Tim Bowler (born 14 November 1953) is an author of books for teenagers and

young adults In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

. He won the 1997 Carnegie Medal from the

CILIP The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP, pronounced ) is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge management, knowledge managers in the United Kingdom. It was established in 20 ...

, recognising 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 ...

, for the novel '' River Boy''. ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Tele ...

'' has called him "the master of the psychological thriller" 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 ...

'' "one of the truly individual voices in voices in British teenage fiction".''

Biography

Bowler was born in

Leigh-on-Sea Leigh-on-Sea (), commonly referred to simply as Leigh, is a List of towns in England, town and civil parish within the city of Southend-on-Sea, located in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. In 2011 it had a population of 22,509. Geograph ...

, and educated at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

where he studied Swedish and Scandinavian studies. His first published novel was ''

Midget Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a Medical terminology, medical term like ''dwarf'' (for a person with d ...

'' (1994), a psychological thriller set in Leigh-on-Sea. This has been followed by several other novels: '' Dragon's Rock'' (1995), a thriller set in Devon; '' River Boy'' (1997), a story about love and bereavement and winner of the Carnegie Medal; ''

Shadows A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensiona ...

'' (1999), a love story; '' Storm Catchers'' (2001), a kidnap thriller; '' Starseeker'' (2002), an exploration of love, loss and music, also made into a play; ''

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...

'' (2004), an allegory about the future of mankind; '' Frozen Fire'' (2006), a philosophical thriller about the nature of reality; ''

Bloodchild ''Bloodchild and Other Stories'' is the only collection of science fiction stories and essays written by American writer Octavia E. Butler. Each story and essay features an afterword by Butler. "Bloodchild", the title story, won the Hugo Award ...

'' (2008), a story about memory, secrets and betrayal; '' Buried Thunder'' (2011), a dark psychological thriller; and Sea of Whispers (2013), a haunting and mysterious story set on the remote island of Mora. ''Blade'' (2008 to 2013) is a series of urban thrillers. Reviewing it for ''The Bookbag'', Jill Murphy wrote, "Nobody in children's writing is producing anything like this. It's electrifying."The Bookbag
/ref> Some editions in

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

(e.g. Germany and Korea) are four books, each comprising two original volumes. Bowler speaks at conferences, schools, and book festivals and makes regular appearances on radio. He lives in a village in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and writes in a small stone outhouse.Contemporary Writers
*''

'' (1994) *'' Dragon's Rock'' (1995) *'' River Boy'' (1997) *''

'' (1999) *'' Storm Catchers'' (2001) *'' Starseeker'' (2002); US title, ''Firmament'' *''

'' (2004) * Tales from the Dark Side **''Blood on Snow'' (2004) **''Walking with the Dead'' (2005) *'' Frozen Fire'' (2006) *''

'' (2008) * Blade **''Playing Dead'' (2008) **''Closing In'' (2008) **''Breaking Free'' (2009) **''Running Scared'' (2009) **''Fighting Back'' (2009) **''Mixing It'' (2010) **''Cutting Loose'' (2010) **''Risking All'' (2010) *'' Buried Thunder'' (2011) *'' Sea of Whispers'' (2013) *''

Night Runner Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of su ...

'' (2014) *'' Game Changer'' (2015)

Awards

* 1995 ''Midget'' won the Boekenwelp Award (Belgium) * 1995 ''Midget'' won the New York Library Book of the Teen Age (USA) * 1997 ''River Boy'' won the Carnegie Medal * 1999 ''River Boy'' won the

Angus Book Award The Angus Book Award is a literary award for UK authors of teenage fiction. It is awarded by Angus Council in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-th ...

Angus Book Award
* 2000 ''Shadows'' won the

* 2000 ''Shadows'' won the

Lancashire Children's Book of the Year The Lancashire Book of the Year (previously Lancashire Children's Book of the Year), established in 1987, is an award given to works of children's literature, voted for by a panel of young judges. The award is run by Lancashire County Council's ...

* 2002 ''Storm Catchers'' won the South Lanarkshire Book Award * 2002 ''Storm Catchers'' won the Stockton Libraries Award * 2002 ''Storm Catchers'' won the Stockport Schools' Book Award * 2007 ''Frozen Fire'' won the Hull Book Award * 2007 ''Frozen Fire'' won the Highland Book Award * 2007 ''Frozen Fire'' won the Redbridge Book Award * 2007 ''Frozen Fire'' won the Stockport Schools Book Award * 2008 ''Frozen Fire'' won the South Lanarkshire Children's Book AwardSouth Lanarkshire Children's Book Award
* 2009 ''Frozen Fire'' won the Southern Schools Book Award

References

External links

* * *
Tim Bowler at Fantastic Fiction

Tim Bowler at Oxford University Press

Tim Bowler at The Bookbag

''Blade'' mini-site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowler, Tim English children's writers British writers of young adult literature Carnegie Medal in Literature winners People from Leigh-on-Sea People educated at Westcliff High School for Boys Alumni of the University of East Anglia 1953 births Living people