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Anne Fine OBE FRSL (born 7 December 1947) is an English writer. Although best known for
children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...
, she also writes for adults. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and she was appointed an OBE in 2003. Fine has written more than seventy children's books, including two winners of the annual Carnegie Medal and three highly commended runners-up. For some of those five books she also won the Guardian Prize, one Smarties Prize, two Whitbread Awards, and she was twice the Children's Author of the Year. For her contribution as a children's writer, Fine was a runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1998. From 2001 to 2003, she was the second
Children's Laureate Children's Laureate, now known as the 'Waterstones Children's Laureate' is a prestigious position awarded in the United Kingdom once every two years to a "writer or illustrator of children's books to celebrate outstanding achievement in their fie ...
in the UK.


Early life

Fine was born and raised in Leicester and educated in neighbouring midland
counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of England. She attended Northampton High School and earned a degree in politics from the
University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020 ...
. She was married to the philosopher Kit Fine until they were divorced; she has now been with her partner Dick Warren for more than twenty years. She currently lives in
Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...
, County Durham, England. She and Kit Fine have two daughters named
Cordelia Fine Cordelia Fine (born 1975) is a Canadian-born British philosopher of science, psychologist and writer. She is a full professor of history and philosophy of science at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Fine has written three popular scienc ...
and Ione Fine. She has four sisters; her father was an electrical engineer and she grew up in Fareham, Hampshire. The eldest of the sisters is Elizabeth Arnold who also writes books for children; the three younger sisters were triplets. She studied History and Politics at university, got married, and then her daughter Ione was born. At age 24, she wrote her first book.


Career

Describing the start of her writing career, Fine has written: “In 1971 my first daughter was born. Unable to get to the library in a snowstorm to change my library books, in desperation I sat down and started to write a novel. Clearly this was the right job for me, for I have never stopped writing for more than a few weeks since”. In September 2010, Fine told ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
''’s Jessica Salter that this first book lay under her bed after being rejected by two publishers, adding “Five years later I unearthed it and entered it in a competition where I was runner-up, and it was finally published in 1978”. Her books for older children include ''
Madame Doubtfire ''Madame Doubtfire'', known as ''Alias Madame Doubtfire'' in the United States, is a 1987 novel written by English author Anne Fine for teenage and young adult audiences. The novel is based on a family with divorced parents. Well received upon i ...
'' (1987), a satirical novel that
Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
filmed as ''
Mrs. Doubtfire ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Chris Columbus. It was written for the screen by Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon, based on the 1987 novel ''Alias Madame Doubtfire'' by Anne Fine. Robin Williams, who also s ...
'', starring
Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
. '' Goggle-Eyes'' ( Hamish Hamilton, 1989) was
adapted In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...
for television by Deborah Hall for the
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 exam. ...
...
. Her books for middle children include '' Bill's New Frock'' (Methuen, 1989) and ''
How to Write Really Badly How may refer to: * How (greeting), a word used in some misrepresentations of Native American/First Nations speech * How, an interrogative word in English grammar Art and entertainment Literature * ''How'' (book), a 2007 book by Dov Seid ...
'' (1996). Her work has been translated into 45 languages. In March 2014, Fine lent her support to the campaign Let Books Be Books, which aims to persuade publishers of children's books to stop labelling and promoting books as "for boys" or "for girls". She told UK newspaper ''
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 ...
'': "You'd think this battle would have been won decades ago. But even some seemingly bright and observant adults are buying into it again There are girls of all sorts, with all interests, and boys of all sorts with all interests. Just meeting a few children should make that obvious enough. But no, these idiotic notions are spouted so often they become a self-fulfilling societal straitjacket from which all our children suffer".


