Alice Kuipers (born 29 June 1979) is a British author living in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada who is best known for her young adult novels. ''Life on the Refrigerator Door'' won the Grand Prix de Viarmes, the Livrentête Prize, the Redbridge Teenage Book Award in 2008 and the Saskatchewan First Book Award in 2007, was narrated as an audio book by

Amanda Seyfried Amanda Michelle Seyfried ( ; born December 3, 1985) is an American actress and singer. She began acting at 15, with a recurring role as Lucy Montgomery in the CBS soap opera ''As the World Turns'' (1999–2001). She came to prominence for he ...

and

Dana Delany Dana Delany (born March 13, 1956) is an American actress. After appearing in small roles early in her career, Delany received her breakthrough role as Colleen McMurphy on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television drama ''China Beach'' (1 ...

, and has been adapted for theater in England, France and Japan. ''40 Things I Want To Tell You'' won a Saskatchewan Book Award for Young Adult Literature in 2013. ''The Worst Thing She Ever Did'' (''Lost For Words'' in the U.S.) won the

Arthur Ellis Award The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence, formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, are a group of Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the Crime Writers of Canada for the best Canadian crime and mystery writing published in t ...

for Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book in 2011.

Early life

Kuipers was born the first of three children in London, EnglandPanmacmillan website, Author Profile: Alice Kuipers
. Retrieved 21 July 2013.Harper Collins website, Author Profile: Alice Kuipers
Retrieved 21 July 2013.Grove, Bonnie (26 March 2012)

Novel Matters. Retrieved 21 July 2012. and is of Dutch and English descent. She attended the

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

in London, before receiving a Bachelor of Science in psychology from

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. She later graduated with Distinction with a Master of Arts degree in Writing from Manchester Metropolitan University. Her mother is Head of the Department of Psychology at King's College in London, England and a Professor of Clinical Psychology. Her father works as an advisor to local and central government on criminal and civil justice systems, and was previously a Chair of Governors and troubleshooting at

OFSTED The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

. At eighteen, Kuipers travelled alone for a year with an itinerary that included the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Cambodia, Australia, Vietnam and the U.S., which she has stated had a significant influence on her work. In an interview with ''Chatelaine'' magazine, Kuipers said, "I could spend my whole life exploring it he worldand never come close to seeing everything there is to see... I learned not to worry too much if I took a wrong step. Something would come of whichever route I chose."Black, Grant (27 May 2011)
Alice Kuipers: "A Woman of Style and Substance"
''Chatelaine Magazine'', Canada. Retrieved 22 July 2013. Kuipers moved to Saskatchewan, Canada and settled there in 2003. She lives in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, with her husband, the writer

Yann Martel Yann Martel, (born June 25, 1963) is a Canadian author who wrote the Man Booker Prize–winning novel '' Life of Pi'', an international bestseller published in more than 50 territories. It has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and spe ...

, and their four young children.

Career

Kuipers' debut young adult novel in 2007, ''Life on the Refrigerator Door'', sold in twenty-eight countries and was the winner of the Saskatchewan First Book Award, the Sheffield Libraries Choice Award and the Grand Prix de Viarmes. It was long-listed for the Carnegie Medal.The Word on the Street, Author Alice Kuipers
. National Book & Magazine Festival, Saskatoon, 22 September 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2013. The audio version of the novel was narrated by

and

in 2007. It was adapted for theatre and staged in London, England in 2014 and in Paris, France in 2016.Schedule for the Théâtre de Paris, Paris France, 2016
Retrieved 19 March 2016.
Retrieved 19 March 2016. ''Life on the Refrigerator Door'' is told through a series of notes and post-its written from a mother to her fifteen-year-old daughter before and during a family crisis. Kuipers' second young adult novel in 2010, ''The Worst Thing She Ever Did'' (''Lost For Words'' in the U.S.), sold in 9 territories and won the Arthur Ellis Award, Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book 2011 and the OLA White Pine Official Selection 2011.Medley, Mark (3 June 2011)
Winners of Arthur Ellis Awards
. National Post, Canada. Retrieved 21 July 2013. This novel deals with confronting past tragedy and is set in London, England.Bell, Meghan (Spring 2013)
Interview with Alice Kuipers: On Style, Crime Writing, and the Expansion of Genre
''Room Magazine'', Canada. Retrieved 22 March 2016. ''40 Things I Want To Tell You'' was published in 2012 and rights were sold in Germany, Greece, Denmark and Croatia. It won a Saskatchewan Book Award for Young Adult Literature in 2013 and was a 2013 Young Adult Honour Book for the Canadian Library Association. Kuipers' third novel is about a teenage writer of an on-line advice column for teenagers, who is unable to follow her own good advice. In 2014, three books by Kuipers were published. ''The Death of Us'', a young adult novel, is a coming of age story about two young girls involved in a deadly car accident. As well, ''The Best Ever Bookworm Book, by Violet and Victor Small'', a book for children illustrated by Bethanie Murguia, and ''Lost and Curious Things'', an interactive ebook, were published. In 2015, Kuipers' short story, ''Ten Minutes'', "the raw, beautiful story of a young woman's journey towards self-awareness and wellness" was released. Two more books by Kuipers were published in 2016: ''Violet and Victor Write the Most Fabulous Fairytale'', again with illustrator Bethanie Murguia, as well as ''Secrets of the Badlands'', an interactive ebook. In 2017, Kuipers released another young adult novel, ''Me (and) Me'', about a rising rock star, forced to make a terrible choice "and in that moment her world splits into two distinct lives". Kuipers' non-fiction has been published in ''Easy Living Magazine'', the ''Sunday Telegraph'' and the ''Bristol Review of Books''. She has also written for the children's market. Since 1999, Kuipers has led writing workshops in Hong Kong, the UK, Australia, Canada and the US, including a workshop in the Yukon in 2004. She has been an invited lecturer and workshop leader at several festivals, including Montreal Blue Met Festival, Brisbane Festival of Literature, The Word on the Street Saskatoon, Wordfest Calgary, and The Vancouver Writers Fest, and was keynote presenter at the Saskatchewan Festival of Words in 2010. In 2008, she won the Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor's Artists Award '30 Below' for young artists. In 2010, she spent a year as Saskatoon Public Library Writer in Residence, working with community groups, individuals, teaching workshops and visiting schools. Kuipers worked with software developer, Rich Lowenberg, to create the first Writing Tips App for iPhone, which went on to be the second bestselling app in the Educational Apps Listings in both the US and Canada in 2010.

Published works

* ''Life on the Refrigerator Door'' (2007) * "ne t'inquiéte pas pour moi" (2008) * 'You Today' (Short Story) (2008) * ''The Worst Thing She Ever Did'' (''Lost For Words'' in the U.S.) (2010) * ''Writing Tips App for iPhone'' (co-written with Rich Lowenberg in 2010) * ''40 Things I Want to Tell You'' (2012) * ''Death of Us'' (2014) * ''The Bookworm Book, by Violet and Victor Small'' (2014) * ''Lost and Curious Things'' (Interactive eBook) (2014) * 'Ten Minutes' (Short Story) (2015) * ''Violet and Victor Write the Most Fabulous Fairytale'' (2016) * ''Secrets of the Badlands'' (Interactive eBook) (2016) * ''Me (and) Me'' (2017)

Awards

*''Life on the Refrigerator Door'' **A New York Public Library "Book for the Teen Age" (US) 2008 **Winner of the Redbridge Teenage Book Award (UK) 2008 **Winner of the Sheffield Libraries Choice Book Award (UK) 2008 **Winner of the Grand Prix de Viarmes (France) 2008 **Winner of th
Prix Livrentête, Prix Livrentête
(France) 2008 **Winner of the Sweyne Park School Year 7 Book Award (UK) 2008 **Winner of th
Saskatchewan First Book Award (Canada) 2007
**Shortlisted for th
Coventry Inspiration Book Award
(UK) 2008 **Shortlisted for th
Oxfordshire Book Awards
(UK) 2008 **Shortlisted for th
Salt Lake City County Library System Reader's Choice Award
(US) 2008 **Longlisted for the

Carnegie Medal (literary award) The Carnegie Medal for Writing, established in 1936 as the Carnegie Medal, is an annual British literary award for English-language books for children or young adults. It is conferred upon the author by the Chartered Institute of Library and ...

(UK) 2008 **Winner o
Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor's Artists Award for young artists '30 Below' in 2008
*'You Today' **Shortlisted for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

Literary Awards for Short Stories (Canada) 2009 *''Writing Tips App for iPhone'' (co-written) **Number 2 bestselling app in the Educational Apps Listings in US and Canada in 2010 *''The Worst Thing She Ever Did'' **Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award, Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book (Canada) 2011 **

White Pine Award The White Pine Award is one of the annual literature Forest of Reading awards sponsored by the Ontario Library Association (OLA). Every year, 10 books are nominated for the award and students vote their favourite book. The White Pine Nonfictio ...

of the Ontario Library Association, Official Selection, (Canada) 2011 **Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Books of the Year selection (Canada) for 2011 **The Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids and Teens, 2011 selection *''40 Things I Want To Tell You'' **Winner of the Saskatchewan Book Award for Young Adult Literature (Canada) 2013 **Young Adult Honour Book for the

Canadian Library Association The Canadian Library Association (CLA) was a national, predominantly English-language association which represented 57,000 library workers across Canada. It also spoke for the interests of the 21 million Canadians who are members of libraries. C ...

