Steve Voake is a successful English children's author from

Midsomer Norton Midsomer Norton is a town near the Mendip Hills in Bath and North East Somerset, England, south-west of Bath, north-east of Wells, north-west of Frome, west of Trowbridge and south-east of Bristol. It has a population of around 13,000. ...

, Somerset, whose books have sold all over the world. He started his teaching career at Midsomer Norton County Primary school in the late 80’s. In 2003 he was head teacher of a primary school in Kilmersdon, Somerset, when 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 ...

reported that he was being hailed as the next J. K. Rowling. A bidding war had broken out amongst publishers and film makers for the rights to his first novel, The Dreamwalker's Child. The publication deal he accepted with

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...

enabled him to give up his teaching job to be a full-time writer, although the book has not been made into a film. Since then he has published twenty three books. The novelist and critic

Amanda Craig Amanda Craig (born 1959) is a British novelist, critic and journalist. She was a recipient of the Catherine Pakenham Award. Early life Born in South Africa, Craig grew up in Italy before moving to London. Her parents were British journalist, ...

has regularly praised his work.

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

often includes his books in its recommended lists of top children's books. The School Library Association has included one of his novels in its list of recommended books for boys. He also contributed to the Higher Ground Project, a book featuring leading children's authors that was published to raise awareness of the

Boxing Day Tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

. on 22 March 2017, Voake was on Westminster Bridge, London, and witnessed the Westminster terrorist attack.

Early life

Steve Voake grew up in Midsomer Norton. After leaving school he sold ice-creams in the south of France for a while. He obtained a BA (Hons) in Philosophy at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

, then qualified as a teacher at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

Career

He spent eight years as head teacher of Kilmersdon Primary School, near

, Somerset. In his spare time he was writing his first children's book, The Dreamwalker's Child. In October 2003, while still working as a primary school head teacher, the

reported that he was "being hailed as the next JK Rowling" after the book gained interest from Hollywood and was "the subject of a furious bidding war between three UK publishers" and had "seen interest from book firms in Italy, Japan, Germany and the US". In addition, film companies

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Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...

and

Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a leadi ...

all asked to see the book The BBC,

and

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then reported in 2003 that he agreed a £91,000 deal with

for the UK rights to his book,. In 2005, the book was published in the UK as well as Italy, Germany, Greece, Holland, Russia, Portugal and Japan. US rights were subsequently bought at auction for a six-figure sum. In 2007 he collaborated with his cousin Charlotte Voake, the Nestle Smarties Book Prize-winning author of

Pizza Kittens ''Pizza Kittens'' is a children's picture book by Charlotte Voake Charlotte Voake (born 1957) is a Welsh children's illustrator who has won several awards including the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in 1997. Life and career Voake was born and ...

and

Ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

, to write ''Insect Detective''. He is currently also Senior Lecturer in Writing for Young People at

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshire. The instit ...

. and a Royal Literary Fellow at the University of Exeter.

Novels

* ''The Dreamwalker's Child'' (2005) * ''The Web of Fire'' (2006) * ''The Starlight Conspiracy'' (2007) * ''Daisy Dawson'' (2007) * ''Daisy Dawson and the Secret Pond'' (2008) * ''Daisy Dawson and the Big Freeze'' (2009) * ''Insect Detective'' (2009) * ''Blood Hunters'' (2009) * ''Fightback'' (2010) * ''Hooey Higgins and the Shark'' (2010) * ''Hooey Higgins and the Tremendous Trousers'' (2010) * ''Hooey Higgins and the Big Boat Race'' (2011) * "Dark Woods" (2011) * "Daisy Dawson at the Seaside" (2011) * "Daisy Dawson on the Farm" (2012) * "Hooey Higgins Goes for Gold" (2012) * "Hooey Higgins and the Big Day Out" (2012) * "Hooey Higgins and the Awards of Awesomeness" (2013) * "Hooey Higgins and the Storm" (2014) * "Hooey Higgins and the Christmas Crash" (2014) * "Maxwell Mutt and the Downtown Dogs" (2016) * "Maxwell Mutt and the Squirrel without a Story" (2017) * "Maxwell Mutt and the Biscuit & Bone Club" (2019)

Award nominations

* '' The Dreamwalker's Child'' – shortlisted for Stockton Children's Book of the Year Award and Concorde Book Award * ''The Starlight Conspiracy'' – shortlisted for Concorde Book Award * ''Blood Hunters'' – selected for National 'Booked Up' Scheme 2009, Shortlisted for Manchester Book Award, Shortlisted for Leeds Book Award, shortlisted for Cheshire Schools Book Award * The School Library Association included ''The Web of Fire'' in its list of "Top books for boys". * Fightback – Won the Bolton book Award * "Hooey Higgins and the Shark" awarded Outstanding International Book by United States Board of Books for Young People, 2013 * "Insect Detective" was awarded Best Illustrated Children's Non Fiction Book by the English Association (2009) * 'My Brother Saves Things' longlisted for University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor's International Poetry Prize, 2016 * "Pencil" - Poems on the Buses Exhibition, Guernsey Literary Festival 2017 * "TT" longlisted for Poetry Society's National Poetry Competition 2020

Personal life

He lives with his family in

Westbury-sub-Mendip Westbury-sub-Mendip is a village in Somerset, England, on the southern slopes of the Mendip Hills from Wells and Cheddar. The parish boundary is formed by the River Axe. History There is evidence, from flint finds, of occupation of a site ...

, Somerset.

Media coverage

UK national newspapers

has published many favourable articles featuring Steve Voake or his books and frequently including them in their holiday specials of recommended books at Christmas or the summer holidays, ,. Their critic, the novelist

in particular has recommended them,

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

reported on Steve Voake's inclusion on the School Library Association List.

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

favourably reviewed The Dreamwalker's Child". The

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

has also reviewed his work, as has

. The Times Educational Supplement covered Steve Voake's contribution to the Higher Ground Project, a book published to raise awareness of the

UK local newspapers

Many local newspapers have covered his work, including the Somerset Guardian Standard, the Bath Chronicle and the Worcester News.

Foreign periodicals

Abroad, there has been considerable newspaper coverage, including

The Herald Journal ''The Herald Journal'' is a newspaper in Logan, Utah, United States, and serves the Cache Valley area of Northern Utah and Southeastern Idaho which includes Cache County, Utah and Franklin County, Idaho. It is published three times each week ...

, (

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, United States), the

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

, and in Fantasy Magazine in Italy.

Television and radio

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

featured an interview with Steve Voake in its

Newsround ''Newsround'' (stylised as ''newsround'', and originally called ''John Craven's Newsround'' before his departure in 1989) is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972. It was one of the world's first televi ...

programme. BBC Somerset Sound has interviewed him on the radio. The BBC has regularly reported on Steve Voake in its news pages on its website.

Literary festivals

He is now a regular on the book festival circuit and has been invited to speak at literary festivals including

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, Frome,

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

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 ...

, Aberdeen and

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

References

External links

Steve Voake website
* https://web.archive.org/web/20070812185204/http://www.stevevoake.co.uk/ * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Voake, Steve People from Midsomer Norton Living people Alumni of the University of Liverpool Alumni of the University of Exeter Academics of Bath Spa University English children's writers Heads of schools in England English fantasy writers 21st-century English novelists British writers of young adult literature English male short story writers English short story writers English male novelists 21st-century British short story writers 21st-century English male writers Year of birth missing (living people) Schoolteachers from Somerset