Paul Dowswell (1957) is a British writer of

nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

and young adult novels who has written over 70 books for British publishers. He was a senior editor at

Usborne Publishing Usborne Publishing, often called Usborne Books, is a British publisher of children's books. Founded by Peter Usborne in 1973, Usborne Publishing uses an in-house team of writers, editors and designers. One of its sales channels is Usborne Books ...

, then went freelance in 1999.

Early life and education

Dowswell was born in 1957 in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He has a degree in history from Goldsmith's College, earned in 1978.

Career

Dowswell worked for

Time-Life Books Time Life, with sister subsidiaries StarVista Live and Lifestyle Products Group, a holding of Direct Holdings Global LLC, is an American production company and direct marketer conglomerate, that is known for selling books, music, video/DVD, ...

, the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...

and the

British Library Sound Archive The British Library Sound Archive, formerly the British Institute of Recorded Sound; also known as the National Sound Archive (NSA), in London, England is among the largest collections of recorded sound in the world, including music, spoken word a ...

before joining Usborne Publishing. He was a senior editor for eight years at Usborne. He is an instructor in creative writing at

Midlands Arts Centre MAC (stylized as mac) (formerly Midlands Arts Centre) is a non-profit arts centre situated in Cannon Hill Park, Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. It was established in 1962 and is registered as an educational charity which hosts art exhibitions, ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England.

Book awards

''The Complete Book of the Microscope'' (with co-author Kirsteen Rogers) won the 1999 Rhône-Poulenc Junior Prize for Science Books. ''Auslander'' won the Hamelin Associazione Culturale Book Prize, Bologna, The Portsmouth Book Award, The Essex Book Award, Calderdale Book of the Year, The Cheshire Schools Book Award and the We Read Book Award over 2010-2012. ''Sektion 20'' won the Historical Association Young Quills Award 2012 ''Eleven Eleven'' won the Historical Association Young Quills Award 2013

Personal

Dowswell lives in the West Midlands. He is married and has a daughter. He is a musician and plays with bands at pubs and clubs in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

References

External links

Author's official website
British writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-writer-stub