Kate Thompson (born 10 November 1956) is a British Irish writer best known for

children's novels Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

. Most of her children's fiction is

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

but several of her books also deal with the consequences of

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...

Biography

Katharine Anna Thompson was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, the youngest child of the social historians and peace activists E. P. Thompson and Dorothy Towers. She has lived in Ireland since 1981 and many of her books are set there. She worked with horses and travelled in India, then settled in 1984 in

Inagh Inagh ( ; ) is a village and civil parish in County Clare, Ireland. It is situated 14 km west of Ennis on the Inagh River. The civil parish contains the villages of Inagh and Cloonanaha. Location The parish is part of the barony of Inc ...

in the west of Ireland with her partner Conor Minogue. They have two daughters, Cliodhna and Dearbhla. She is an accomplished

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

r with an interest in

Irish traditional music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...

, which is reflected in ''The New Policeman''. She won two major annual awards for '' The New Policeman'' (Bodley Head, 2005), set in modern

Kinvara Kinvara or Kinvarra () is a sea port village in the southwest of County Galway, Ireland. It is located in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Kinvarradoorus in the north of the Barony (Ireland), barony of Kiltartan. Kinvarra is also ...

and the Irish mythological Tír na nÓg: the

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annually recognised one fiction book written for Children's literature, children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conf ...

and the Whitbread Children's Book Award. It also won the Dublin Airport Authority Children's Book of the Year Award for 2005. She has won the Bisto Children's Book of the Year Award four times, for ''The Beguilers'', ''The Alchemist's Apprentice'', ''Annan Water'' and ''The New Policeman''. ''Creature of the Night'' was shortlisted for the 2008

Booktrust Teenage Prize The Booktrust Teenage Prize was an annual award given to young adult literature published in the UK. The prize was administered by Book Trust, an independent charity which promotes books and reading. The Booktrust Teenage Prize was last awarded ...

and the 2009 Carnegie Medal.

Works

;For adults * ''There is Something'' (1992), poetry * ''Down Among the Gods'' (1997) * ''Thin Air'' (1999) * ''An Act of Worship'' (2000) ;Illustrated books * ''Highway Robbery'' (2008) ;Children's novels * Switchers Trilogy :'' Switchers'' (1997) :'' Midnight's Choice'' (1998) :'' Wild Blood'' (1999) * Missing Link or Fourth World trilogy :''The Missing Link'' (2000) :''Only Human'' (2001) :''Origins'' (2002) *''The Beguilers'' (2001) *''The Alchemist's Apprentice'' (2002) *''Annan Water'' (2004) * New Policeman or Liddy trilogy :'' The New Policeman'' (2005) :''The Last of the High Kings'' (2007) :''The White Horse Trick'' (2010) * ''The Fourth Horseman'' (2006) * '' Creature of the Night'' (2008) * ''Wanted!'' (2010)

References

External links

*
The music of time: Julia Eccleshare talks to Kate Thompson, winner of the 2005 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize
(''The Guardian'', 30 September 2005)
Author of the month: Kate Thompson
(Dina Rabinovitch, ''The Guardian'', 24 January 2006) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Kate 1956 births Living people Writers from Halifax, West Yorkshire Writers from County Galway British women novelists 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists British children's writers Irish women novelists 20th-century Irish novelists 21st-century Irish novelists Irish children's writers Irish women children's writers Irish fantasy writers British women children's writers British women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century British women writers 21st-century British women writers Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners