Jan Mark (22 June 1943 – 16 January 2006) was a British writer best known for

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 ...

. In all she wrote more than fifty novels and plays and many anthologised short stories. She won the annual 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 The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...

, both for '' Thunder and Lightnings'' (1976) and for ''

Handles A handle is a part of, or an attachment to, an object that allows it to be grasped and manipulated by hand. The design of each type of handle involves substantial ergonomic issues, even where these are dealt with intuitively or by following t ...

'' (1983). She was also a "Highly Commended" runner-up for ''Nothing To Be Afraid Of'' (1980).

Life

Janet Marjorie Brisland was born in

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, and was raised and educated in Ashford in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. She was a secondary school teacher between 1965 and 1971 and became a full-time writer in 1974. She was married once and divorced, and was survived by her daughter Isobel and son Alex. Mark is known for acutely observed short stories that are concise and show an imaginative use of language. She also wrote novels about seemingly ordinary children in contemporary settings, such as ''Thunder and Lightnings'', as well as science fiction novels set in their own universes with their own rules, such as ''The Ennead''. Her last works include the young adult novels ''The Eclipse of the Century'' and ''Useful Idiots''. The title of ''Thunder and Lightnings'', a story set in rural

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, is a reference to the British RAF jet fighter the

English Electric Lightning The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It is capable of a top speed above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufactured ...

and in turn inspired the name of a website documenting

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

British military aircraft. Jan Mark was popular in Flanders, Belgium, where she participated in an educational project to stimulate teachers of English into using teenage fiction in the classroom. Her

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

friends devoted a website to her and to her work.http://www.janmark.be Jan Mark died suddenly at her home in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

from

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

-related

septicaemia Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

in January 2006, aged 62.

Selected works

*''King John and the Abbot'' (2006), *''Voyager'' (2006) the sequel to ''Riding Tycho'', *''

Turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between ...

'' (2005) *''Robin Hood All at Sea'' (2005), *''Riding Tycho'' (2005), *''Useful Idiots'' (2004), *''The Eclipse of the Century'' (1999), *''Mr Dickens Hits Town'' (1999), *''The Midas Touch'' (1999), *''My Frog and I'' (1997), *''The Tale of Tobias'' (1996), *''They Do Things Differently There'' (1994), *''Fun With Mrs Thumb'' (1993), *'' Enough Is Too Much Already'' (1988), *''Zeno Was Here'' (1988), *''Fun'' (1988), *''Trouble Half-way'' (1986), *''Fur'' (1986), *''

'' (1985), *''Feet and Other Stories'' (1983), *''Aquarius'' (1982), *''The Dead Letter Box'' (1982), *''Nothing To Be Afraid Of'' (1981), *''

Hairs in the Palm of the Hand ''Hairs in the Palm of the Hand'' is a collection of short stories written for children's literature, children by British author Jan Mark, published in 1981. The book consists of two novellas, ''Time and the Hour'' and ''Chutzpah''. Time and th ...

'' (1981), *''Divide and Rule'' (1980), *'' The Ennead'' (1978), *''Under the Autumn Garden'' (1977), *'' Thunder and Lightnings'' (1976),

References

External links

Jan Mark at Walker Books

Jan Mark at Fantastic Fiction

Jan Mark's Flemish fansite

Jan Mark resources and information
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mark, Jan 1943 births 2006 deaths 20th-century British educators 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English educators 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English short story writers 20th-century English women educators 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English writers 21st-century British educators 21st-century English dramatists and playwrights 21st-century English educators 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English short story writers 21st-century English women writers 21st-century English writers British ghost story writers British psychological fiction writers British schoolteachers British speculative fiction writers British weird fiction writers British women educators British women writers of young adult literature British writers of young adult literature Carnegie Medal in Literature winners Deaths from meningitis Deaths from sepsis in the United Kingdom English fantasy writers English horror writers English schoolteachers English science fiction writers English short story writers English speculative fiction writers English women children's writers English women dramatists and playwrights English women novelists English women science fiction and fantasy writers English women short story writers Infectious disease deaths in England Literacy and society theorists Neurological disease deaths in England People from Ashford, Kent People from Welwyn Garden City Writers from Hertfordshire Writers from Kent Writers of young adult science fiction