David Henry Wilson (born 1937, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) is an English writer. As an author he is best known for his

children's stories A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

such as the '' Jeremy James'' series. Wilson has also had a number of plays produced in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, both for children and adults. He is also the author of ''

The Coachman Rat ''The Coachman Rat'' is an alternative account of the classic fairy tale of Cinderella. It was published in 1989 and written by children's author David Henry Wilson. Plot The narrative follows the life of Robert, the rat that was transformed i ...

'' (1989), a satirical novel based on the

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

story.

Biography

Wilson was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

. He has lived in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and for many years was a lecturer at the universities of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

(where he founded and ran the university theatre). Wilson has had many books published in the

. A number of these have also been translated into other languages. He also translates many works from French and German, ranging from children's books by Kirsten Boie to travel guides by Peter Sager, art history by Werner Hofmann, and literary theory by

Wolfgang Iser Wolfgang Iser (22 July 1926 – 24 January 2007) was a German literary scholar. Biography Wolfgang Iser was born in Marienberg, Germany. His parents were Paul and Else (Steinbach) Iser. He studied literature in the universities of Leipzig and T� ...

. He is also a prolific playwright, writing both short and full-length works. A common theme appears to be sequels to works by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Personal life

Wilson is widowed and has three grown-up children; he now lives in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. He is a fan of

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and also enjoys

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

. His youngest child, J.J. Amaworo Wilson is an American-based author whose magical realist novel ''Damnificados'' is an award winner.

Selected works for children

*The Jeremy James series, comprising: **''Elephants Don’t Sit on Cars (1978)'' **''Never Say Moo to a Bull'', formerly ''Getting Rich With Jeremy James'' (1979) **''How the Lion Lost his Lunch'', formerly ''Beside the Sea with Jeremy James'' (1980) **''Can a Spider Learn to Fly?'', formerly ''How to Stop a Train with One Finger'' (1983) **''Do Goldfish Play the Violin?'' (1985) **''Please Keep Off the Dinosaur'' (1993) **''Do Gerbils Go to Heaven?'' (1996) **''Never Steal Wheels from a Dog'' (2001) *These have been combined by Macmillan Children's Books into three volumes: **''Triple Trouble with Jeremy James'' **''Causing Chaos with Jeremy James'' **''Making Mischief with Jeremy James'' *The Fastest Gun Alive *The Superdog series - ''Superdog'', ''Superdog the Hero'', ''Superdog in Trouble'' *Gander of the Yard, Gideon Gander Solves the World's Greatest Mysteries *''

'', a novel (Carroll & Graf, 1989) *''The Castle of Inside Out'' (Alma Books, 1997)

Selected plays

*''We’re Looking for Mary Pickford''. Two ancient children rebel against their mother. *''Jones v Jones''. The disintegration of a marriage. *''Who Cares?'' A farcical tragedy, in which two pensioners prepare to donate their meagre savings to charity *'' People in Cages''. *''Are You Normal, Mr Norman? & other short plays'', including the title play, in which Mr Norman visits a demon dentist *''The Death Artist''. *''Gas and Candles'' *''The Make-Up Artist'' (1973),

one-act A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

play employing extensive quotation from Shakespeare.

Selected Shakespearian themed plays

*''Shylock's Revenge'', a full-length sequel to ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

'' (

Shakespearian William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

–sized cast, first produced at

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

). *''Iago, The Villain of Venice'', a full-length sequel to ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'' (another large cast). *''Excellent Beauty & other short plays'', including ''How To Avoid A Tragedy'', a 30-minute, happy-ending romp through Shakespeare's four great

tragedies A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain ...

(3m, 1f, winner of the Hydrae Prize 2003.) "Very witty, light and entertaining" (

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

). *''

Lear Lear or Leir may refer to: Acronyms * Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios, a Mexican association of revolutionary artists and writers * Low Energy Ion Ring, an ion pre-accelerator of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN ** Low Energy Antipr ...

's Fool / The Tragedy of

Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...

''. Two one-hour plays, exploring two of Shakespeare's most enigmatic characters. (4m, 1f and a minimum of 4m, 2f, first produced at the

Jermyn Street Theatre Jermyn Street Theatre is a performance venue situated on Jermyn Street, in London's West End. It is an Off West End studio theatre. History Jermyn Street Theatre opened in August 1994. It was formerly the changing rooms for staff at a Spaghet ...

, London.) "Rewriting Shakespeare requires a fair amount of courage, not to mention talent – both of which David Henry Wilson appears to possess in considerable amounts" (''West End Extra'').

References

External links

HopeCorner.net
– The works of David Henry Wilson {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, David Henry 1937 births Living people Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge English children's writers English dramatists and playwrights People educated at Dulwich College French–English translators German–English translators English translators English male dramatists and playwrights English male non-fiction writers