Tui Tamara Sutherland (born July 31, 1978) is an American

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

author who has written more than 60 books under her own name and under several

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

s. In 2009, she won $46,200 over three games on ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...

'' She is best known for writing the ''Wings of Fire'' series of epic dragon fantasy novels. Sutherland's books have sold over 15 million copies.

Early life and education

Tui T. Sutherland was born on July 31, 1978, in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

. Her mother, who was from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, named her after the

tūī The tūī (''Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae'') is a medium-sized bird native to New Zealand. It is blue, green, and bronze coloured with a distinctive white throat tuft (poi). It is an endemism, endemic passerine bird of New Zealand, and the on ...

, a bird native to that country. Sutherland lived in Asuncion,

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, and

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

for short periods before moving to

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

. While in high school she began doing theater, mostly backstage work. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

in 1998, writing her college thesis about

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. Due to Hamlet's actions, Ophelia ultima ...

from William Shakespeare's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

,'' then earned a Master of Arts in Art History. Sutherland's thesis was titled ''The beautified Ophelia: Shakespeare in British Art, 1850-1900''. Sutherland abandoned ideas of a career in theater in favor of writing children's books after "she partook in creative writing courses over six months in New Zealand", a decision she half-joked allowed her career path "to be far more stable and lucrative".

Career

Sutherland began her professional literary career as an

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, at

Grosset & Dunlap Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. In recent years, through the P ...

, then at

HarperCollins 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 ...

; her debut solo work, ''This Must Be Love'' (a retelling of ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

''), was published in 2004. She achieved initial commercial success on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list with her junior novel adaptation of the screenplay for '' Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'', and joined the

Erin Hunter Erin Hunter is a collective pseudonym used by the authors Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Clarissa Hutton, Inbali Iserles, Tui T. Sutherland, and Rosie Best in the writing of several children's fantasy novel series which focus o ...

team alongside Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary and Cherith Baldry on the popular ''Warriors'' and ''Seekers'' series, from the perspective of

cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

and

bears Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout most o ...

respectively. Her success during this time, coupled with what she learned about the inside workings of the publishing industry, helped her work up the courage to write and see through to publication several books of her own. Sutherland eventually quit her position as an editor to write full-time and later moved to Watertown,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. Sutherland has written books under her actual name (or an initialized variation) as well as under

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

s and

s, including Tamara Summers, Heather Williams, and Rob Kidd, the latter of which was shared. After the conclusion of her dog-focused ''Pet Trouble'' series, Sutherland pitched her agent Steven Malk and the team at Scholastic Inc. about writing an epic fantasy series starring

dragons A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depict ...

as the focus. With Amanda Maciel as her editor, the ''Wings of Fire'' series debuted on July 1, 2012 to commercial success, generally receiving mixed to positive critical reviews. Over time the series gradually amassed a fan following and became an international bestseller.

Personal life

Sutherland grew up sharing original ideas and exploring the

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

with her younger sister Kari. She married her husband Adam in October 2007, and the two live in

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...

with their two sons. Though she has generally refrained from revealing private details about her life in her frequent public events, Sutherland's religious background has been noted, as Sutherland is known to borrow influences from a variety of religious traditions and backgrounds; she "attended a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

missionary school in

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, studied

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

in college" and is raising her children with

Judeo-Christian The term ''Judeo-Christian'' is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's recognition of Jewish scripture to constitute the Old Testament of the Christian Bibl ...

influences, having "married a wonderful

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

man". Though she has woven philosophical and spiritual aspects from a variety of sources and traditions into her work, she has also said that "religion isn't something talked about as freely" in her daily life, instead hoping that her writing can open up discussions among readers and pose questions to contemplate in the freer, larger-than-life

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, ...

worlds she creates. Sutherland has drawn inspiration from locations she has visited over the years, including the

Waitomo Caves Waitomo is a rural community in the King Country region of New Zealand's North Island. There are several solutional cave systems in the area around the village, which are popular tourist attractions. Restaurants and accommodation are centred in ...

and the Amber Palace in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and develops her fantasy worlds' environments through watching nature documentaries such as ''

Planet Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is ...

'' and '' Life in the Undergrowth''. Although she is not a member of the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...

