Mal Peet
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Malcolm Charles Peet (5 October 1947 – 2 March 2015) was an English writer and illustrator best known for
young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...
. He has won several honours including the Brandford Boase, the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Prize, British
children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...
awards that recognise "year's best" books. Three of his novels feature
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
and the fictional South American sports journalist Paul Faustino. '' The Murdstone Trilogy'' (2014) and "Mr Godley's Phantom" were his first works aimed at adult readers.


Biography

Peet grew up on a
council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...
in North Walsham,
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 ...
, the eldest of three siblings, in a family that he describes as "emotionally impaired". He attended the Paston School and spent one year at the
University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...
studying English and American literature, but graduated later, eventually earning an M.A. degree there.. Retrieved 5 July 2011. He worked at a variety of jobs, including writer for educational publishers, before deciding to start a novel at age 52. He lived in Exmouth, Devon with his wife Elspeth Graham and their son Tom. He also had two children, Lauren and Charlie, from a previous relationship, and there are now four grandchildren - Grace, Ezra, Nella and Frieda. ''Cloud Tea Monkeys'', a children's picture book written by Peet and his wife, is set in the Himalayas and based on a Chinese folktale. ''
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 ...
'' observed, in review of the 2010 edition illustrated by Juan Wijngaard, "The deftly spun, ,emotionally resonant fairy-tale story ... begs to be read aloud. ... Unlike cloud tea, an accessible treasure."


Novelist

Walker Books published Peet's first five novels, with his latest work, '' The Murdstone Trilogy'', being published by David Fickling Books. For his first novel, '' Keeper'' (2003), Peet won the
Branford Boase Award The Branford Boase Award is a British literary award presented annually to an outstanding children's or young-adult novel by a first-time writer; "the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist." The award is s ...
, which recognizes "the most promising book for seven-year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist."Julia Eccleshare
Mal Peet obituary
''The Guardian'', 5 March 2015.

The Branford Boase Award and Henrietta Branford Writing Competition (branfordboaseaward.org.uk) (BBA and HBWC). Retrieved 2014-07-01.
For his second novel, '' Tamar'' (2005), he won the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians, recognising the year's best children's book published in the U.K. '' The Penalty'' (2007) was shortlisted for the
Booktrust Teenage Prize The Booktrust Teenage Prize was an annual award given to young adult literature published in the UK. The prize was administered by Book Trust, an independent charity which promotes books and reading. The Booktrust Teenage Prize was last awarded ...
and Peet won the
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 ...
for '' Exposure'' (2008), a modern re-telling of Shakespeare's ''
Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...
''. The once-in-a-lifetime award by ''The Guardian'' newspaper is judged by a panel of British children's writers. ''Keeper'', ''The Penalty'', and ''Exposure'' are the Faustino books. ''Tamar'' is a World War II novel and family mystery set jointly in 1945 Nazi-occupied the Netherlands and 1995 England. ''Life: An Exploded Diagram'' (2011), a semi-autobiographical novel, was his last book for young readers. Susan Tranter wrote that "Mal Peet's work is notable for its refusal to submit to categories – the constraints which label what a book should be about, and who it should appeal to. His books to date prove that successful literature for young readers doesn't have to be didactic, or have overtly youthful themes, or even centre on young characters. It is the quality of the writing which is, ultimately, the most important thing." Peet says he is skeptical of books written specifically for teenagers, saying they are prone to condescension. Peet himself stated, "I see genres as generating sets of rules or conventions that are only interesting when they are subverted or used to disguise the author’s intent. My own way of doing this is to attempt a sort of whimsical alchemy, whereby seemingly incompatible genres are brought into unlikely partnerships." Three of Peet's books feature the fictional South American
sports journalist Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...
Paul Faustino (and football). Peet's
debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...
''Keeper'', which is primarily a world-champion
goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
's life story in the course of an interview. ''Keeper'', ''The Penalty'', and ''Exposure'' all feature Faustino and South American football players. When he won the 2009 Guardian Award for the Othello-based ''Exposure'', he told the sponsoring newspaper he felt that "football books for children were pretty much hey." He also said, "I used to play all the time. I would play football when it was light and read when it was dark. Now I get to play football vicariously." Peet described his creative occupation thus: "I come up here in the morning to a pleasant room in the roof of my house and imagine I'm a black South American football superstar, then I have to imagine I'm a female pop celebrity who's pregnant. It's a completely mad way to spend your time. If I did it in public I would be sectioned. Writing is a form of licensed madness." ''The Murdstone Trilogy'' (2014) and ''Mr Godley's Phantom'' represented a departure for Peet, being aimed at adult readers.


Death

Peet died on 2 March 2015 from cancer, aged 67. A final novel of Peet's, titled ''Beck'', was finished and published posthumously by his longtime friend
Meg Rosoff Meg Rosoff (born 16 October 1956) is an American writer based in London, United Kingdom. She is best known for the novel '' How I Live Now'' (Puffin, 2004), which won the Guardian Prize, the Printz Award, the Branford Boase Award and made ...
.


Selected works

* ''Cloud Tea Monkeys'' (Ragged Bears, 1999), written by Elspeth Graham and Mal Peet, illustrated by Alan Marks — "based on a Chinese folktale" (pbk) * '' Keeper'' (Walker, 2003) (pbk) * '' Tamar'' (Walker, 2005) * '' The Penalty'' (Walker, 2006) (pbk) * '' Exposure'' (Walker, 2008) (pbk) based on the Shakespeare play ''Othello'' * ''Cloud Tea Monkeys'' (Walker, 2010; New edition), by Graham and Peet, illus. Juan Wijngaard * ''Life: An Exploded Diagram'' (Walker, 2011) (pbk) * '' The Murdstone Trilogy: an adult "nobble"'' (David Fickling Books, 2014 (hbk) * ''Beck'' (Walker Books, 2016, ), completed by Meg Rosoff * ''The Family Tree'' ( Barrington Stoke, 2018) illustrations by Emma Shoard .


Awards

* 2004
Branford Boase Award The Branford Boase Award is a British literary award presented annually to an outstanding children's or young-adult novel by a first-time writer; "the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist." The award is s ...
– ''Keeper'' * 2005 Carnegie Medal – ''Tamar'' * 2006 Wirral Paper Back of the Year – ''Tamar'' * 2009 Guardian Prize – ''Exposure''


See also


References


External links


Interview with Mal Peet
achuka.co.uk. July 2004. Retrieved 5 July 2011. *
Mal Peet at Walker Books

Mal Peet profile
Kirkusreviews.com. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
Profile
PaulFaustino.com. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
Peet profile
Redhammer.info. Retrieved 3 March 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Peet, Mal 1947 births 2015 deaths English children's writers Deaths from cancer in England Carnegie Medal in Literature winners Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners British writers of young adult literature Alumni of the University of Warwick People from North Walsham People educated at Paston College