Lauren St John (born December 1966) is an author born in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

, now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. She is best known for her children's novels including '' The White Giraffe'' and ''Dead Man's Cove'' which won her a Blue Peter Book Award in 2011.

Life and career

Lauren St John was born in December 1966 in Gatooma,

(now Kadoma, Zimbabwe). When she was eleven, St John and her family moved to a nature reserve called Rainbow End's farm in

Gadzema Gadzema is a village in the province of Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe. It is located about 110 km south-west of Harare on the main Harare-Bulawayo railway line. The village grew up around the a railway station that was built on the line. It was ...

. It was later the focus of her memoir, ''Rainbow's End'' and many of her children's books are influenced by the nature reserve in which she grew up.≠ After studying journalism in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

St John moved to

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where she was the golf correspondent for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' for almost a decade. In 2011, St John won the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award for her book ''Dead Man's Cove'', about an eleven year old girl called Laura Marlin who becomes a detective. It is the first in a series of books. ''Dead Man's Cove'' was also shortlisted for a

Galaxy National Book Award The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the National ...

for Children's Book of the Year. The book was optioned by Centurion Television in 2016. As well as writing, St John has also done work with the wildlife charity,

Born Free Foundation The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity that campaigns to "Keep Wildlife in the Wild". It protects wild animals in their natural habitat, campaigns against the keeping of wild animals in captivity and rescues wild animals in ...

. She became involved after contacting the Foundation while she was running a school conservation project called Animals Are Not Rubbish in 2009.

Children's fiction

Early Readers series *''Shumba's Big Adventure'' (2013) *''Anthony Ant Saves the Day'' (2015) *''A Friend for Christmas'' (2016) *''Mercy and the Hippo'' (2017) Animal Healer series *''

The White Giraffe ''The White Giraffe'' is a children's novel by Lauren St John first published in 2006. It is the first in the African Adventures series. Lauren St. John picked out a giraffe for the story because she always wanted to ride one. When St. John was ...

'' (2006) *''Dolphin Song'' (2007) *''The Last Leopard'' (2008) *''The Elephant's Tale'' (2009) *''Operation Rhino'' (2015) Laura Marlin mysteries *''Dead Man's Cove'' (2010) *''Kidnap in the Caribbean'' (2011) *''Kentucky Thriller'' (2012) *''Rendezvous in Russia'' (2013) *''The Midnight Picnic'' (2014) *''The Secret of Supernatural Creek'' (2017) Wolfe and Lamb Mysteries * ''Kat Wolfe Investigates'' (2018) *''Kat Wolfe Takes the Case'' (2019) *''Kat Wolfe on Thin Ice'' (2021) Stand-alone novels *''The Snow Angel'' (2017) *''Wave Riders'' (2022) ISBN 9780374309671

Young adult fiction

The One Dollar Horse series *''The One Dollar Horse'' (2012) *''Race the Wind'' (2013) *''Firestorm'' (2014) Stand-alone books *''The Glory'' (2015)

Adult fiction and non-fiction

Fiction *''The Obituary Writer'' (2013) Non-fiction *''Rainbow's End: A Memoir of Childhood, War and an African Farm'' (2007) *''Hardcore Troubador: The Life and Near Death of Steve Earle'' (2002)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St John, Lauren 1966 births Living people Rhodesian people Zimbabwean children's writers Zimbabwean emigrants to the United Kingdom Zimbabwean women children's writers Zimbabwean novelists Women novelists 21st-century novelists People from Kadoma, Zimbabwe 20th-century Zimbabwean writers 20th-century Zimbabwean women writers 21st-century Zimbabwean writers 21st-century Zimbabwean women writers