Ann Pilling (born 17 October 1944) is an English author and poet best known for

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

. She has also written

horror fiction Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defin ...

under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Ann Cheetham. For ''Henry's Leg'', published by Viking Kestrel in 1985, she won the annual

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 ...

, a once-in-a-lifetime book award judged by a panel of British children's writers. Pilling was born in

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, Lancashire, and grew up in a house "groaning with books". She started writing poetry when she was eight. At twelve years old, she took herself to church because 'I had a strong sense of God'. Her religious faith is important to her but she more often chooses secular subjects. She studied English at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

and wrote a Master's thesis on

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

., her first introduction to contemporary children's books.

Works

Horror stories

The first four books (Dark Powers series) were originally published as by Ann Cheetham. *''Black Harvest'' (1983) *''The Beggar's Curse'' (1984) *''The Witch of Lagg'' (1985) *''The Pit'' (1987) *''The Empty Frame'' (1997)

Children's books

*''The Year of the Worm'' (1984) *''Henry's Leg'' (1985) *''The Friday Parcel'' (1986) *''No Guns No Oranges'' (1986) *''Our Best Stories'' (1986), eds. Pilling and A. Wood *''The Big Pink'' (1987) *''The Beast in the Basement'' (1988) *''Dustbin Charlie'' (1988) *''On the Lion's Side'' (1988) *''Stan'' (1988) *''The Big Biscuit'' (1989) *''The Jungle Sale'' (1989) *''Our Kid'' (1989) *''Getting Rid of Aunt Mildred'' (1990) *''The Donkey's Day Out'' (1990) * ''Before I Go to Sleep: Bible Stories, Poems, and Prayers for Children'', selected and retold, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton (London: Kingfisher, New York: Crown Publishers, Toronto: Kids Can Press, 1990); reissued 2000 as ''A Kingfisher Treasury of Bible Stories, Poems and Prayers for Bedtime'' *''The Boy with His Leg in the Air'' (1991) *''Vote for Baz'' (1992) *''Considering Helen'' (1993) 'Dustbin Charlie Cleans Up' (1994) * ''The Kingfisher Children's Bible: Stories from the Old and New Testaments'', retold, illus. Denton (2003); reissued 2003 as ''The Kingfisher Book of Bible Stories'' * ''Realms of Gold: Myths and Legends from Around the World'', retold, illus. Denton (1993); reissued 2003 as ''The Kingfisher Treasury of Myths and Legends'' *''The Baked Bean Kids'' (1993) *''Mother's Daily Scream'' (1995) *''The Life of Jesus'' (1996) *''Noah's Ark'' (1996) *''Amber's Secret'' (2000) *''Why Bear Has a Stumpy Tail and Other Creation Stories'' (2000) * ''The Catnappers: The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat'' (Collins, 2003), as by Ann Cheetham, illus. Clare Mackie

Adult books

*''A Broken Path'' (1991) *''Considering Helen'' (1993)

Poetry

*'Growing Pains' (2008, winner of Smith/Doorstop Pamphlet Competition) *'Home Field' (2008) Arrowhead Press *'The Dancing Sailors' ( 2011) Indigo Dreams Publishing *'Ground Cover' (2015) Indigo Dreams Publishing *'Ways of Speech' ( 2020) Shoestring Press *In Flight' ( 2024 ) Mudfog Press Awards

* 1986

for ''Henry's Leg''. Her 1988 children's books ''On the Lion's Side'' and ''Stan'' were shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.

References

External links

*
Ann Pilling
at publisher Puffin Books
Ann Pilling
at Fantastic Fiction * * (including 1 as Ann Cheetham) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pilling, Ann English children's writers Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners English women poets 1944 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Writers from Warrington