Terence Blacker FRSL (born 5 February 1948, near Hadleigh, Suffolk) is an English songwriter, author and columnist. __TOC__

Biography

Blacker is the son of General Sir Cecil Blacker, and the brother of

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and former jockey Philip Blacker. He grew up on the family farm in Suffolk. He attended Hawtreys preparatory school and Wellington College before reading English at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, whence he graduated in 1969. Blacker began his working life in horse-racing and as an amateur jockey. Subsequently, he worked in publishing for 10 years during the 1970s and 1980s, where he was responsible for overseeing the publication of works by

Jerzy Kosinski Jerzy is the Polish version of the masculine given name George. The most common nickname for Jerzy is Jurek (), which may also be used as an official first name. Occasionally the nickname Jerzyk may be used, which means "swift" in Polish. Peopl ...

. Blacker became a full-time writer in 1983 and has written children's books and mysteries for adults. His first children's book ''If I Could Work'' was published in 1987 and his first adult novel, ''FIXX'', won critical acclaim and was described by ''

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 ...

'' as a "tour de force". He is an active member of

English PEN Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associat ...

, and is also an EAW member. In 1975 he married Caroline Soper, youngest daughter of the radical Methodist minister

Donald Soper Donald Oliver Soper, Baron Soper (31 January 1903 – 22 December 1998) was a British Methodist minister, socialist and pacifist. He served as President of the Methodist Conference in 1953–54. After May 1965 he was a peer in the House of Lor ...

(div. 2001). They have two children Xan and Alice. Blacker's partner is now Angela Sykes. He writes the "Endpaper" for ''The Author''. For many years, he wrote the "Harvey Porlock" column in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', as well as a column about the book business for ''Publishing News''. His regular writing for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', newspaper, usually consisting of twice-weekly columns, came to an end in December 2013 after nearly 16 years. Blacker was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2017.

Bibliography

*Adult books **''You Cannot Live as I Have Lived and Not End Up Like This: The Thoroughly Disgraceful Life and Times of Willie Donaldson'' (Ebury Press, 2007) **''Kill Your Darlings'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000) **''Revenance'' (Bloomsbury, 1996) **''The Fame Hotel'' (Bloomsbury, 1992) **''Fixx'' (Bloomsbury, 1989) *Children's books **''Missing, Believed Crazy'' (Macmillan Children's, July 2009) **''Parentswap'' (Farrar Straus Giroux, August 2006) **''Tinseltown'' (Macmillan Children's Books, January 2005) **''Boy2girl'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 2004) **''You Have Ghost Mail'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 2002) **''The Angel Factory'' (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2002) **''The Transfer'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1998) **''Nasty Neighbours / Nice Neighbours'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1992) **''Homebird'' (Piccadilly Press, 1991) (Prentice Hall & IBD, 1993 ) **''If I Could Work'' (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1991) **''The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' (Hodder Children's Books, 1990) **''Herbie Hamster, Where Are You?'' by Terence Blacker,

Pippa Unwin Pippa may refer to: * Pippa (given name) * Pippa Bacca (1974-2008), performance artist * Kelly Ripa (born 1970), nicknamed Pippa, American talk show host Fictional characters * Pippa Cross, a character in books by Libba Bray * Pippa Ross, a cha ...

(Random House Children's Books, 1990) **''Houdini, the Disappearing Hamster'' (Andersen Press, 1990) **''Henry and the Frights'' (Piccadilly Press, 1989) **''Neil's Book of the Dead'' by Terence Blacker, Nigel Planer (Pavilion Books, 1984) 'Girl power' by Terence Blacker * Ms Wiz series **''Out of Control, Ms Wiz'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 2009) **''Fangtastic, Ms Wiz Mayhem'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 2008) **''Totally Spaced, Ms Wiz'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 2008) **''Ms Wiz Mayhem'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 2006) **''Ms Wiz Superstar'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 2004) **''The Crazy World of Ms Wiz'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 2004) **''The Secret Life of Ms Wiz'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 2002) **''Ms Wiz: Millionaire'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 2001) **''Ms Wiz Goes to Hollywood'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 2000) **''Ms Wiz and the Sister of Doom'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1999) **''Ms Wiz Smells a Rat'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1998) **''Ms Wiz Supermodel'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1997) **''You're Kidding Me, Ms Wiz'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1996) **''Ms Wiz Loves Dracula'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1993) (Piccadilly Press, 1993 ) **''Power-crazy Ms Wiz'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1993) (Piccadilly Press, 1992 ) **''Time Flies for Ms Wiz'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1993) (Piccadilly Press, 1992 ) **''Ms Wiz Banned!'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1993) (Piccadilly Press, 1990 ) **''Ms Wiz Goes Live'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1993) (Piccadilly Press, 1990 ) **''In Control, Ms Wiz?'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1993) (Piccadilly Press, 1990 ) **''You're Nicked, Ms Wiz'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1993) (Piccadilly Press, 1989 ) **''In Stitches with Ms Wiz'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1993) (Piccadilly Press, 1989 ) -022-X)

References

External links

TerenceBlacker.com
Official website featuring his books for adults and children, latest articles, blogs and news.
Column archive
at ''

''
Terence Blacker
at

Journalisted The Media Standards Trust is a British media think tank formed in 2006. It carries out research on issues in the media sector. It also advocates for press freedom as well as industry quality, transparency and accountability. It is a registered char ...

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Terence Blacker Questions & Answers
from ''Writers Online''Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/News_and_Media/Columnists/Blacker,_Terence {{DEFAULTSORT:Blacker, Terence 1948 births Living people Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English columnists 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists People from Hadleigh, Suffolk English children's writers English male novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers People educated at Hawtreys English male non-fiction writers

Biography

Bibliography

See also

References

External links