Iain Lawrence (born 1955) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

author for children and young adults. In 2007 he won a

Governor General's Literary Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

in Children's Literature for ''Gemini Summer,'' and in 2011, he was presented with the

Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People The Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, colloquially called the Vicky, is given annually at the Writers' Trust Awards to a writer or illustrator whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth". It is a top honour for ...

Biography

Lawrence was born in

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in northern Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of the St. Mary's River directly across from its "twin city," Sault Ste. Marie, in the state of Michigan. The city's population was 72,051 at the 2021 census, makin ...

, in 1955. He has lived on

Gabriola Island Gabriola Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia (BC), Canada. It is about east of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, to which it is linked by a 20-minute ferry service. It has a land area of about and a resi ...

since 2000. Lawrence attended

Langara College Langara College (snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓ in ''Halkomelem'') is a public degree-granting college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which serves more than 19,000 students annually. Langara College started in 1965 as part of Vancouver Community ...

in Vancouver studying journalism. After school he worked for the '' Prince Rupert Daily News'' and other newspapers in northern British Columbia. In his free time he wrote a number of unpublished children's fiction books, and was able to publish two non-fiction books about sailing, his hobby. A Chicago agent encouraged him to concentrate on children's fiction so he reworked one of his earlier books, ''The Wrecker'', and sold it to Random House in 1994. Since then he has published many more books, in 2007 Random House reported he had sold more than one million books in North America.

List of books

''Gemini Summer''

The book was reviewed in ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', ''

Quill and Quire ''Quill & Quire'' is a Canadian magazine about the book and publishing industry. The magazine was launched in 1935 and has an average circulation of 5,000 copies per issue, with a publisher-claimed readership of 25,000. ''Quill & Quire'' reviews ...

'', ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'', ''CM Magazine'', ''Saskatoon StarPhoenix'', ''

The Horn Book Magazine ''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietors of t ...

'', ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

'', ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...

'', ''Library Media Connection'', ''Resource Links'', and ''

Books in Canada ''Books in Canada'' was a monthly magazine that reviewed Canadian literature, published in print form between 1971 and 2006. In its heyday it was the most influential literary magazine in Canada. Foundation One of the co-founders of ''Books in Ca ...

''.

Awards and honours

Nine of Lawrence's books are

Junior Library Guild Junior Library Guild, formerly the Junior Literary Guild, is a commercial Book sales club, book club devoted to juvenile literature. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, an adult book club created in 1927 by Samue ...

selections: ''The Wreckers'' (1998), ''Lord of the Nutcracker Men'' (2001), ''B for Buster'' (2004), ''The Convicts'' (2005), ''The Cannibals'' (2006), ''The Castaways'' (2008), ''The Séance'' (2008), ''The Skeleton Tree'' (2016), and ''Deadman's Castle'' (2021). In 2007, the

Bank Street College of Education Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in New York City. It consists of a graduate-only teacher training college and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school. In 2020 the graduate school had about 65 ful ...

included ''Gemini Summer'' on their list of the best children's books of the year. In 2011, Lawrence received the

, an award presented to Canadian authors whose "body of work ... demonstrates the highest literary standards."

Publications

* ''The Skeleton Tree'' (2016) * ''The Giant-Slayer'' (2009) * '' The Seance'' (July 2008) * '' Gemini Summer'' (October 2006) * ''B for Boi'' (June 2004) * ''The Lightkeeper's Daughter'' (September 2002) * '' Lord of the Nutcracker Men'' (October 2001) * ''Ghost Boy'' (October 2000)

The Curse of the Jolly Stone trilogy

* ''The Convicts'' (April 2004) * ''The Cannibals'' (November 2005) * ''The Castaways'' (November 2007)

The Wreckers series

* ''The Wreckers'' (May 1998) * ''The Smugglers'' (May 1999) * ''The Buccaneers'' (August 2001)

Non-fiction

* ''Far-Away Places: 50 Anchorages on the Northwest Coast'' (April 1995)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Iain 1955 births Canadian children's writers Governor General's Award–winning children's writers Living people People from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Writers from Ontario Langara College people