Dame Penelope Margaret Lively (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Low; born 17 March 1933) is a British writer of fiction for both children and adults. Lively has won both the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

(''

Moon Tiger ''Moon Tiger'' is a 1987 novel by Penelope Lively which spans the time before, during and after World War II. The novel won the 1987 Booker Prize. It is written from multiple points of view and moves backward and forward through time. It be ...

'', 1987) and the Carnegie Medal for British

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 ...

('' The Ghost of Thomas Kempe'', 1973).

Children's fiction

Lively first achieved success with

children's fiction Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

. Her first book, ''Astercote'', was published by

Heinemann Heinemann may refer to: * Heinemann (surname) * Heinemann (publisher), a publishing company * Heinemann Park, a.k.a. Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States See also * Heineman Heineman is a surname. Notable people with the surnam ...

in 1970. It is a low fantasy novel set in a

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of J ...

village and the neighbouring woodland site of a medieval village wiped out by

Plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

. Lively published more than twenty books for children, achieving particular recognition with '' The Ghost of Thomas Kempe'' and '' A Stitch in Time''. For the former she won the 1973 Carnegie Medal from the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, since 2017 branded CILIP: The library and information association (pronounced ), is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the U ...

, recognising the year's best children's book by a

British subject The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...

. For the latter she won the 1976 Whitbread Children's Book Award. The three novels feature local history, roughly 600, 300, and 100 years past, in ways that approach

time slip A time slip is a plot device in fantasy and science fiction in which a person, or group of people, seem to travel through time by unknown means. The idea of a time slip was used in 19th century fantasy, an early example being Washington Irving ...

but do not posit travel to the past.

Adult works

Lively's first novel for adults, ''

The Road to Lichfield ''The Road To Lichfield'' is the first novel for adults by Penelope Lively, published in 1977. It made the short-list for the Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Pri ...

'', was published in 1977 and made the shortlist for the

. She repeated the feat in 1984 with ''

According to Mark ''According to Mark'' is a 1984 novel written by Penelope Lively. It was shortlisted for Booker Prize for fiction The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a lit ...

'', and won the 1987 prize for ''

'', which tells the story of a woman's tempestuous life as she lies dying in a hospital bed. As with all of Lively's fiction, ''Moon Tiger'' is marked by a close attention to the power of memory, the impact of the past upon the present, and the tensions between "official" and personal histories. She explored the same themes more explicitly in her nonfiction works, including ''A House Unlocked'' (2001) and ''Oleander, Jacaranda: A Childhood Perceived'' (1994), a memoir of her Egyptian childhood. Her latest nonfiction work ''Ammonites & Leaping Fish: A Life in Time'', (latterly known as ''Dancing Fish and Ammonites: A Memoir'') was published in 2013. Beside novels and short stories, Lively has also written radio and television scripts, presented a radio programme, and contributed reviews and articles to various newspapers and journals.

Personal life

Lively married academic and political theorist

Jack Lively Henry Everett "Jack" Lively (May 29, 1885 – December 5, 1967) was an American right-handed baseball pitcher. A native of Alabama, Lively played professional baseball from 1906 to 1915. In 1908, he won a combined 25 games for two minor league ...

in 1957. They had a son and a daughter. Her husband died in 1998. She currently lives in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. Her house contains paintings, woodcuts and Egyptian potsherds. The journalist Valentine Low is Lively's half-brother.

Honours

Lively is a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...

. She is also a vice-president of the

Friends of the British Library The Friends of the British Library is a registered charitable organisation in the UK with close links to the British Library. It provides funding in the form of grants to the British Library in order to allow the Library to acquire new items an ...

. She was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in 1989,

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in 2001, and

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(DBE) in the

2012 New Year Honours 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

for services to literature. Lively was shortlisted for the

: once in 1977 for her first novel, ''

'', and again in 1984 for ''

''. She won the 1987 Booker Prize for her novel ''

''.

