Nancy Farmer (born 1941) is an American writer of

children's 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 ''child ...

and young adult books and science fiction. She has written three

Newbery Honor The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

books and won the U.S.

National Book Award for Young People's Literature The National Book Award for Young People's Literature is one of five annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation (NBF) to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writer ...

for '' The House of the Scorpion'', published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 2002.

Early life

Farmer was born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. She earned her B.A. at

Reed College Reed College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland, Portland, Oregon, E ...

(1963) and later studied chemistry and entomology at the University of California, Berkeley. She enlisted in the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

(1963–1965), and subsequently worked in

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

and

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

(present-day

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

), where she studied biological methods of controlling the

tsetse fly Tsetse ( , or ) (sometimes spelled tzetze; also known as tik-tik flies) are large, biting flies that inhabit much of tropical Africa. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus ''Glossina'', which are placed in their own family, Gloss ...

between 1975 and 1978.

Career

Farmer began writing in the 1980s, at the age of 40, while still living in Zimbabwe. She began writing stories in Africa. It was for one of those stories that she won the Writers of the Future contest, which enabled her to move back to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and begin writing full-time. Her experiences in Africa would go on to influence her writing.

Personal life

Farmer met her future husband, Harold Farmer, at the University of Rhodesia (now the

University of Zimbabwe The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the Univers ...

). They married after a week-long courtship. As of 2010, Farmer lives in Arizona's

Chiricahua Mountains The Chiricahua Mountains massif is a large mountain range in southeastern Arizona which is part of the Basin and Range province of the west and southwestern United States and northwest Mexico; the range is part of the Coronado National Forest. T ...

with her husband. They have one son, Daniel.

Farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

"Moving"
(June 17, 2010).

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Lorelei: The Story of a Bad Cat'' (Harare, Zimbabwe: College Press, 1987) * ''The Eye, the Ear, and the Arm'' (College Press, 1989)"The eye, the ear, and the arm"
(1989 printing). Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 2013-11-23. Catalog records show ''The Eye ...'', 1989, 160 pages; ''The Ear ...'', 1994, 311 pages. * ''Tapiwa's Uncle'' (College Press, 1993) * ''Do You Know Me'', illustrated by Shelley Jackson ( Orchard Books, 1993) * '' The Ear, the Eye and the Arm'' (Orchard, 1994) * ''The Warm Place'' (Orchard, 1995) * '' A Girl Named Disaster'' (Orchard, 1996) * '' The House of the Scorpion'' (

Atheneum Books Atheneum Books was a New York City publishing house established in 1959 by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., Simon Michael Bessie and Hiram Haydn. Simon & Schuster has owned Atheneum properties since it acquired Macmillan in 1994, and it created Atheneum ...

, 2002) * ''A New Year's Tale'' (2013) – paperback and e-book for adults

"Home"
(2013). * '' The Lord of Opium'' (2013) – sequel to ''The House of the Scorpion''

The Sea of Trolls trilogy

* ''

The Sea of Trolls ''The Sea of Trolls'' is a fantasy novel for children, written by American author Nancy Farmer and published by Atheneum Books, Atheneum in 2004. It is the first volume in a series, which Farmer continued in 2007 and 2009.. Retrieved 2012-04-15 ...

'' (Atheneum, 2004) * '' The Land of the Silver Apples'' (Atheneum, 2007) * '' The Islands of the Blessed'' (Atheneum, 2009)

Picture books

* ''Runnery Granary'', illus. Jos. A. Smith (

Greenwillow Books HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, 1996) – A Mystery Must Be Solved—Or the Grain is Lost! * ''Casey Jones's Fireman: The Story of Sim Webb'', illus. James Bernardin (New York: Phyllis Fogelman Books, 1999) * ''Clever Ali'', illus. Gail De Marcken (Orchard, 2006)

Short stories

* "The Mirror", ''L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Volume IV'' (1988), pp. 35–65 – collection of twelve 1987 finalists; "The Mirror" won the grand prize * "Tapiwa's Uncle", ''

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

'' (February 1992) * "Origami Mountain", '' The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Sixth Annual Collection'' (1992) * "Falada: the Goose Girl's Horse", ''A Wolf At the Door'', eds. Ellen Datlow and

Terri Windling Terri Windling (born December 3, 1958, in Fort Dix, New Jersey) is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram St ...

(2000) * "Remember Me", '' Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction'', ed.

Sharyn November Sharyn November is an American writer and an editor of books for children and teenagers. Until March 2016 she was Senior Editor for Viking Children's Books and Editorial Director of Firebird Books, which is a mainly paperback (reprint) imprint ...

(2003) * "Bella's Birthday Present", ''Can You Keep a Secret'', ed. Lois Metzger (2007) * "The Mole Cure", ''

Fantasy and Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional un ...

'' (August 2007) * "Ticket to Ride", ''Firebirds Soaring: An Anthology of Original Speculative Fiction'', ed. Sharyn November (2008) * "Castle Othello", ''Troll's Eye View'', eds. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (2009)

Awards

"The Mirror" (1987) * 1988, Writers of the Future Grand Prize ''The Ear, the Eye and the Arm'' (1994) * 1995 Newbery Honor Book (a Newbery Medal runner-up)"Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922–Present"

Association for Library Service to Children The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is a division of the American Library Association. ALSC has over 4,000 members, including children, experts in children's literature, publishers, faculty members, and other adults. The Associa ...

. (ALSC).

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 ...

(ALA).

"The John Newbery Medal"
ALSC. ALA. Retrieved 2012-04-15. * 1995, Hal Clement Award ( Golden Duck Award, Young Adult) ''A Girl Named Disaster'' (1996) *1996,

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

(U.S.) finalist, Young People's Literature"National Book Awards – 1996"
NBF. Retrieved 2012-01-26. *1997, Newbery Honor ''The House of the Scorpion'' (2002) *2002,

"National Book Awards – 2002"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

(NBF). Retrieved 2012-01-26.
(With acceptance speech by Farmer and introduction by panelist Han Nolan, who remarked: "this year perhaps more than any other year obliterated any boundaries left between the young adult and adult novel.") *2003, Newbery Honor *2003, Buxtehuder Bulle (Germany) *2003, Printz Honor ''The Land of the Silver Apples'' (2007) * 2007, Emperor Norton Award ("extraordinary invention and creativity unhindered by the constraints of paltry reason")

References

* Farmer. ''Nancy Farmer's official home page'' (nancyfarmerwebsite.com). 2008–present. Retrieved 2013-11-23.

External links

*
Excerpts from a ''Locus'' magazine interview with Nancy Farmer
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Farmer, Nancy 1941 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers American children's writers American fantasy writers American science fiction writers American women children's writers American women novelists American women short story writers Living people National Book Award for Young People's Literature winners Newbery Honor winners Novelists from Arizona Reed College alumni American women science fiction and fantasy writers Writers of young adult science fiction