Victor Watson (born 1936) is an English author who has written on the nature and history of children's literature and on how children learn to read. He later turned to writing novels for children, young adults and adults.

Early life

Watson was born and brought up in Littleport in the

Isle of Ely The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an administrative county. Etymology Its name has been said to mean "island of eels", a reference to the creatures th ...

(now part of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

). His father, George Watson, was a printer and stationer, and his mother, née Emily Manning, one of a large family of fairground travellers. His mother ran the family stationer's and bookshop while his father served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Education

Watson attended the County Primary School at

Littleport, Cambridgeshire Littleport is a large village in East Cambridgeshire, in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about north-east of Ely and south-east of Welney, on the Bedford Level South section of the River Great Ouse, close to Burnt Fen a ...

and

Soham Soham ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket. Its population was 10,860 at the 2011 census. History Archaeology The region between De ...

Grammar School. After

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, he read English at

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

, and followed that with a master's degree, while employed as a research assistant to Professor J. R. Sutherland.

Career

From 1962 until 1969 he taught English at Sherrardswood School, a private primary and secondary institution in

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

. He then moved into teacher education: five years at

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...

Teacher Training College, and later as a lecturer in English at

Homerton College, Cambridge Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the col ...

, where he specialised in 18th and 19th-century literature and the history of children's books.

Books published

Watson's main academic publications are ''After Alice – Exploring Children's Literature'', ''The Prose and the Passion: Children and their Reading'', and ''Voices: Texts, Contexts and Readers'' all of which Watson co-edited with Eve Bearne and Morag Styles. Later came ''Talking Pictures: Pictorial texts and young readers'' with Morag Styles; ''Opening the Nursery Door'', with Morag Styles and Mary Hilton, and ''Where Texts and Children Meet'', with Eve Bearne. He edited ''The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English'', and co-wrote ''Coming of Age in Children's Literature'' with Professor Margaret Meek. One of his later academic works, ''Reading Series Fiction: from Arthur Ransome to Gene Kemp'', allowed him to focus on the genre of children's books he is most interested in. Subsequently, he wrote a series of war stories for eight to thirteen-year-old children, beginning with ''Paradise Barn'', which was shortlisted for the Branford-Boase Award. Watson followed this with three sequels. The last of these, ''Everyone a Stranger'', won the 2014 East Anglian Children's Book Award. This quartet was followed by a thriller which was also a war novel, ''Operation Blackout''; although this was last to be published it comes chronologically after ''Paradise Barn''. All five remain in print in the UK. Watson has been influenced as a writer by the work of

Philippa Pearce Ann Philippa Pearce OBE (22 January 1920 – 21 December 2006) was an English author of children's books. Best known of them is the time-slip novel ''Tom's Midnight Garden'', which won the 1958 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, as ...

Jan Mark Jan Mark (22 June 1943 – 16 January 2006) was a British writer best known for children's books. In all she wrote over fifty novels and plays and many anthologised short stories. She won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, ...

and

William Mayne William James Carter Mayne (16 March 1928 – 24 March 2010) was an English writer of children's fiction. ''The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature'' calls him one of the outstanding children's authors of the 20th century and The Times Liter ...

. He wrote an afterword for a 2014 reissue of Pearce's ''

Tom's Midnight Garden ''Tom's Midnight Garden'' is a children's fantasy novel by Philippa Pearce. It was first published in 1958 by Oxford University Press with illustrations by Susan Einzig. It has been reissued in print many times and also adapted for radio, tele ...

''. At an Oxford Children's Book Group meeting in 2013 he spoke of his belief that series fiction is "a powerful way of fostering a love of independent reading", quoting a small boy as telling him that reading a new book was like entering a room full of strangers, but that series fiction was like "a room full of friends". In June 2020 Watson published his first novel for adults "The Cuckoo Season" which is set in East Anglia and London in 1952, and in 2022 the book he edited about Lucy Boston was launched.

Novels published so far

* Paradise Barn * Operation Blackout * The Deeping Secrets * Hidden Lies * Everyone a Stranger * The Cuckoo Season * Time After Time

National Centre for Children's Books

Almost from its inception, Watson has been a trustee of an organization committed to establishing in the UK a national archive of manuscripts, artwork and books relating to children's literature. He chaired this organization during the main fundraising and building period, which led in 2005 to the opening of

Seven Stories Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children's Books is a museum and visitor centre dedicated to children's literature and based in the Ouseburn Valley, Newcastle upon Tyne, close to the city's regenerated Quayside. The renovated Victorian ...

, the National Centre for Children's Books. His own collection of children's popular literature, mainly story papers and annuals, was transferred there in April 2016.

Walden Writers

Watson is a member of the Walden Writers co-operative, set up in Saffron Walden by authors

Amy Corzine Amy Corzine is an American-born fiction and non-fiction writer and poet. Her first book was a Cadogan travel guide to Ireland for families in which she included stories she wrote based on Irish folktales. After that, Watkins Publishing commissione ...

and Martyn Everett in 2008 to promote the work of its members and organise literary events. Other members include children's authors

Rosemary Hayes Rosemary Hayes (born 10 December 1942) is a British author who has written around 50 books for children aimed at ages from seven years to teenagers. She has edited many more. She worked for Cambridge University Press and then set up her own publ ...

and Penny Speller, travel-writer and novelist

Jane Wilson-Howarth Jane Wilson-Howarth CF, BSc (hons), MSc (Oxon), BM, DCH, DCCH, DFSRH, FRSTM&H, FFTM RCPS (Glasg) (born 1954) is a British physician, lecturer and author. She has written three travel health guides, two travel narratives, a novel and a series o ...

, biographer Clare Mulley, novelist Carol Frazer, and historian Lizzie Sanders.

Personal life

Watson is married to Judy, also a teacher; they have three children, Sally, Lucy and Tim, and four granddaughters.

References

External links

Victor Watson at paradisebarn.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Victor Living people 1936 births English male novelists English non-fiction writers English children's writers Alumni of University College London Fellows of Homerton College, Cambridge People from Littleport, Cambridgeshire English male non-fiction writers