Steve Voake is a successful English children's author from

Midsomer Norton Midsomer Norton is a town near the Mendip Hills in Bath and North East Somerset, England, south-west of Bath, Somerset, Bath, north-east of Wells, Somerset, Wells, north-west of Frome, west of Trowbridge and south-east of Bristol. It has ...

, Somerset, whose books have sold all over the world. He started his teaching career at Midsomer Norton County Primary school in the late 80's. In 2003 he was head teacher of a primary school in

Kilmersdon Kilmersdon is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north eastern slopes of the Mendip Hills in Somerset between the towns of Radstock and Frome. It is located on the B3139 between Wells, Somerset, Wells and Trowbridge i ...

, Somerset, when the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

reported that he was being hailed as the next

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...

. A bidding war had broken out amongst publishers and film makers for the rights to his first novel, The Dreamwalker's Child. The publication deal he accepted with

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

enabled him to give up his teaching job to be a full-time writer, although the book has not been made into a film. Since then he has published twenty three books. The novelist and critic

Amanda Craig Amanda Craig (born 1959) is a British novelist, critic and journalist. Early life Born in South Africa, Craig grew up in Italy before moving to London. Her parents were British journalist, author and UN Press Officer Dennis Craig and Sout ...

has regularly praised his work.

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 ...

often includes his books in its recommended lists of top children's books. The

School Library Association The School Library Association (SLA) is an independent organization in the United Kingdom which promotes library, libraries and literacy in schools. The SLA was founded in 1937 and is based at Kembrey Park in north-eastern Swindon. It is a chari ...

has included one of his novels in its list of recommended books for boys. He also contributed to the Higher Ground Project, a book featuring leading children's authors that was published to raise awareness of the

Boxing Day Tsunami On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the scient ...

. On 22 March 2017, Voake was on Westminster Bridge, London, and witnessed the Westminster terrorist attack.

Early life

Steve Voake grew up in Midsomer Norton. After leaving school he sold ice-creams in the south of France for a while. He obtained a BA (Hons) in Philosophy at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

, then qualified as a teacher at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

Career

He spent eight years as head teacher of

Primary School, near

, Somerset. In his spare time he was writing his first children's book, The Dreamwalker's Child. In October 2003, while still working as a primary school head teacher, the

reported that he was "being hailed as the next

JK Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...

" after the book gained interest from Hollywood and was "the subject of a furious bidding war between three UK publishers" and had "seen interest from book firms in Italy, Japan, Germany and the US". In addition, film companies DreamWorks,

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Fox Broadcasting Company Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an Television in the United States, American commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast television broadcaster, television network serving as the flagship proper ...

and

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

all asked to see the book The

, ''

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' then reported in 2003 that he agreed a £91,000 deal with

for the UK rights to his book. In 2005, the book was published in the UK as well as Italy, Germany, Greece, Holland, Russia, Portugal and Japan. US rights were subsequently bought at auction for a six-figure sum. In 2007 he collaborated with his cousin Charlotte Voake, the Nestle Smarties Book Prize-winning author of Pizza Kittens and

Ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

, to write ''Insect Detective''. He is currently also Senior Lecturer in Writing for Young People at

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, Somerset, Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshi ...

. and a Royal Literary Fellow at the University of Exeter.

Novels

* ''The Dreamwalker's Child'' (2005) * ''The Web of Fire'' (2006) * ''The Starlight Conspiracy'' (2007) * ''Daisy Dawson'' (2007) * ''Daisy Dawson and the Secret Pond'' (2008) * ''Daisy Dawson and the Big Freeze'' (2009) * ''Insect Detective'' (2009) * ''Blood Hunters'' (2009) * ''Fightback'' (2010) * ''Hooey Higgins and the Shark'' (2010) * ''Hooey Higgins and the Tremendous Trousers'' (2010) * ''Hooey Higgins and the Big Boat Race'' (2011) * "Dark Woods" (2011) * "Daisy Dawson at the Seaside" (2011) * "Daisy Dawson on the Farm" (2012) * "Hooey Higgins Goes for Gold" (2012) * "Hooey Higgins and the Big Day Out" (2012) * "Hooey Higgins and the Awards of Awesomeness" (2013) * "Hooey Higgins and the Storm" (2014) * "Hooey Higgins and the Christmas Crash" (2014) * "Maxwell Mutt and the Downtown Dogs" (2016) * "Maxwell Mutt and the Squirrel without a Story" (2017) * "Maxwell Mutt and the Biscuit & Bone Club" (2019)

