Gillian Claire Cross (born December 24, 1945) is a British author of

children's books 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 ...

. She won the 1990 Carnegie Medal for ''

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

'' and the 1992 Whitbread Children's Book Award for '' The Great Elephant Chase''. She also wrote '' The Demon Headmaster'' book series, which was later turned into a

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in January 1996; a sequel series was produced in 2019.

Personal life and education

Gillian Clare Arnold was born in London on 24 December 1945 to James Eric and Joan Emma Arnold. As a girl, she attended the North London Collegiate School. She married Martin Cross on May 10, 1967. Later, she received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

with first-class honours from

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

in 1969, and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from the same university in 1972. In 1974, she received a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree from the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

. Cross and her husband had four children.

Career

Before becoming a full-time writer, Cross held several different jobs, including acting as an assistant to a Member of Parliament. In 1979, she published her first book, ''The Runaway''. Three years later, she inaugurated ''The Demon Headmaster'' series of eight books (1982 to 2019). The same year, she also completed ''The Dark Behind the Curtain'', a horror story illustrated by David Parkins and published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. It was highly commended for the 1982 Carnegie Medal from the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP, pronounced ) is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the United Kingdom. It was established in 2002 as a merger of th ...

, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. ''A Map of Nowhere'', published in 1988, was highly commended for the 1988 Carnegie. Two years later, she won the Medal two years later for ''

,'' which was also runner-up for the 1991

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 ...

. In early 2014, she became a patron for the

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

-based charity Cord, after their work in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

inspired her latest novel, ''After Tomorrow''. In the 2024 Dorset Council election, Gillian Cross contested Beacon ward as a Labour Party candidate.

Awards and honours

Three of Cross's books are Junior Library Guild selections: '' The Great American Elephant Chase'' (1995), ''New World'' (1995), and ''Pictures in the Dark'' (1997). In 1987, '' The Horn Book Magazine'' has included two of Cross's books on their list of the best fiction of the year: ''Roscoe’s Leap'' (1987) and ''The Great American Elephant Chase'' (1993).

Bibliography

* ''The Runaway'' (1979) * ''The Iron Way'' (1979) * ''Revolt at Ratcliffe's Rags'' (1979) * ''A Whisper of Lace'' (1981) * ''The Dark Behind the Curtain'' (1982) * The Demon Headmaster series: *# ''The Demon Headmaster'' (1982) *# ''The Prime Minister's Brain'' (1985) *# ''The Revenge of the Demon Headmaster'' (1994) *# ''The Demon Headmaster Strikes Again'' (1996) *# ''The Demon Headmaster Takes Over'' (1997) *# ''Facing the Demon Headmaster'' (2002) *# ''Total Control'' (2017) *# ''Mortal Danger'' (2019) * ''Born of the Sun'' (1983) * ''On the Edge'' (1984) * ''Swimathon!'' (1986) * '' Chartbreak'' (1986); US title, ''Chartbreaker'' * ''Roscoe's Leap'' (1987) * ''A Map of Nowhere'' (1988) * ''Rescuing Gloria'' (1989) * ''

'' (1990) * ''The Monster from Underground'' (2009) * ''Twin and Super-Twin'' (1990) * ''The Mintyglo Kid'' (1991) * ''Gobbo the Great'' (1991) * ''Rent-a-Genius'' (1991) * ''Save Our School'' (1991) * '' The Great Elephant Chase'' (1992); US title, ''The Great American Elephant Chase'' * ''The Tree House'' (1993) * ''The Furry Maccaloo'' (1993) * ''Beware Olga!'' (1993) * ''What Will Emily Do?'' (1994) * ''New World'' (1994) * ''The Crazy Shoe Shuffle'' (1995) * ''Posh Watson'' (1995) * ''Pictures in the Dark'' (1996) * ''The Roman Beanfeast'' (1996) * ''The Goose Girl'' (1998) * ''

Tightrope Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope ...

'' (1999) * ''Down with the Dirty Danes!'' (2000) * ''Calling a Dead Man'' (2001); US title, ''Phoning a Dead Man'' * ''The Treasure in the Mud'' (2001) * Dark Ground trilogy, or The Lost trilogy: *# ''The Dark Ground'' (2004) *# ''The Black Room'' (2005) *# ''The Nightmare Game'' (2006) * ''Sam Sorts It Out'' (2005) * ''Brother Aelred's Feet'' (2007) * ''Where I Belong'' (2007) * ''After Tomorrow'' (2013) * ''Shadow Cat'' (2015)

Notes

References

External links

* *
Gillian Cross at Fantastic FictionAuthor profile and interviewGillian Cross answers questions about writing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Gillian English children's writers Carnegie Medal in Literature winners Costa Book Award winners Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Sussex People educated at North London Collegiate School Writers from London 1945 births Living people Labour Party (UK) politicians