Suzanne Collins (born August 10, 1962) is an American author and television writer. She is best known as the author of the

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

book series ''

The Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' is a series of young adult dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The first three novels are part of a trilogy following teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and the fourth book is a prequel se ...

''. She is also the author of the children's fantasy series ''

The Underland Chronicles ''The Underland Chronicles'' is a series of five epic fantasy novels by Suzanne Collins, first published between 2003 and 2007. It tells the story of a boy named Gregor and his adventures in the "Underland,” a subterranean world located unde ...

''.

Early life and education

Collins was born on August 10, 1962, in Hartford, Connecticut, to Jane Brady Collins (born 1931) and Lieutenant Colonel Michael John Collins (1931–2003), a

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

officer who served in the

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Her grandfather and numerous uncles fought in

both World Wars A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

. She is the youngest of four children, her older siblings being Kathryn (born 1957), Andrew (born 1958), and Joan (born 1960). As the daughter of a military officer, she and her family moved very often, mostly living in Europe (specifically

Brussels, Belgium Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

) and the eastern part of America. As a young girl, Collins enjoyed reading,

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

, and exploring the woods with her friends. Collins graduated from the

Alabama School of Fine Arts The Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA) is a public, tuition-free partially boarding state middle and high school located in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It provides an intensive specialty-focused education in the arts, math, and sci ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

in 1980 as a Theater Arts major. She completed her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest camp ...

in 1985 with a double major in theater and telecommunications. In 1989, Collins earned her

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts a ...

in dramatic writing from the

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

Career

Collins began her career in 1991 as a writer for

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early eveni ...

shows. She worked on several shows for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

, including ''

Clarissa Explains It All ''Clarissa Explains It All'' is an American teen sitcom created by Mitchell Kriegman for Nickelodeon. In the series, Clarissa Darling ( Melissa Joan Hart), is a teenager who addresses the audience directly to explain the things that are happeni ...

'', ''

The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo ''The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo'' is a children's mystery television series that ran on Nickelodeon between 1996 and 1999. A total of 41 episodes of 30 minutes each were produced. Episodes from the first three seasons were taped at Nickelodeon ...

'', '' Little Bear'', ''

Oswald Oswald may refer to: People * Oswald (given name), including a list of people with the name * Oswald (surname), including a list of people with the name Fictional characters *Oswald the Reeve, who tells a tale in Geoffrey Chaucer's '' The Canter ...

'' and ''

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! ''Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!'' is an American children's educational Flash animated television series created by Bob Boyle. The series was produced by Bolder Media (a joint venture of Frederator Studios and the Mixed Media Group) and Starz Media i ...

''. She was also the head writer for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

spin-off ''

Clifford's Puppy Days ''Clifford's Puppy Days'' is an animated children's television series that originally aired on PBS Kids from September 1, 2003 to February 25, 2006. The prequel to the 2000–2003 series ''Clifford the Big Red Dog'', it features the adventures o ...

''. She received a

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers G ...

nomination in animation for co-writing the critically acclaimed 2001 Christmas special, ''Santa, Baby!'' After meeting children's author James Proimos while working on the

Kids' WB Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American children's programming service and brand of The WB that aired on the network from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006. The block moved to The CW (a result of the merger of Time Warner's The W ...

show ''

Generation O! ''Generation O!'' is an American animated musical comedy children's television series made by Sunbow Entertainment, with co-production associated by Wang Film Productions in Taiwan and Ravensberger in Germany. The show was originally titled ''Moll ...

'', Collins felt inspired to write

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

herself. Her inspiration for ''

Gregor the Overlander ''Gregor the Overlander'' is a children's epic fantasy novel. The book was written by Suzanne Collins and was published in 2003 as the first book of ''The Underland Chronicles''. It was received well by critics, and was listed as one of New Yo ...

'', the first book of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' best-selling series ''

'', came from ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...

'', when she was thinking about how one was more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole, and would find something other than a tea party. Between 2003 and 2007 she wrote the five books of the '' Underland Chronicles'': ''

'', ''

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane ''Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane'' is the second book in Suzanne Collins's children's novel series '' The Underland Chronicles''. Published in 2004, the novel contains elements of high fantasy. The novel focuses on a prophecy mentioned at the ...

'', ''

Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods ''Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods'' is an epic fantasy children's novel by Suzanne Collins. It is the third book in '' The Underland Chronicles'', and was first published by Scholastic in 2005. The novel takes place a few months after th ...

'', ''

Gregor and the Marks of Secret ''Gregor and the Marks of Secret'' is a high fantasy/ epic fantasy novel, the fourth book in the critically acclaimed '' The Underland Chronicles'' by Suzanne Collins. It picks up soon after the end of ''Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods''. ...

'', and ''

Gregor and the Code of Claw ''Gregor and the Code of Claw'' is a children's novel by author Suzanne Collins, best known for her '' Hunger Games'' trilogy. It is the fifth and final book of '' The Underland Chronicles'', and was published in 2007. Scholastic has rated the ...

