Stephen Potts (born 1957) is a British author of children’s books, particularly historical adventure novels set at sea. Potts was born in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, England, to an English father then serving in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, and an Irish mother. He started school in northern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and continued in various parts of England, before entering

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

, to study medical sciences. He subsequently transferred to

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, to study clinical medicine, and while there rowed for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

(Isis) in the 1981 Boat Race. He continued medical studies in the United States, before returning 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 ...

and then

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 ...

to specialise in

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

. He works part-time as a Consultant in Liaison Psychiatry in

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, or RIE, often (but incorrectly) known as the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, or ERI, was established in 1729 and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest v ...

, mainly in the emergency department and kidney, liver and pancreas transplant services. He took up writing for children in the 1990s, beginning with a loosely connected trilogy collectively known as The Running Tide. The three books cover the period from the mid 19th century to the present day, and are variously set in Britain, Greenland and the

Aleutian islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

. Described as “good, old-fashioned tales of courage and adventure” (Observer, 2001) they pit child protagonists against the dangers of the ocean and the polar ice, as well as malevolent adults. His most recent book, ''Abigail’s Gift'', tells intertwined stories of a

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

lass at the time of the Clearances, and a modern schoolgirl troubled by bullying and an overactive imagination. In March 2007 he was commissioned by Dynamic Entertainment DEH, a Dutch independent film production company, to adapt Philip Pullman’s 1992 novel The Butterfly Tattoo (previously published as

The White Mercedes ''The White Mercedes'', published in 1992 and now known as ''The Butterfly Tattoo'', is about one character who falls passionately in love, and suffers horribly from then on, as his innocent love is embroiled in a long cycle of revenge and h ...

) as a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

, released theatrically and on DVD in 2009.

Bibliography

Children’s Prose

Novels

1999 ''Hunting Gumnor'' Nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2000 Runner-up for the Branford Boase award 2000 Republished in 2004 2001 ''Compass Murphy'' Shortlisted, Askews Children's Book Award 2002 Japanese translation published by Kyuryu-do 2005 Republished in 2004 2004 ''The Ship Thief'' 2006 ''Abigail's Gift''

Shorter illustrated books for younger readers

2000 ''Tommy Trouble'' Nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2001 2008 ''Into the Storm'' 2009 ''Operation Hope''

Short Stories

1999 ''On the Bench'' (in Family Tree, ed. M Hodgson ) 2002 ''Abigail's Gift'' (in Love From Dad. ed M. Hodgson) Radio ''Grandmother’s Footsteps'' (Island Blue) broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2006.

Medical

Potts has written or co-written scientific papers, books, book chapters, and editorials in the fields of non-cardiac chest pain,

, and

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

. He has contributed to the

textbooks of

and

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

: Legal and Ethical Aspects of Psychiatry (with JHM Crichton and RS Smyth) in Companion to Psychiatric Studies, 8th edition, eds Eve C Johnstone et al., Churchill Livingston Edinburgh 2010 Medical Psychiatry (with MC Sharpe) in Davidson’s Principles & Practice of Medicine, 20th edition, ed NA Boon et al., Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh 2006

External links

''Publishers''
Egmont
http://www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/ Barrington Stoke] ''IMDb page''

''Film''
The Butterfly Tattoo
''Website''

"See also"

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Stephen Writers from Norwich Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford British writers British psychiatrists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)