Awards and nominations

The biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award conferred by the
International Board on Books for Young People The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is an international non-profit organization committed to bringing books and children together. The headquarters of the IBBY are located in Basel, Switzerland. IBBY history In 1952, Jella Lepm ...
is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. In 1998, Fine was one of five finalists for the writing award. She won the 1989 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising ''Goggle-Eyes'' as that year's best children's book, and she was one of two highly commended runners-up for the same Medal with '' Bill's New Frock''. She also won the once-in-a-lifetime Guardian Prize for ''Goggle-Eyes'' and the Smarties Prize in ages category 6–8 years for ''Bill's New Frock''. Three years later, she won the Carnegie Medal again for '' Flour Babies'' (Hamilton, 1992), which was also named the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year. ''The Tulip Touch'' (Hamilton, 1996) was her second Whitbread winner and her second highly commended for the Carnegie. ''Up on Cloud Nine'' (Doubleday, 2002) was the last highly commended Carnegie runner-up, a distinction then used 29 times in 24 years. Fine is one of seven authors to win two Carnegie Medals (1936–2012) and the only author of three Highly Commended books. Fine was the second
Children's Laureate Children's Laureate, now known as the 'Waterstones Children's Laureate' is a prestigious position awarded in the United Kingdom once every two years to a "writer or illustrator of children's books to celebrate outstanding achievement in their fie ...
(2001–03) and received the OBE for services to literature in the 2003 Queen's
Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are prese ...
List. ;Awards * 1989 Carnegie Medal – ''Goggle-Eyes'' * 1990 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize – ''Goggle-Eyes'' * 1990
Nestlé Smarties Book Prize The Nestlé Children's Book Prize, and Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for a time, was a set of annual awards for British children's books that ran from 1985 to 2007. It was administered by BookTrust, an independent charity that promotes books and ...
, ages 6–8 – ''Bill's New Frock'' * 1990 Children's Author of the Year Award, ''Publishing News'' * 1991 Children's Author of the Year, British Book Awards * 1992 Carnegie Medal – ''Flour Babies'' * 1993 Whitbread Award, Children's Book – ''Flour Babies'' * 1993 Children's Author of the Year Award, ''Publishing News'' * 1994 Children's Author of the Year, British Book Awards * 1996 Whitbread Award, Children's Book – ''The Tulip Touch'' * 1998 Prix Sorcières, best children's book translated into French – ''Journal d'un chat assassin'' (''Diary of a Killer Cat'') ;Runners-up, nominations, etc. * 1984 Guardian shortlist – ''The Granny Project'' * 1987 Guardian shortlist – ''Madame Doubtfire'' * 1987 Whitbread shortlist – ''Madame Doubtfire'' * 1989 Carnegie, highly commended – ''Bill's New Frock'' * 1993 Carnegie shortlist – ''The Angel of Nitshill Road'' * 1996 Carnegie, highly commended – ''Tulip Touch'' * 2002 Carnegie, highly commended – ''Up on Cloud Nine'' * 2004 shortlist for the
Red House Children's Book Award The Federation of Children's Book Groups Children's Book Award is a set of annual literary prizes for children's books published in the U.K. during the preceding calendar year. It recognises one "Overall" winner and one book in each of three cat ...
, Younger Readers – ''The More The Merrier'' * 2006 Carnegie shortlist – ''The Road of Bones'' * 2007 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, ages 6–8, second place – ''Ivan the Terrible'' * 2014 Carnegie shortlist - ''Blood Family''


Selected works


Picture books

* ''Poor Monty'' (1991) * ''Ruggles'' (2001, ), illustrated by Ruth Brown * ''Big Red Balloon'' (2012) * ''Hole in the Road'' (2014) * ''Under the Bed'' (2015) *.''Como escribir realmente mal''


For younger children

* ''Scaredy-Cat'' (1985) * ''Stranger Danger?'' (1989, ), illus. Jean Baylis * ''Only a Show'' (1990, ), illus. Valerie Littlewood * ''The Worst Child I Ever Had'' (1991, ), illus. Clara Vullianny * ''Design a Pram'' (1991, ), illus. P. Dupasquier * ''The Same Old Story Every Year'' (1992, ), illus. Vanessa Julian-Ottie * ''The Haunting of Pip Parker'' (1992) * ''Press Play'' (1994, ), illus. Terry McKenna * ''The Diary of a Killer Cat'' (1994, ), illus. Steve Cox —in French translation, winner of the 1998 Prix Sorcières * ''Care of Henry'' (1996, ), illus. Paul Howard * ''Jennifer's Diary'' (1996, ), illus. Kate Aldous * ''Countdown'' (1996, ), illus. David Higham * ''Roll Over Roly'' (1999, ), illus. P. Dupasquier * ''Notso Hotso'' (2001) * ''The Jamie and Angus Stories'' (2002, ), illus. Penny Dale * ''A Shame to Miss 1: Perfect poems for young readers'', selected by Anne Fine (2002) —anthology * ''How to Cross the Road and Not Turn into a Pizza'' (2002, ), illus. Tony Ross * ''The Return of the Killer Cat'' (2003) * ''Nag Club'' (2004) * ''It Moved!'' (2006) * ''Jamie and Angus Together'' (2007), illus. Penny Dale * ''The Killer Cat Strikes Back'' (2007) * ''The Killer Cat's Birthday Bash'' (2008) * ''Jamie and Angus Forever'' (2009), illus. Penny Dale * ''Under a Silver Moon'' (2012) * ''Out for the Count'' (2016)