Award nominations

* '' The Dreamwalker's Child'' – shortlisted for Stockton Children's Book of the Year Award and Concorde Book Award * ''The Starlight Conspiracy'' – shortlisted for Concorde Book Award * ''Blood Hunters'' – selected for National 'Booked Up' Scheme 2009, Shortlisted for Manchester Book Award, Shortlisted for Leeds Book Award, shortlisted for Cheshire Schools Book Award * The

included ''The Web of Fire'' in its list of "Top books for boys". * Fightback – Won the Bolton book Award * "Hooey Higgins and the Shark" awarded Outstanding International Book by United States Board of Books for Young People, 2013 * "Insect Detective" was awarded Best Illustrated Children's Non Fiction Book by the English Association (2009) * 'My Brother Saves Things' longlisted for University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor's International Poetry Prize, 2016 * "Pencil" – Poems on the Buses Exhibition, Guernsey Literary Festival 2017 * "TT" longlisted for Poetry Society's National Poetry Competition 2020

Personal life

He lives with his family in

Westbury-sub-Mendip Westbury-sub-Mendip is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. The village is on the southern slopes of the Mendip Hills, from Wells and Cheddar. The parish boundary is formed by the River Axe. History There is evidence, from fl ...

, Somerset.

Media coverage

UK national newspapers

has published many favourable articles featuring Steve Voake or his books and frequently including them in their holiday specials of recommended books at Christmas or the summer holidays, Their critic, the novelist

in particular has recommended them,

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

reported on Steve Voake's inclusion on the

List.

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

favourably reviewed The Dreamwalker's Child". The

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

has also reviewed his work, as has

. The

Times Educational Supplement ''TES'', formerly known as the ''Times Educational Supplement'', is a British weekly trade magazine aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in ''The Times'' newspaper. Such was its popularity th ...

covered Steve Voake's contribution to the Higher Ground Project, a book published to raise awareness of the

UK local newspapers

Many local newspapers have covered his work, including the

Somerset Guardian Standard The ''Somerset Guardian'' and ''Frome Standard'' are two weekly local newspapers, published in Somerset, England. The Somerset Standard & Guardian Series consists of the Frome Standard, and the Somerset Guardian. It is owned by Bath News & Med ...

, the

Bath Chronicle The ''Bath Chronicle'' is a weekly newspaper, first published under various titles before 1760 in Bath, England. Prior to September 2007, it was published daily. The ''Bath Chronicle'' serves Bath, northern Somerset and west Wiltshire. History ...

and the

Worcester News The ''Worcester News'' is a local newspaper, and the only daily newspaper in Worcester (UK), reporting on breaking news and local matters covering the City of Worcester and surrounding areas within the county. It was previously named ''Worces ...

Foreign periodicals

Abroad, there has been considerable newspaper coverage, including

The Herald Journal ''The Herald Journal'' is a newspaper in Logan, Utah, United States, and serves the Cache Valley area of Northern Utah and Southeastern Idaho which includes Cache County, Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mount ...

, (

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States), the

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

, and in Fantasy Magazine in Italy.

Television and radio

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

featured an interview with Steve Voake in its

Newsround ''Newsround'' (stylised as ''newsround'') is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972. Originally ''John Craven's Newsround'', it was one of the world's first television news magazines aimed specifically ...

programme. BBC Somerset Sound has interviewed him on the radio. The BBC has regularly reported on Steve Voake in its news pages on its website.

Literary festivals

He is now a regular on the book festival circuit and has been invited to speak at literary festivals including

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Aberdeen and

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

References

External links

Steve Voake website
* https://web.archive.org/web/20070812185204/http://www.stevevoake.co.uk/ * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Voake, Steve Living people 21st-century English novelists Academics of Bath Spa University Alumni of the University of Exeter Alumni of the University of Liverpool British writers of young adult literature English children's writers English fantasy writers English male short story writers English male novelists Heads of schools in England People from Midsomer Norton Schoolteachers from Somerset Writers from Somerset 21st-century English short story writers 21st-century English male writers Year of birth missing (living people)