''. During that time, Collins also wrote a rhyming picture book, ''When Charlie McButton Lost Power'' (2005), illustrated by Mike Lester. In September 2008,

Scholastic Press Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

released ''

'', the first book of a series by Collins. ''The Hunger Games'' was partly inspired by the Greek myth of

Theseus and the Minotaur Theseus and the Minotaur is a type of logic maze designed by Robert Abbott. In this maze, the player acts as Theseus, the king of Athens who is attempting to escape the Labyrinth. The main difference between this and the standard type of labyrin ...

. Another inspiration was her father's career in the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ar ...

, which gave her insight to poverty, starvation, and the effects of war. The trilogy's second book, '' Catching Fire'', was released in September 2009, and its third book, ''

Mockingjay ''Mockingjay'' is a 2010 science fiction novel by American author Suzanne Collins. It is chronologically the last installment of ''The Hunger Games'' series, following 2008's ''The Hunger Games'' and 2009's '' Catching Fire''. The book continu ...

'', was released on August 24, 2010. Within 14 months, 1.5 million copies of the first two ''Hunger Games'' books were printed in North America alone. ''The Hunger Games'' was on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for more than 60 weeks in a row.

Lions Gate Entertainment Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian- American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of ''The Hunger Games'', produced by

Nina Jacobson Nina Jacobson (born September 15, 1965) is an American film executive who, until July 2006, was president of the Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. With Dawn Steel, Gail Berman and Sherry Lansing, she wa ...

's Color Force production company. Collins adapted the novel for film herself. Directed by

Gary Ross Gary Ross (born November 3, 1956) is an American film director, writer, and producer. He is best known for writing and directing the fantasy comedy-drama film '' Pleasantville'' (1998), the sports drama film '' Seabiscuit'' (2003), the sci-fi act ...

, filming began in late spring 2011, with

Jennifer Lawrence Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016, her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide to date. She appeared in ''Time''s 100 most influential people i ...

portraying main character

Katniss Everdeen Katniss Everdeen is a fictional character and the protagonist of ''The Hunger Games'' trilogy written by American author Suzanne Collins. Her name comes from a plant with edible tubers called ''Sagittaria'' (katniss), from Sagittarius the Arche ...

Josh Hutcherson Joshua Ryan Hutcherson (born October 12, 1992) is an American actor and producer. Hutcherson began acting in the early 2000s and appeared in several commercials and minor film and television roles before landing his first major role in 2002 in ...

played

Peeta Mellark Peeta Mellark is a fictional character from ''The Hunger Games'' trilogy by Suzanne Collins.Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. London: Scholastic, 2009. Print. He is portrayed by actor Josh Hutcherson in ''The Hunger Games'' film series. Pee ...

and

Liam Hemsworth Liam Hemsworth (born 13 January 1990) is an Australian actor. He played the roles of Josh Taylor in the soap opera '' Neighbours'' and Marcus in the children's television series '' The Elephant Princess''. In American films, Hemsworth starred a ...

played

Gale Hawthorne The following is a list of characters in ''The Hunger Games'' novels, a series of young adult science fiction novels by Suzanne Collins whose original trilogy was later adapted into a series of four feature films. The actors who portray these c ...

. The subsequent two novels were adapted into films as well, with the latter book split into two cinematic installments, for a total of four films representing the three books. As a result of the popularity of ''The Hunger Games'' books, Collins was named one of ''Time'' magazine's most influential people of 2010. In March 2012, Amazon announced that she had become the best-selling Kindle author of all time. Amazon also revealed that Collins had written 29 of the 100 most highlighted passages in Kindle ebooks—and on a separate Amazon list of recently highlighted passages, she had written 17 of the top 20. On June 17, 2019, Collins announced that a prequel to ''The Hunger Games'' would be released on May 19, 2020. It is based on the life of future President

Coriolanus Snow The following is a list of characters in ''The Hunger Games'' novels, a series of young adult science fiction novels by Suzanne Collins whose original trilogy was later adapted into a series of four feature films. The actors who portray these c ...

, 64 years before the events of ''The Hunger Games'' trilogy. On October 4, 2019 the title was revealed to be ''

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes ''The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'' is a dystopian action-adventure novel by American author Suzanne Collins. It is a spin-off and a prequel to ''The Hunger Games'' trilogy. It was released on May 19, 2020, by Scholastic. An audiobook of the no ...

.'' A film adaptation, starring

Tom Blyth Tom Keir Blyth (born 2 February 1995) is an English actor. His films include ''Scott and Sid'' (2018) and ''Benediction'' (2021). He stars as the titular character of the Epix series ''Billy the Kid'' (2022), and will star in ''The Hunger Games' ...

as Coriolanus Snow and

Rachel Zegler Rachel Anne Zegler (; born May 3, 2001) is an American actress and singer. She made her film debut playing Maria Vasquez in the 2021 musical drama ''West Side Story'', for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Pictur ...