For middle children

* ''Anneli the Art Hater'' (1986) * '' A Pack of Liars'' (1988) * ''Crummy Mummy and Me'' (1988, ), illus. David Higham * ''A Sudden Puff of Glittering Smoke'' (1989) * ''A Sudden Swirl of Icy Wind'' (1990) * ''A Sudden Glow of Gold'' (1991) *:The three "Sudden" books were reissued as one, ''Genie, Genie, Genie'' (2004) . * ''The Country Pancake'' (1989, ), illus. Philippe Dupasquier – also published as ''Saving Miss Mirabelle'' * '' Bill's New Frock'' (1989, ), illus. P. Dupasquier —winner of the Smarties Prize, ages 6–8 * ''The Chicken Gave It To Me'' (1992, ), illus. P. Dupasquier * ''The Angel of Nitshill Road'' (1993, ), illus. P. Dupasquier * ''How To Write Really Badly'' (1996, ), illus. P. Dupasquier * ''Loudmouth Louis'' (1998, ), illus, Kate Aldous * ''Charm School'' (1999, ), illus. Ros Asquith * ''Telling Tales (Interview/Autobiography)'' (1999) * ''Bad Dreams'' (2000) * ''A Shame to Miss 2: Ideal poems for middle readers'', selected by Anne Fine (2002) —anthology * ''The More the Merrier'' (2003) ; in the US, ''The True Story of Christmas'' * ''Frozen Billy'' (2004) * '' Ivan the Terrible'' (2007) * ''Eating Things on Sticks'' (2010) * ''Trouble in Toadpool'' (2012) * ''On Planet Fruitcake'' (2013)


For older children

* ''The Summer-House Loon'' ( Methuen, 1978) * '' The Other Darker Ned'' (1979) * ''The Stone Menagerie'' (1980) * ''Round Behind the Ice-House'' (1981) * ''The Granny Project'' (1983) * ''
Madame Doubtfire ''Madame Doubtfire'', known as ''Alias Madame Doubtfire'' in the United States, is a 1987 novel written by English author Anne Fine for teenage and young adult audiences. The novel is based on a family with divorced parents. Well received upon i ...
'' (1987) ; in the US, ''Alias Madame Doubtfire'' * '' Goggle-Eyes'' (1989) ; in the US, ''My War with Goggle-Eyes'' —winner of the Carnegie Medal and Guardian Prize * ''The Book of the Banshee'' (1991) * '' Flour Babies'' (1992) —winner of the Carnegie Medal and Whitbread Award * '' Step by Wicked Step'' (1995) * '' The Tulip Touch'' (1996) —winner of the Whitbread Award * ''Very Different'' (2001) —short story collection * ''Up on Cloud Nine'' (2002) * ''A Shame to Miss 3: Irresistible poetry for young adults'', selected by Anne Fine (2002) —anthology * ''On the Summerhouse Steps'' (2006, ) * '' The Road of Bones'' (2006) * ''Fly in the Ointment'' (2008) * ''The Devil Walks'' (2011) * ''Blood Family'' (2013) –shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal * ''Blue Moon Day'' (2014) –short story collection *''Shades of Scarlet'' (2021)


For adults

* ''The Killjoy'' (1986) * ''In Cold Domain'' (1994) * ''Taking the Devil's Advice'' (1990) * ''Telling Liddy'' (1998) * ''All Bones and Lies'' (2001) * '' Raking the Ashes'' (2005) * ''Our Precious Lulu'' (2009) * "Walk on Water, Walk on Air", '' Sunday Times'', 18 January 2009
online edition


Notes


References


External links

*
"My Home Library" program launch
by Fine as Children's Laureate * * ;Interviews
BBC Radio 4 ''Woman's Hour'' interview
about '' Raking the Ashes'' on 11 April 2005.
BBC Radio 4 interview
about '' Raking the Ashes'' on 18 April 2005.
Transcript of interview
with Ramona Koval, The Book Show, ABC Radio National, 8 September 2008
Interview with Anne Fine (Veronika Asks)
on 13 November 2010
Anne Fine at British Council: Literature: Writers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fine, Anne 1947 births Living people English children's writers British Book Award winners Carnegie Medal in Literature winners Costa Book Award winners Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the University of Warwick People from Leicester People educated at Northampton High School, England British Children's Laureate 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English women writers British women children's writers English women novelists