Books

Fiction for children

* '' Astercote'' (1970) * ''The Whispering Knights'' (1971) * ''The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy'' (1971) * ''The Driftway'' (1972) * '' The Ghost of Thomas Kempe'' (1973) – Carnegie Medal * ''The House in Norham Gardens'' (1974) * ''Going Back'' (1975) * ''Boy Without a Name'' (1975) * '' A Stitch in Time'' (1976) – Whitbread Children's Book Award * ''The Stained Glass Window'' (1976), illustrated by Michael Pollard * ''Fanny's Sister'' (1976) * ''

The Voyage of QV66 ''The Voyage of QV66'' is a children's novel by Penelope Lively. It is set in a strange, flooded, somewhat post-apocalyptic England devoid of people, and centres on a group of animals consisting of a dog, a cat, a cow, a horse, a pigeon, and a ...

'' (1978) * ''Fanny and the Monsters'' (1979) * ''Fanny and the Battle of Potter's Piece'' (1980) * ''The Revenge of Samuel Stokes'' (1981) * ''Uninvited Ghosts and other stories'' (1984), collection * ''Dragon Trouble'' (1984), illus. Valerie Littlewood * ''Debbie and the Little Devil'' (1987) * ''A House Inside Out'' (1987) * ''Princess by Mistake'' (1993) * ''Judy and the Martian'' (1993) * ''The Cat, the Crow and the Banyan Tree'' (1994), illus. Terry Milne * ''Good Night, Sleep Tight'' (1995), illus. Adriano Gon * ''Two Bears and Joe'' (1995), illus.

Jan Ormerod Jan Ormerod (23 September 1946 – 23 January 2013), born Janet Louise Hendry, was an Australian illustrator of children's books. She first came to prominence from her wordless picture book ''Sunshine'' which won the 1982 Mother Goose Award. He ...

* ''Staying with Grandpa'' (1995) * ''A Martian Comes to Stay'' (1995) * ''The Disastrous Dog'' (1995), illus. Robert Bartlett * ''Ghostly Guests'' (1997) * ''One, Two, Three ... Jump!'' (1998), illus.

* ''Dragon Trouble'' (1999), new edition illus. Andrew Rowland * ''In Search of a Homeland: The Story of

The Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the ...

'' (2001), illus. Ian Andrew

Fiction for adults

* ''

'' (1977) –

finalist * '' Nothing Missing but the Samovar, and other stories'' (1978), collection – Southern Arts Literature Prize * '' Treasures of Time'' (1979) – Arts Council National Book Award * ''Judgment Day'' (1980) * ''Next to Nature, Art'' (1982) * ''Perfect Happiness'' (1983) * ''Corruption, and other stories'' (1984), collection * ''

'' (1984) – Booker Prize finalist * ''Pack of Cards, collected short stories 1978–1986'' (1986), collection * ''

'' (1987) –

;

Whitbread Whitbread plc is a multinational British hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742, and had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s. Its largest division ...

finalist * '' Passing On'' (1989) * '' City of the Mind'' (1991) * '' Cleopatra's Sister'' (1993) * ''Heat Wave'' (1996) * ''Beyond the Blue Mountains'' (1997), collection (U.S. title: ''The Five Thousand and One Nights'') * ''Spiderweb'' (1998) * '' The Photograph'' (2003) * ''Making it up'' (2005) * ''Consequences'' (2007) * ''Family Album'' (2009) –

Costa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge of th ...

finalist * ''How It All Began'' (November 2011) * ''The Purple Swamp Hen and Other stories'' (May 2017)

Nonfiction

* ''The Presence of the Past: An introduction to landscape history'' (1976) * ''Oleander, Jacaranda: a Childhood Perceived'' (1994), autobiographical * ''A House Unlocked'' (2001), autobiographical * ''Ammonites and Leaping Fish'' (2013), memoir (subsequently ''Dancing Fish and Ammonites: A Memoir'') * ''Life in the Garden'' (2018), memoir

References

External links

* *
Audio slideshow interview
about ''Family Album'' o
The Interview Online
*
Interview with Penelope Lively
''ALL ABOUT KIDS!'' TV Series, Episode #165 (1994)
Interview with Penelope Lively
''A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour'' TV Series, Episode #79 (1994) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lively, Penelope 1933 births Living people Writers from Cairo British children's writers British fantasy writers Booker Prize winners Carnegie Medal in Literature winners Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists 20th-century British women writers 21st-century British women writers British women short story writers British women children's writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers British women novelists