Lucy Gray Baird The following is a list of characters in ''The Hunger Games'' novels, a series of young adult science fiction novels by Suzanne Collins whose original trilogy was later adapted into a series of four feature films. The actors who portray these c ...

, was released on November 17, 2023. On June 6, 2024, Collins announced that a new prequel to ''The Hunger Games'', set 24 years before the events of the main trilogy, would release on March 18, 2025. The book, titled '' Sunrise on the Reaping'', will explore the 50th Hunger Games won by

Haymitch Abernathy The following is a list of characters in ''The Hunger Games'' novels, a series of young adult science fiction novels by Suzanne Collins whose original trilogy was later adapted into a series of four feature films. The actors who portray these ...

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian- American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquarter ...

procured the rights to adapt the novel into a film, which will release on November 20, 2026.

Personal life

Collins moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in 1987 and lived there until 2003. In 1991, Collins met Charles "Cap" Pryor at Indiana University and they married in 1992. Pryor has been supportive of Collins's career, reading and critiquing the earliest drafts of ''

''. They live in the

Sandy Hook Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern e ...

area of Newtown,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

with their two children, Charlie and Isabel. Though Collins's

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

profile claims she and Pryor divorced in 2015, this has never been confirmed. Furthermore, Collins referred to Pryor as her husband in the acknowledgments of her 2020 novel, ''

''. Collins identifies as

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

, and some have said that there are

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

themes woven throughout ''The Hunger Games''. In 2013, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' reported that Collins has a net worth of $55 million, getting her to No. 3 on ''Forbes'''s Top-Earning Authors List.

Awards

* 2011 –

California Young Reader Medal The California Young Reader Medal is a set of five annual literary awards conferred upon picture books and fiction books selected by vote of California schoolchildren from a ballot prepared by committee. The program was established in 1974 with Int ...

* ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

''s Best Books of the Year: Children's Fiction * An

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, with 49,727 members ...

Top 10 Best Books For Young Adult Selection * An

ALA Notable Children's Book American Library Association Notable lists are announced each year in January by various divisions within the American Library Association (ALA). There are six lists, part of the larger ALA awards structure. * ''ALA Notable Books for Adults'' (es ...

* 2008 CYBIL Award – Fantasy and Science Fiction *

KIRKUS ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of ...

Best Young Adult Book of 2008 * A Horn Book Fanfare * ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

'' Best Books of 2008 * A Book List Editor's Choice, 2008 * NY Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing * 2004 NAIBA Children's Novel Award * 2006 ALSC Notable Children's Recording (audio version) * 2016

Authors Guild The Authors Guild is America's oldest and largest professional organization for writers and provides advocacy on issues of free expression and copyright protection. Since its founding in 1912 as the Authors League of America, it has counted among ...

Award for Distinguished Service to the Literary Community (first time awarded to an author of

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

)

Publications

''
The Underland Chronicles ''The Underland Chronicles'' is a series of five epic fantasy novels by Suzanne Collins, first published between 2003 and 2007. It tells the story of a boy named Gregor and his adventures in the "Underland,” a subterranean world located unde ...
''

# ''

'' (2003) # ''

'' (2004) # ''

'' (2005) # ''

'' (2006) # ''

'' (2007)

''The Hunger Games'' series

Original series

#''

'' (September 14, 2008) # '' Catching Fire'' (September 1, 2009) # ''

'' (August 24, 2010)

Prequels

# ''

'' (May 19, 2020) # '' Sunrise on the Reaping'' (upcoming; March 18, 2025)

Other books

* ''Fire Proof'' (''The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo'', #11) (1999) * ''When Charlie McButton Lost Power'' (2005) * ''Year of the Jungle'' (2013)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Suzanne 1962 births Living people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American children's writers American science fiction writers American women novelists Indiana University Bloomington alumni Writers from Birmingham, Alabama People from Sandy Hook, Connecticut Tisch School of the Arts alumni American women children's writers American women science fiction and fantasy writers American women writers of young adult literature Novelists from Alabama Writers from Hartford, Connecticut Writers of young adult science fiction Novelists from Connecticut American women television writers Film producers from Alabama Film producers from Connecticut American television writers

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Awards

Publications

''The Underland Chronicles ''The Underland Chronicles'' is a series of five epic fantasy novels by Suzanne Collins, first published between 2003 and 2007. It tells the story of a boy named Gregor and his adventures in the "Underland,” a subterranean world located unde ...''

''The Hunger Games'' series

Original series

Prequels

Other books

References

External links

''
The Underland Chronicles ''The Underland Chronicles'' is a series of five epic fantasy novels by Suzanne Collins, first published between 2003 and 2007. It tells the story of a boy named Gregor and his adventures in the "Underland,” a subterranean world located unde ...
''