Kenneth Oppel (born August 31, 1967) is a Canadian children's writer.

Biography

Oppel was born in

Port Alberni Port Alberni () is a city located on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The city lies within the Alberni Valley at the head of the Alberni Inlet, Vancouver Island's longest inlet. Port Alberni currently has a total popu ...

, and spent his childhood in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

and

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. He also lived in

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

, England, and Ireland. In 1985, Oppel wrote his first book ''Colin's Fantastic Video Adventure'', while at

St. Michaels University School St. Michaels University School (abbreviated SMUS) is an independent day and boarding school in the municipality of Saanich, the largest and most populous municipality in the Capital Regional District and on Vancouver Island. Previous headmasters i ...

. He attended at the same time as actors

Andrew Sabiston Andrew Sabiston is a Canadian actor, voice actor, writer, story editor and multi-award nominated Canadian children's television series developer, with over 1100 episodes to his credit. Early life Sabiston was born in Victoria, British Columbia t ...

and

Leslie Hope Leslie Hope is a Canadian actress and director, best known for her role as Teri Bauer on the Fox television series '' 24'' and prosecutor Anita Gibbs on ''Suits''. Other credits include '' Shadow Builder'' (1998), ''Murdoch Mysteries'', ''The ...

, fellow writers John Burns and

Bert Archer Bert Archer is a Canadian author, journalist, travel writer, essayist, critic, and former editor in chief of the Montreal Gazette. Archer was born in Montreal and lived in Calgary and Vancouver. He attended St. Michael's University School in Vic ...

, and just before the NBA's

Steve Nash Stephen John Nash (born 7 February 1974) is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 18 seasons in the NBA, ...

and

Flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a co ...

founder

Stewart Butterfield Daniel Stewart Butterfield (born Dharma Jeremy Butterfield; March 21, 1973) is a Canadian billionaire businessman, best known for co-founding the photo-sharing website Flickr and the team-messaging application Slack. Early life and education In ...

. Oppel forwarded the newly completed manuscript to a family friend who knew

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

, who in turn recommended it to his agent. Oppel went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts degree in

cinema studies Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for unde ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, writing ''The Live-Forever Machine'' (1992) during his final year. Oppel moved to England and wrote a number of books during that period, gleaning several ideas while working at typing students' papers. From 1995 to 1996, Oppel worked as an editor at ''

Quill & 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 ...

'', the trade magazine of the Canadian publishing industry. He wrote four books for the Silverwing novel series: '' Silverwing'', ''

Sunwing Sunwing Airlines Inc. was a Canadian low-cost airline headquartered in Toronto, Ontario with its main bases at Montréal–Trudeau International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport. From 2023 onwards, it was a subsidiary of WestJ ...

'', ''

Firewing ''Firewing'' is a children's book written by the Canadian author, Kenneth Oppel. It is the third book of the '' Silverwing'' novel series. The books include '' Silverwing'', '' Sunwing'', and the prequel '' Darkwing''. Publication history ''Fir ...

'', and '' Darkwing''. He also wrote another series, the ''Matt Cruse'' saga, including '' Airborn'' (2004), '' Skybreaker'' (2005), and ''

Starclimber ''Starclimber'' is the third book in the ''Matt Cruse'' fantasy series, written by Canadian author Kenneth Oppel. Plot Matt Cruse is piloting an aerocrane for France's Celestial Tower where he narrowly survives a terrorist attack by the Babelit ...

'' (2008). Oppel has won numerous literary awards, including the 2004

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 ...

for English language children's literature, a

Printz Honor Award The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". It is sponsored by ''Booklist'' magazine; administered by the ALA's ...

from the American Library Association (both for ''Airborn'') and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' Children's Novel of 2005 (for ''Skybreaker'', named a 2006

Best Book for Young Adults The American Library Association's (ALA) Best Fiction for Young Adults, previously known as Best Books for Young Adults (1966–2010), is a recommended list of books presented yearly by the Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Ad ...

by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

). Oppel is married to Philippa Sheppard, a Shakespeare scholar and instructor at the University of Toronto.

Selected works

Young adult fiction

*''Half Brother'' (2011) *''The Boundless'' (2014) *''The Nest'' (2015) *''Every Hidden Thing'' (2016) *''Ghostlight'' (2022)

The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein

*''This Dark Endeavor'' (2011) *''Such Wicked Intent'' (2012)

Silverwing series

*'' Silverwing'' (1997) *''

'' (1999) *''

'' (2002) *'' Darkwing'' (2007); UK title, ''Dusk'' – prequel to the trilogy The novel series was adapted into a TV series titled '' Silverwing''.

Airborn series

*'' Airborn'' (2004) *'' Skybreaker'' (2005) *''

'' (2008)

Overthrow series

*''Bloom'' (2020) *''Hatch'' (2020) *''Thrive'' (2021)

Other

*''The Live-Forever Machine'' (1990) *''Dead Water Zone'' (1992)

Children's fiction

Barnes and the Brains

*''A Bad Case of Ghosts'' (1993) *''A Strange Case of Magic'' (1994), or ''A Bad Case of Magic'' *''A Crazy Case of Robots'' (1994), or ''A Bad Case of Robots'' *''An Incredible Case of Dinosaurs'' (1994), or ''A Bad Case of Dinosaurs'' *''A Weird Case of Super-Goo'' (1997), or ''A Bad Case of Super-Goo'' *''A Creepy Case of Vampires'' (2002)

Other

* ''Colin's Fantastic Video Adventure'' ( E. P. Dutton, 1985)"Colin's fantastic video adventure"
Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 2014-02-13. *''Cosimo Cat'' (1990) *''Follow That Star'' (1992) *''Cosmic Snapshots'' (1993) *''Galactic Snapshots'' (1993) *''Emma's Emu'' (1995) *''Peg and the Whale'' (2000) *''Peg and the Yeti'' (2004) *''The King's Taster'' (2009) *''Inkling'' (2018)

Adult fiction

*''The Devil's Cure'' (2000)

References

;Other sources

incorporating material from a 1996 interview

(2000)

at CANSCAIP Members (archived 2010-10-17), with short autobiography

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oppel, Kenneth 1967 births Living people Canadian children's writers Canadian fantasy writers Canadian male novelists Canadian science fiction writers Governor General's Award–winning children's writers Steampunk writers People from Port Alberni Trinity College (Canada) alumni University of Toronto alumni Forest of Reading Award winners St. Michaels University School alumni Novelists from British Columbia