Janet Louise Lunn, (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Swoboda; December 28, 1928 – June 26, 2017) was 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 ...

children's writer.

Early life and education

Lunn was born in

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, Texas; she moved with her family to

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

when she was an infant. In 1938, she moved again to the outskirts of New York City. In 1946, she came to Canada to attend Queen's University and married a fellow student, Richard Lunn. She became a Canadian citizen in 1963. They had five children and her husband died in 1987.

Career

Janet Lunn published her first children's book, ''Double Spell'', in 1968. From 1972 to 1975, she was a children's editor for Clark, Irwin Publishers. From 1984 to 1985, she was the first children's author to be Chair of the

Writers' Union of Canada The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) is the national organization of professionally published writers. TWUC was founded in 1973 to work with governments, publishers, booksellers, and readers to improve the conditions of Canadian writers. TWUC adv ...

. In 1982, she was awarded the

Vicky Metcalf Award 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 ...

. She was awarded the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

in 1996 and made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 1997. She died on June 26, 2017, at age 88.

Selected works

* ''Double Spell'' (1968) ''Twin Spell'' (U.S. 1969) * '' The Root Cellar'' (1981) * ''Shadow in Hawthorn Bay'' (1986) * '' The Hollow Tree'' (1997), winner of the 1998

Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature The Governor General's Award for English-language children's writing is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a children's book written in English. It is one of four children's book awards among the Governor Ge ...

* ''A Rebel's Daughter: The 1837 Rebellion Diary of Arabella Stevenson, Toronto, Upper Canada, 1837'' (2006) - part of the ''

Dear Canada ''Dear Canada'' is a series of historical novels for children, published by Scholastic Canada and popular in school libraries and classrooms. Each text explores significant events in Canadian history through the eyes of a female child. First p ...

'' series * ''A Season for Miracles: Twelve Tales of Christmas (various authors)'' (2006) - part of the ''Dear Canada'' series * ''The Story of Canada'' with Christopher Moore and Alan Daniel

References

External links

* Archives of Janet Lun
(Janet Lunn fonds, R11768)
are held at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lunn, Janet 1928 births 2017 deaths Canadian Anglicans Canadian children's writers Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Governor General's Award–winning children's writers American emigrants to Canada