FictionAuthor profile and interviewGillian Cross answers questions about writing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Gillian English children's writers Carnegie Medal in Literature winners Costa Book Award winners Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Sussex People educated at North London Collegiate School Writers from London 1945 births Living people