2013 *''The Death of Us'' **Nominated for the 2015 SaskEnergy Young Adult Literature Award **Shortlisted for the Canadian Library Association 2015 Young Adult Book Award *''The Best Ever Bookworm Book, by Violet and Victor Small'' **Selected as an Amazon Best Pick for December 2014 **Included in Book Riot's "Favorite Picture Book Art of 2014" *''Violet and Victor Write the Most Fabulous Fairytale'' **Part of the Winter 2015 Kids' Indie Next List

Theatrical adaptations

''Life on the Refrigerator Door'' has been successfully adapted for stage in three languages. It was first adapted and directed by Amy Draper in 2014 at the Yard Theatre in Hackney Wick, London, England, starring Cassandra Bond and Angela Clerkin. In March 2016, it was staged in Paris, France under the name ''Je T'ai Laisse Un Mot Sur Le Frigo'' at the

Théâtre de Paris The Théâtre de Paris () is a theatre located at 15, rue Blanche in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, 9th arrondissement of Paris. It includes a second smaller venue, the Petit Théâtre de Paris. History The first theatre on the site was built b ...

in the Salle Réjane. The play was adapted and directed by Marie-Pascale Osterrieth and starred Michèle Bernier and Charlotte Gaccio. The building which houses the current Théâtre de Paris was first built in 1730, and later converted to the New Theater in 1891 where the works of playwrights such as Henrik Ibsen have been presented. The story was staged in Japan in June 2016 under the name ''Reizōko no Ue no Jinsei'' at the Sogetsu Hall Theater in Tokyo and at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. The adaptation was by Noriko Sanya and the play was directed by Shatama Sakae with music direction by Yasuhiro Kasamatsu.Official Site: Life on the Refrigerator Door
Retrieved 23 March 2016.

Influences

In various interviews and Q and A sessions, Kuipers has named

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English writer best known for her 1847 novel, ''Wuthering Heights''. She also co-authored a book of poetry with her sisters Charlotte Brontë, Charlotte and Anne Bront� ...

Elizabeth Strout Elizabeth Strout (born January 6, 1956) is an American novelist and author. She is widely known for her works in literary fiction and her descriptive characterization. She was born and raised in Portland, Maine, and her experiences in her yout ...

Valerie Martin Valerie Martin (née Metcalf; born March 14, 1948) is an American novelist and short story writer. Her novel ''Property'' (2003) won the Orange Prize for Fiction. In 2012, ''The Observer'' named ''Property'' as one of "The 10 best historical n ...

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel ( ;"Seuss"
'' Mo Willems Mo Willems (born February 11, 1968) is an American writer, animator, voice actor, and children's book author. His work includes creating the animated television series '' Sheep in the Big City'' for Cartoon Network, working on '' Sesame Stre ...

and

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Good Wives'' (1869), ''Little Men'' (1871), and ''Jo's Boys'' ...

as having positively influenced her work. In an interview with Novel Matters, Kuipers said the novel she "most loved is called ''

The Glass Bead Game ''The Glass Bead Game'' (, ) is the last full-length novel by the German author Hermann Hesse. It was begun in 1931 in Switzerland, where it was published in 1943 after being rejected for publication in Germany due to Hesse's anti-Fascist views. ...

'' by Hermann Hesse" and that she admired

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

' ability to write dialogue.

References

External links

*
Alice Kuipers on CTV Morning Live, Literary Segment, CTV News SaskatoonHarper Collins, Author Profile of Alice KuipersPanmacmillan Author Profile for Alice KuipersFischer Verlage Publishing, Germany, Author Profile for Alice Kuipers

Magazine Culture, France, Author Profile for Alice KuipersAlice Kuipers at GoodreadsWorks by Alice Kuipers
on

Open Library Open Library is an online project intended to create "one web page for every book ever published". Created by Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Alexis Rossi, Anand Chitipothu, and Rebecca Hargrave Malamud, Open Library is a project of the Internet ...

at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuipers, Alice 1979 births Living people Canadian women novelists Writers from Saskatoon Canadian writers of young adult literature English children's writers English women novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers British women writers of young adult literature British writers of young adult literature 20th-century English women 20th-century English writers 21st-century English women 21st-century English writers Novelists from London Writers from London Novelists from Saskatchewan