Susan Price (born 8 July 1955) is an
English author 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 novels
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 ...
. She has won both the
Carnegie Medal and the
Guardian Prize for British children's books.
Price was born in
Dudley
Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...
,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...
(now
West Midlands) in what is known as the
Black Country
The Black Country is an area of England's West Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley and Sandwell metropolitan boroughs, with the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The road between Wolverhampto ...
. The region had a major effect on her writing which is "grounded in its history and geology, the limestone and iron ore and coal and fireclay of a landscape that spawned the industrial revolution". From a working class family, she left school without qualifications, and stacked supermarket shelves and washed up in hotel kitchens while writing her first books.
She has written over 60 books, and also worked as a
Royal Literary Fund
The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its lon ...
fellow attached to
De Montford University.
Writing
Many of Susan Price's works are
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures.
The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
, from
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
to
ghost stories; some are
historical novels
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...
; others are about animals or everyday life. Many of her short stories are re-tellings of tales from
folklore
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
. Her first Ghost World novel, ''
The Ghost Drum'' (1987), is an original
fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...
using elements from Russian history and
Russian folklore. She won the
Carnegie Medal from the
Library Association
The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP, pronounced ) is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the United Kingdom.
It was established in 2002 as a merger of th ...
, recognising ''The Ghost Drum'' as the year's best children's book by a
British subject
The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...
;
[ reissued in 2024 it was described as a "rediscovered gem".]anthropologist
An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...
from 21st century Britain and a young warrior from 16th century Scotland. They become lovers and she sides with his border clan in conflict with a 21st-century corporation. For the first book, Price 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 ...
, a once-in-a-lifetime award judged by a panel of British children's writers.[
The Pagan Mars trilogy (2005–2008), also known as ]Odin
Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...
or Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
,[. Retrieved 2012-08-05.] is set in a scientifically advanced alternative world where the pagan gods are still worshiped and slavery, called , is commonplace.
Bibliography
Novels - for older readers
*''city life'' (1974)
*''Twopence a Tub'' (1975)
*''Sticks and Stones'' (1976)
*''Home from Home'' (1977)
*''Christopher Uptake'' (1981)
*''From Where I Stand'' (1984)
* Ghost World
** '' The Ghost Drum'' (1987) — winner of the Carnegie Medal[
** ''Ghost Song'' (1992)
** ''Ghost Dance'' (1993)
*''Foiling the Dragon'' (1994)
*''Elfgift'' (1996)
*''Elfking'' (1996)
* Sterkarm
** '' The Sterkarm Handshake'' (1998) — winner of the Guardian Prize][
** ''A Sterkarm Kiss'' (2003)
** ''A Sterkarm Tryst'' (2017)
*''The Ghost Wife'' (1999)
*''The Wolf-Sisters'' (2001)
*''The Bearwood Witch'' (2001)
* Pagan Mars
** ''Odin's Voice'' (2005)
** ''Odin's Queen'' (2006)
** ''Odin's Son'' (2008)
* ''Feasting the Wolf'' (2007)
]
Novels - for younger readers
*''The Devil's Piper'' (1973)
*''In a Nutshell'' (1983)
*''Odin's Monster'' (1986)
*''Master Thomas Katt'' (1988)
*''The Bone Dog'' (1989)
*''Phantom from the Past'' (1989)
*''A Feasting of Trolls'' (1990)
*''Thunderpumps'' (1990)
*''Knocking Jack'' (1992)
*''Coming Down To Earth'' (1994)
*''A True Spell and a Dangerous'' (1998)
*''The Saga of Aslak'' (1997)
*''Pedro (Piccadilly Pips)'' (1997)
*''Wolf's Footprint'' (2003)
*''Olly Spellmaker & the Sulky Smudge'' (2004)
*''Olly Spellmaker and the Hairy Horror'' (2004)
*''Olly Spellmaker: Elf Alert!'' (2005)
Short story collections
*''The Carpenter and Other Stories'' (1981)
*''Ghosts at Large'' (1984)
*''Ghostly Tales'' (1987)
*''Here Lies Price'' (1987)
*''Forbidden Doors'' (1991)
*''Head and Tales'' (1995)
*''Hauntings'' (1995)
*''Nightcomers'' (1997)
*''The Story Collector'' (1998)
*''Ghosts and Lies'' (1998)
*''Telling Tales'' (1999)
*''The Kings Head'' (2002)
*''The Fraid''
As editor
*''Horror Stories'' (1988)
*''The Treasury of Nursery Tales'' (1991)
*''The Dark Side: Truly Terrifying Tales'' (2007)
References
Citations
Channel 4 Biography
*
External links
*
*
Susan Price at Fantastic Fiction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Susan
1955 births
Living people
People from Dudley
English children's writers
British writers of young adult literature
British women writers of young adult literature
English women novelists
20th-century English novelists
21st-century English novelists
20th-century English women writers
21st-century English women writers
English short story writers
English women short story writers
English fantasy writers
English science fiction writers
English women science fiction and fantasy writers
Carnegie Medal in Literature winners
Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners