Maureen Mollie Hunter McIlwraith (30 June 1922 – 31 July 2012)
[ was a Scottish writer known as Mollie Hunter. She wrote ]fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
for children, historical stories for young adults, and realistic novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
s for adults. Many of her works are inspired by Scottish history, or by Scottish or Irish folklore, with elements of magic and fantasy.
Life
Born and raised near Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
in the small village of Longniddry
Longniddry ( sco, Langniddry, gd, Nuadh-Treabh Fada)
...
, her final years were spent in Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
.[ A portrait of her hangs in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.][
Hunter's debut was ''Patrick Kentigern Keenan'', published by ]Blackie and Son
Blackie & Son was a publishing house in Glasgow, Scotland, and London, England, from 1809 to 1991.
History
The firm was founded as a bookseller in 1809 by John Blackie (1782–1874) as a partnership with two others and was known as 'Black ...
in 1963 with illustrations by Charles Keeping
Charles William James Keeping (22 September 1924 – 16 May 1988) was an English illustrator, children's book author and lithographer. He made the illustrations for Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels for children, and he created more than twe ...
. In the U.S. it was published in 1963 as ''The Smartest Man in Ireland''.
Awards
For ''The Stronghold
''The Stronghold'' is a children's historical novel by the Scottish people, Scottish writer Mollie Hunter, published by Hamilton in 1974. Set in the Orkney islands during the 1st century BC, the story is an imaginative reconstruction of the dev ...
'' Mollie Hunter won the 1974 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 ...
.[ The same novel, published in The Netherlands as "Een toren tegen de romeinen" won the "Zilveren Griffel" (Silver Pen) award in 1978 for children's writing.
She won the ]Phoenix Award
The Phoenix Award annually recognizes one English-language children's book published twenty years earlier that did not then win a major literary award. It is named for the mythical bird phoenix that is reborn from its own ashes, signifying the bo ...
from the Children's Literature Association
The Children's Literature Association (ChLA) is a non-profit association, based in the United States, of scholars, critics, professors, students, librarians, teachers, and institutions dedicated to studying children's literature.Margaret W. Denman- ...
in 1992, recognising ''A Sound of Chariots'' (1972) as the best children's book published twenty years earlier that did not win a major award.[
The ]Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
credits Hunter with a quotation regarding the word consensus: "No single group has the right to ignore a consensus of thoughtful opinion"[ onsensus ad idem: a protocol for development of consensus statements. Can J Surg 2013; 56 (6); 365 http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/30b550e2#/30b550e2/6/ref>
]
Works
Novels
* ''Patrick Kentigern Keenan'' (1963)
: US title, ''The Smartest Man in Ireland''
*''The Spanish Letters'' (1964)
* ''The Kelpie's Pearls'' (1964)
*''A Pistol in Greenyards'' (1965)
*''The Ghosts of Glencoe'' (1966)
*''Thomas and the Warlock'' (1967)
* ''The Ferlie'' (1968); also issued as ''The Enchanted Whistle'' (1985)
* ''The Bodach'' (1970)
: US title, ''The Walking Stones''
*''The Third Resistance'' (1971)
*''The Lothian Run'' (1971)
* ''The Thirteenth Member'' (1971)
* ''The Haunted Mountain'' (1972)
* ''A Sound of Chariots
A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...
'' (Harper & Row, 1972)
* ''The Stronghold
''The Stronghold'' is a children's historical novel by the Scottish people, Scottish writer Mollie Hunter, published by Hamilton in 1974. Set in the Orkney islands during the 1st century BC, the story is an imaginative reconstruction of the dev ...
'' (Hamilton, 1974)
* ''A Stranger Came Ashore
''A Stranger Came Ashore'' is a 1975 young adult novel written by Scottish author Mollie Hunter. Set in the Shetland Islands in the north of Scotland, the plot revolves around a boy called Robbie Henderson, his family and a mysterious stranger n ...
'' (Hamilton, 1975)
* ''The Wicked One'' (1977)
* ''The Third Eye'' (1979)
* ''You Never Knew Her as I Did!'' (1981)
*''The Dragonfly Years'' (1983)
: US title, ''Hold on to Love''
*''The Knight of the Golden Plain'' (1983)
*''I'll Go My Own Way'' (1985)
: US title ''Cat, Herself''
*''Escape from Loch Leven'' (1987)
* ''The Mermaid Summer'' (1988)
*''The MidSummer Murders'' (1988)
* ''The King's Swift Rider: A Novel on Robert the Bruce'' (1998)
Collections
* ''A Furl of Fairy Wind'' (1977)
Plays
*''Stay for an Answer'' (1962)
*''The Captain''
*''A Love-song for My Lady''
*''The Walking Stones''
Picture books
*''Hi Johnny'' (1963)
*''The Brownie'' (1986), illus. Mahri Christopherson
*''The Enchanted Boy'' (1986), illus. Christopherson
*''Flora MacDonald and Bonnie Prince Charlie'' (1988), illus. Chris Molan
* ''Gilly Martin the Fox'' (1994), illus. Dennis McDermott
Nonfiction
* ''Talent Is Not Enough: Mollie Hunter on Writing for Children'' (1976)
* ''The Pied Piper Syndrome and Other Essays'' (1992)
Notes
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Mollie
1922 births
2012 deaths
Scottish children's writers
Scottish women novelists
Carnegie Medal in Literature winners
People from East Lothian
20th-century Scottish novelists
21st-century Scottish novelists
21st-century Scottish writers
20th-century Scottish women writers
21st-century Scottish women writers
Swiss women children's writers
20th-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights
21st-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights
Scottish women dramatists and playwrights
Women writers of young adult literature
Women historical novelists
Scottish historical novelists
British writers of young adult literature
Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity