Susan Mary Cooper (born 23 May 1935) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

author of children's books. She is best known for '' The Dark Is Rising'', a

contemporary fantasy Contemporary fantasy, also known as modern fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy, set in the present day or, more accurately, the time period of the maker. It is perhaps most popular for its subgenre, urban fantasy. Strictly, supernatural fiction c ...

series set in England and Wales, which incorporates British mythology such as the

Arthurian King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

legends and Welsh folk heroes. For that work, in 2012 she won the lifetime Margaret A. Edwards Award from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

, recognizing her contribution to writing for teens. In the 1970s two of the five novels were named the year's best English-language book with an "authentic Welsh background" by the

Welsh Books Council The Books Council of Wales (previously known as the Welsh Books Council) or Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru was established in 1961. Today it is funded by the Welsh Government. The council's aims are to promote the interests of Welsh language books and Engl ...

Biography

Cooper was born in 1935 in

Burnham, Buckinghamshire Burnham is a large village and civil parish that lies north of the River Thames in Buckinghamshire, between the towns of Maidenhead and Slough, about 24 miles west of Charing Cross, London. It is probably best known for the nearby Burnham Beec ...

, to Ethel May (''née'' Field) and her husband John Richard Cooper. Her father had worked in the reading room of the Natural History Museum until going off to fight in the Second World War, from which he returned with a wounded leg. He then pursued a career in the offices of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

. Her mother was a teacher of ten-year-olds and eventually became deputy head of a large school. Her younger brother Roderick also grew up to become a writer. Cooper lived in Buckinghamshire until she was 21, when her parents moved to her grandmother's village of

Aberdyfi Aberdyfi (), also known as Aberdovey ( ), is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales, located on the northern side of the estuary of the River Dyfi. The population of the community was 878 at the 2011 census. The electoral ward had a larg ...

in Wales. She attended Slough High School and then earned a degree in

Somerville College Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where she was the first woman to edit the undergraduate newspaper ''Cherwell'' with her co-editor Patrick Nobes. After graduating, she worked as a

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

for ''

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, whi ...

'' (London) under

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., an ...

and wrote in her spare time. During that period she began work on the series ''The Dark Is Rising'' and finished her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, the

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

''Mandrake'', published by

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publishe ...

in 1964. Cooper emigrated to the United States in 1963 to marry Nicholas J. Grant, a Professor of

Metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

, and a widower with three teenage children. She had two children with him, Jonathan Roderick Howard Grant (b. 1965) and Katharine Mary Grant (b. 1966; later Katharine Glennon). She then became a full-time writer, focusing on ''The Dark Is Rising'' and on ''Dawn of Fear'' (1970), a novel based on her experiences of the Second World War. Eventually she wrote fiction for both children and adults, a series of picture books, film screenplays, and works for the stage. Around the time of writing ''Seaward'' (1983), both of her parents died, and her marriage to Grant was dissolved. In July 1996, she married the Canadian-American actor and her sometime co-author

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer. Early life Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman an ...

, the widower of

Jessica Tandy Jessie Alice Tandy (7 June 1909 – 11 September 1994) was a British-American actress. Tandy appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving an Academy Award, four Tony Awards, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe ...

. (Cronyn and Tandy had starred in the

Broadway production Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

of ''

Foxfire Foxfire, also called fairy fire and chimpanzee fire, is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood. The bluish-green glow is attributed to a luciferase, an oxidative enzyme, which emits light as it reacts with ...

'', written by Cooper and Cronyn and staged in 1982.) After Cronyn's death in 2003, she moved back to Massachusetts, building a house facing the North River in Marshfield,Nancy Shohet West
"'Children are as good readers as ever,' says acclaimed author Susan Cooper"
''The Boston Globe'', 11 March 2020. and also living in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. The history of the Marshfield area was the basis for her 2013 book ''Ghost Hawk'', in which the spirit of a

Wampanoag The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island," p. ...

, whose people were decimated by European disease, witnesses the transformation of Massachusetts by the

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the passengers on the ...

.''Ghost Hawk''
LCC record. Retrieved 2013-02-12.

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

adapted ''The Dark Is Rising'' (1973) as a film in 2007, '' The Seeker''. Retrieved 2012-03-25. It disappointed Cooper, who requested to no avail that some changes from her narrative be reverted. From 2006 to 2012, Cooper was on the Board of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance (NCBLA), a US

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that advocates for literacy, literature, and libraries. In April 2017, Cooper gave the fifth annual

Tolkien Lecture The J.R.R. Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature is a free public lecture delivered annually at Pembroke College, Oxford University. The series was founded by Pembroke postgraduate students Will Badger and Gabriel Schenk in memory of J.R.R. Tol ...

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named aft ...

, speaking on the role of fantasy literature in contemporary society.Photographs, podcast, and video for Susan Cooper's Tolkien Lecture
''The J.R.R. Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature'', 2017-04-30. Retrieved 2017-06-20. In 2019 she published ''The Shortest Day'', based on her performance poem of the same title written for the Cambridge Christmas ''

Revels ''Revels'' is a contemporary series of American seasonal stage performances, incorporating singing, dancing, recitals, and theatrics loosely organized around a central theme or narrative. The folk-tradition-based performances started in 1957, we ...

'' in the 1970s.

Awards

For her lifetime contribution as a children's writer, Cooper was U.S. nominee in 2002 for the biennial, international

Hans Christian Andersen Award The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

, the highest international recognition available to creators of children's books. The

's Margaret A. Edwards Award recognises one writer and a particular body of work for "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature". Cooper won the award in 2012 citing the five Dark Is Rising novels, published 1965 to 1977. The citation observed, "In one of the most influential epic high fantasies in literature, Cooper evokes Celtic and Arthurian mythology and masterly world-building in a high-stakes battle between good and evil, embodied in the coming of age journey of Will Stanton." She has also been recognised for single books: *1974, Newbery Honor (runner-up for the Medal), ''The Dark Is Rising'' (1973 novel) *1976,

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished cont ...

, ''The Grey King'' *1976,

Tir na n-Og Award The Tir na n-Og Awards (abbreviated TnaO) are a set of annual children's literary awards in Wales from 1976. They are presented by the Books Council of Wales to the best books published during the preceding calendar year in each of three awards ca ...

, ''The Grey King'' *1978, Tir na n-Og Award, ''Silver on the Tree'' *1989,

B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peo ...

Janusz Korczak Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit (22 July 1878 or 1879 – 7 August 1942), was a Polish Jewish educator, children's author and pedagogue known as ''Pan Doktor'' ("Mr. Doctor") or ''Stary Doktor'' ("Old Doctor"). After spending m ...

Literary Prize, ''Seaward''

Works

Biography

* ''J. B. Priestley: Portrait of an Author'' (London: Heinemann, 1970) – biography of the English writer and socialist

John Boynton Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

"J. B. Priestley: Portrait of an Author"
Library of Congress Catalog Record (LCC). Retrieved 2013-02-12. * ''The Magic Maker: A Portrait of John Langstaff and His Christmas Revels'' (

Candlewick Press Candlewick Press, established in 1992 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, is part of the Walker Books group. The logo depicting a bear carrying a candle is based on Walker Books's original logo. Sebastian Walker launched Walker Books fro ...

, 2011) – juvenile biography of John Langstaff, founder of the ''

'' performances According to the publisher description, Cooper is "a friend and writer for the Revels".
"The Magic Maker: a Portrait of John Langstaff, Creator of the Christmas ..."
LCC record. Retrieved 2013-02-12.

Other nonfiction

* ''Behind the Golden Curtain: A View of the USA'' (Hodder & Stoughton and Scribner's, 1965) * ''Dreams and Wishes: Essays on Writing for Children'' (Simon & Schuster, 1996)

Drama

* ''Foxfire'', Cooper and Hume Cronyn (Samuel French Inc, 1982), stage playbook – produced on Broadway as ''

'' (1982) . Retrieved 2012-03-15. – based on the

Foxfire books ''Foxfire'' magazine began in 1966, written and published as a quarterly American magazine by students at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, a private secondary education school located in the U.S. state of Georgia. At the time ''Foxfire'' began, Rabu ...

Cooper wrote four screenplays produced for television, one supernatural tale for children and three more adaptations of books about Appalachia (as ''Foxfire''). * ''Dark Encounter'' (''Shadows'', Series 2; Thames Television, 1976) * ''The Dollmaker'' (ABC, 1984) * ''To Dance with the White Dog'' (Hallmark, 1993) * ''Jewel'' (CBS, 2001)

Novels

;''The Dark Is Rising'' * ''

Over Sea, Under Stone ''Over Sea, Under Stone'' is a contemporary fantasy novel written for children by the English author Susan Cooper, first published in London by Jonathan Cape in 1965. Cooper wrote four sequels about ten years later, making it the first volume i ...

'' (1965) * '' The Dark Is Rising'' (1973) * ''

Greenwitch Greenwitch is a contemporary fantasy novel by Susan Cooper, published by Atheneum Press in 1974. It is the third entry in the five book ''Dark Is Rising Sequence''. Synopsis The Drew children – Simon, Jane, and Barney – return to Cornwa ...

'' (1974) * ''

The Grey King ''The Grey King'' is a contemporary fantasy novel by Susan Cooper, published almost simultaneously by Chatto & Windus and Atheneum in 1975. It is the fourth of five books in her Arthurian fantasy series '' The Dark is Rising''. ''The Grey Kin ...

'' (1975) * ''

Silver on the Tree ''Silver on the Tree'' is a contemporary fantasy novel by Susan Cooper, published by Chatto & Windus in 1977. It is the final entry in the five book ''Dark Is Rising Sequence''. Plot Will Stanton and his mentor Merriman, two of the last Old O ...

'' (1977) ;''Boggart'' *'' The Boggart'' (1993) *''The Boggart and the Monster'' (1997) *''The Boggart Fights Back'' (2018) ;Other *''Mandrake'' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1964), science fiction for adults *''Dawn of Fear'' (1970), autobiographical World War II story *''Seaward'' (1983) *''

King of Shadows ''King of Shadows'' is a children's historical novel by Susan Cooper published in 1999 by Penguin In the United Kingdom, it was a finalist for both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Plot Nathan 'Nat' Field is a y ...

'' (1999) *''Green Boy'' (2002) *''Victory'' (June 2006) * ''Ghost Hawk'' (2013)

Children's picture books

*''Jethro and the Jumbie'' (1979), illustrated by

Ashley Bryan Ashley Frederick Bryan (July 13, 1923February 4, 2022) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. Most of his subjects are from the African-American experience. He was U.S. nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006 ...

*''The Silver Cow: A Welsh Tale'' (1983), illustrated by

Warwick Hutton Warwick Hutton (17 July 1939 – 28 September 1994) was a British painter, glass engraver, illustrator, and children's author. He is most widely known for elegant pen and ink and watercolor illustrations for children’s books. His subjec ...

*''The Selkie Girl'' (1986), illustrated by Warwick Hutton, a retelling of the Selkie legend *''Matthew's Dragon'' (1991), illustrated by Jos. A. Smith *''Tam Lin'' (1991), illustrated by Warwick Hutton, a retelling of the Tam Lin legend *''Danny and the Kings'' (1993), illustrated by Jos. A. Smith *''Frog'' (2002), illustrated by Jane Browne *''The Magician's Boy'' (2005), adapting her short play for the 1988 Revels, illustrated by Serena Riglietti *''The Word Pirates (2019), illustrated by Steven Kellogg *''The Shortest Day (2019), illustrated by

Carson Ellis Carson Friedman Ellis (born October 5, 1975) is a Canadian-born American children's book illustrator and artist. She received a Caldecott Honor for her children's book '' Du Iz Tak?'' (2016). Her work is inspired by folk art, art history, and mys ...

Short fiction

* "Muffin", Amy Ehrlich, ed., ''When I Was Your Age: Original Stories about Growing Up (Volume 1)'' (Candlewick) – story set in World War II England (as ''Dawn of Fear'') * "Ghost Story", ''Don't Read This!'' (US, Front Street), ''Fingers on the Back of the Neck'' (UK, Puffin) – collection supporting IBBY * ''Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out'' (Candlewick) – Cooper wrote one piece of this mixed-genre NCBLA collaboration * ''The Exquisite Corpse Adventure'' (Candlewick) – Cooper wrote one episode of this sequential story collaboration of children's authors and illustrators by NCBLA for the LC website * "The Caretakers", ''Haunted'' (Anderson Press collection, UK only)

References

External links

* – official website with links to articles and interviews available online, at "About Writing for Children"
The NCBLA Board of Directors: Susan Cooper
*

– including synopses, cover art, and reviews {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Susan 1935 births Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford British expatriates in the United States English children's writers English fantasy writers Living people Margaret A. Edwards Award winners Newbery Honor winners Newbery Medal winners People educated at Upton Court Grammar School People from Burnham, Buckinghamshire World Fantasy Award-winning writers English women novelists Writers of modern Arthurian fiction

Biography

Awards

Works

Biography

Other nonfiction

Drama

Novels

Children's picture books

Short fiction

See also

References

Further reading

External links