Catherine Fisher (born 1957) is a poet and novelist for children and Young Adults. Best known for her internationally bestselling novel '' Incarceron'' and its sequel, '' Sapphique,'' she has published over 40 novels and 5 volumes of poetry. She has worked as an archaeologist, and as a school and university teacher, is an experienced broadcaster and adjudicator and has taught at the Arvon Foundation and Ty Newydd Writers' Centres. She lives in Wales, UK.

Personal life

Fisher was born in Newport, Gwent, Wales. She graduated from the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

with a degree in English Literature and Education.

Work experience

Catherine Fisher has worked as a primary-school teacher and as an

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

. She also taught writing for children at the

University of South Wales The University of South Wales (USW) () is a public university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport. The ...

. She has been a full-time writer of fiction and poetry since 2002.

Writing

Since the late 1980s, Fisher has been writing children's

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, ...

, both Young Adult and Middle Grade. These novels have been translated into over 30 languages, and many of her works have won or been shortlisted for literary awards. She has twice won the Welsh Books Council Tir na n'Og prize for fiction in English, with ''The Candle Man'' (2000) and ''The Clockwork Crow'' (2015). Her young adult fantasies ''Incarceron'' and ''Sapphique'' were New York Times bestsellers and ''Times'' Book of the Year. ''The Oracle'', the first volume of a trilogy mixing Egyptian and Greek myth, was shortlisted for the

Whitbread Prize The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in United Kingdom, UK and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first ...

. ''The Clockwork Crow'', first of an acclaimed trilogy for middle grade, an enchanting reworking of Welsh fairylore and Victorian Gothic, was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Prize. Fisher's work mixes myth, legend and folktale, with vibrant characters and language that is precise and evocative. She has written several well-received re-tellings of Welsh myth and legend, including ''The Cat With Iron Claws'', and ''Culhwch and Olwen''. In addition to her writing for children, Fisher has published four poetry collections with

Seren Books Seren Books is the trading name of Poetry Wales Press, an independent publisher based in Bridgend, Wales, specialising in English-language writing from WalesFelicity Wood (23 August 2013). Rhyme and reason: The poetry market is a notoriously diffic ...

: ''Immrama'' (1988), ''The Unexplored Ocean'' (c. 1994), ''Altered States'' (1999) and ''The Bramble King'' (2019). She has also published a pamphlet, ''Folklore'' (2003), with Smith/Doorstop Books, and many poems in magazines and anthologies, including Poetry Wales, Poetry Now, The Poetry Review and the Forward Book of Poetry.Dates from British Library catalogue. The collection ''Immrama'' won the Welsh Arts Council Young Writers' Prize in 1989. She won the Cardiff International Poetry Competition in the same year with her poem 'Marginalia'.

Awards and honors

Publications

Poetry

*''Immrama'' (1988) Seren Books *''The Unexplored Ocean'' (1994)Seren Books *''Altered States'' (1999) Seren Books * ''Folklore'' (2003) Smith/Doorstop Books * ''The Bramble King'' (2019) Seren Books.

Prose

Standalone books

*''The Conjuror's Game'' (1990) The Bodley Head : ''The Conjuror's Game'' (1991) Red Fox *''Fintan's Tower'' (1991) The Bodley Head : ''Fintan's Tower'' (1992) Red Fox *''Saint Tarvel's Bell'' (1992) Chivers Press *''The Candle Man'' (1994.) The Bodley Head : ''The Candle Man'' (1994) Red Fox . *''The Hare And Other Stories'' (1994) Pont books *''Belin's Hill'' (1997) The Bodley Head : ''Belin's Hill'' (1997) Red Fox *''The Lammas Field'' (1999) Hodder Children's *''Darkwater Hall'' (2000) Hodder Children's *''Corbenic'' (2002) Red Fox *''Darkhenge'' (2005) The Bodley Head *''The Weather Dress'' (2005) Pont Books *''Crown of Acorns'' (May 2010) Hodder Children's Books.

The Snow-Walker trilogy

* ''The Snow-Walker's Son'' (1993) The Bodley Head Red Fox pb * ''The Empty Hand'' (1995) The Bodley Head Red Fox pb * ''The Soul Thieves'' (1996) The Bodley Head Red Fox pb

The Book of the Crow series

(US title: ''Relic Master series'') * ''The Relic Master'' Bodley Head 1998 Red Fox paperback 1998 (US title: ''The Dark City'', 2011) * ''The Interrex'' (1999) Bodley Head Red Fox paperback 2000 (US title: ''The Lost Heiress'', 2011) * ''Flain's Coronet'' (2000) Bodley Head Red Fox paperback (US title: ''The Hidden Coronet'', 2011) * ''The Margrave'' (2001) Red Fox paperback (US title: ''The Margrave'', 2011)

The Oracle trilogy

* '' The Oracle'' Hodder Childrens 2003 ' (US title: ''The Oracle Betrayed'' Greenwillow Books, 2003) * ''The Archon'' Hodder Childrens 2004 (US title: ''The Sphere of Secrets'' Greenwillow Books, 2004) * ''The Scarab'' Hodder Childrens 2005 (US title: ''Day of the Scarab'', Greenwillow Books 2005)

Incarceron series

* '' Incarceron'' (2007) Hodder Childrens 2007 US Dial Penguin. * '' Sapphique'' (2008) Hodder Childrens 2008 US Dial Penguin.

Chronoptika series

* ''Obsidian Mirror'' (2012) Hodder Childrens US Dial Penguin * ''The Box of Red Brocade'' (2013) Hodder Childrens (US title: ''Slanted Worlds'', 2013 Dial Penguin). * ''The Door in the Moon'' (2015) Hodder Childrens (2016 US Dial Penguin) * ''The Speed of Darkness'' (2016) Hodder Childrens The Clockwork Crow series *''The Clockwork Crow'' (2018) Firefly Press * ''The Velvet Fox'' (2019) Firefly Press * ''The Midnight Swan'' (2020) Firefly Press * * Re-tellings. * ''The Magic Thief (2010)'' Barrington Stoke.ISBN 9781842998212 * ''The Cat with Iron Claws. (2012)'' Pont Books. ISBN 9781848513174 * ''Culhwch and Olwen'' (2024) Graffeg Press ISBN 9781802586459 Short Stories. ''The Red Gloves and Other Stories'' (2021) Firefly Press. ISBN 9781913102685

References

Pollinger Limited page
on Catherine (accessed 24 August 2006).

External links

* *
Catherine Fisher at Fantastic FictionCatherine Fisher profile
at

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Catherine 1957 births Living people 20th-century Welsh poets 21st-century Welsh poets 20th-century Welsh novelists 21st-century Welsh novelists 20th-century Welsh women writers 21st-century Welsh women writers Welsh children's writers British women children's writers Welsh fantasy writers Academics of the University of Glamorgan Writers from Newport, Wales Date of birth missing (living people) British women science fiction and fantasy writers Welsh women poets Welsh archaeologists British women archaeologists British pamphleteers Welsh women novelists