Adèle Daphne Geras (née Weston; born 15 March 1944)
[ is an English writer for young children, teens and adults.
]
Early life
Geras was born in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, British Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
to British Jewish
British Jews (often referred to collectively as British Jewry or Anglo-Jewry) are British citizens who identify as Jewish. The number of people who identified as Jews in the United Kingdom rose by just under 4% between 2001 and 2021.
History
...
parents. Her father (later a lawyer and High Court judge in Tanganyika
Tanganyika may refer to:
Places
* Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state
* Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania
* Tanzania Main ...
)[ ] was in the Colonial Service
The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...
and she had a varied childhood, living in countries such as Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
, Tanganyika
Tanganyika may refer to:
Places
* Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state
* Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania
* Tanzania Main ...
(now the mainland part of Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
), Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
and British North Borneo
(I persevere and I achieve)
, national_anthem =
, capital = Kudat (1881–1884);Sandakan (1884–1945);Jesselton (1946)
, common_languages = English, Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau, Murut, Sabah Malay, Chinese etc.
, go ...
in a short span of time. She attended Roedean School in Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
and then graduated from St Hilda's College, Oxford
St Hilda's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it remained a women's college until 20 ...
with a degree in Modern Languages. She was known for her stage and vocal talents, but decided instead to become a full-time writer.
Work
Geras's first book was ''Tea at Mrs Manderby's'', which was published in 1976. Her first full-length novel was ''The Girls in the Velvet Frame''. She has written more than 95 books for children, young adults, and adults. Other works include ''Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
'' (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal) ''Ithaka'', ''Happy Ever After'' (previously published as the Egerton Hall Trilogy), ''Silent Snow, Secret Snow'', and ''A Thousand Yards of Sea''.
Her novels for adults include: ''Facing the Light'', ''Hester's Story'', ''Made in Heaven'', and ''A Hidden Life''.
In December 2016 Geras appeared as a member of the team from St Hilda's College Oxford in the Christmas Special of BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...
's ''University Challenge
''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...
''.
Awards
Geras won two prizes in the United States, the Sydney Taylor Book Award for the ''My Grandmother's Stories'' and the National Jewish Book Award
The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.[Norman Geras
Norman Geras (; 25 August 1943 – 18 October 2013) was a political theorist and Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Manchester. He contributed to an analysis of the works of Karl Marx in his book '' Marx and Human Nature'' and ...]
; they had two daughters, the novelist and poet Sophie Hannah
Sophie Hannah (born 1971) is a British poet and novelist. From 1997 to 1999 she was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and between 1999 and 2001 a junior research fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. She lives with h ...
, and Jenny, employed at Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...
. They married two brothers.
See also
* ''Paws and Whiskers
''Paws and Whiskers'' is a 2014 fundraising anthology for the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, featuring some of the best children's stories about cats and dogs of all time, selected by multi-award-winning and best-selling children's author Jacquel ...
'' – 2014 anthology that includes "Mimi's Day", a true poem which Geras wrote in 1999 about her tabby cat.["Author's Animal Antices – Adele Geras"]
3 June 2010. Sarah's Book Reviews (feelingfictional.com). Retrieved 15 March 2015. Includes full text of the poem "Mimi's Day", written 1999 (Mimi the cat died in 2005).
References
External links
*
*
*
* Adele Gera
profile
on the village website where she now lives:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geras, Adele
1944 births
English Jewish writers
Living people
Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford
English children's writers
English fantasy writers
English women novelists
English women poets
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
People educated at Roedean School, East Sussex
British women short story writers
Women science fiction and fantasy writers