(WGA), Sutherland marched in support of the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. A long-time fan of ''

'', Sutherland named the sixth dog in the ''Pet Trouble'' series after it. In 2009, she was a two-day champion on the show, winning a total of $46,200 over three episodes; the first two games she won by a fine margin, whereas she lost in her latter appearance as she did not wager enough money on the final clue; had she wagered everything, she would have won the game. Sutherland began a free online newsletter in late June 2024.

Bibliography

Individual titles

* ''Kermit's Mixed-Up Valentines'' (January 2, 2001, with Emily Sollinger; Out of Print) * ''Meet Mo and Ella'' (February 1, 2001; Out of Print) * ''Fun with Mo and Ella'' (February 1, 2002; Out of Print) * '' Who Was Harry Houdini?'' (July 1, 2002, as Tui Sutherland) * ''This Must Be Love'' (September 1, 2004; Out of Print) * ''Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - The Junior Novelization'' (April 10, 2007, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' Junior Book #3; Out of Print)

Under pseudonym

As
Erin Hunter Erin Hunter is a collective pseudonym used by the authors Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Clarissa Hutton, Inbali Iserles, Tui T. Sutherland, and Rosie Best in the writing of several children's fantasy novel series which focus o ...

* ''Warriors: Secrets of the Clans'' (May 29, 2007, under Erin Hunter, ''Warriors'' Companion Book #1) * ''Seekers: The Quest Begins'' (May 27, 2008, under Erin Hunter, ''Seekers'' Book #1) * ''Seekers: Smoke Mountain'' (May 14, 2009, under Erin Hunter, ''Seekers'' Book #3) * ''Seekers: Fire in the Sky'' (May 11, 2010, under Erin Hunter'', Seekers'' Book #5'')'' * ''Seekers: The Melting Sea'' (June 5, 2012, under Erin Hunter, ''Seekers: Return to the Wild'' Book #2)

As Rob Kidd

* ''Legends of the Brethren Court: The Caribbean'' (October 14, 2008, under Rob Kidd, ''Legends of the Brethren Court'' Book #1; Out of Print) * ''Legends of the Brethren Court: The East'' (December 9, 2008, under Rob Kidd, ''Legends of the Brethren Court'' Book #2; Out of Print) * ''Legends of the Brethren Court: The Turning Tide'' (March 17, 2009, under Rob Kidd, ''Legends of the Brethren Court'' Book #3; Out of Print) * ''Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters'' (August 18, 2009, under Rob Kidd, ''Legends of the Brethren Court'' Book #4; Out of Print) * ''Legends of the Brethren Court: Day of the Shadow'' (November 1, 2009, under Rob Kidd, ''Legends of the Brethren Court'' Book #5; Out of Print)

As Tamara Summers

* ''He's With Me'' (May 1, 2007, as Tamara Summers; Out of Print) * ''Save the Date'' (April 29, 2008, as Tamara Summers; Out of Print) * ''Never Bite a Boy on the First Date'' (September 16, 2009, as Tamara Summers; Out of Print)

As Heather Williams

* ''Nellie Oleson meets Laura Ingalls'' (September 1, 2007, as Heather Williams; Out of Print) * ''Farmer Boy Goes West'' (February 14, 2012, as Heather Williams; Out of Print)

Anthologies

* "Skittering" (''Half-Minute Horrors'', Short Story Anthology, August 25, 2009; Out of Print) * "The Incredibly Important True Story of Me!" (''Lucky Dog: Twelve Tales of Rescued Dogs'', Short Story Anthology, January 28, 2014; Out of Print)

Series

Avatars

* ''Avatars: So This Is How It Ends'' (October 1, 2006, ''Avatars'' Book #1; Out of Print) * ''Avatars: Shadow Falling'' (October 1, 2007, ''Avatars'' Book #2; Out of Print) * ''Kingdom of Twilight'' (October 1, 2008, ''Avatars'' Book #3; Out of Print)

Pet Trouble

* ''Pet Trouble: Runaway Retriever'' (April 1, 2009, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #1) * ''Pet Trouble: Loudest Beagle on the Block'' (April 1, 2009, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #2) * ''Pet Trouble: Mud-Puddle Poodle'' (July 1, 2009, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #3) * ''Pet Trouble: Bulldog Won't Budge'' (November 1, 2009, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #4) * ''Pet Trouble: Oh No, Newf!'' (February 1, 2010, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #5) * ''Pet Trouble: Smarty-Pants Sheltie'' (May 1, 2010, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #6) * ''Pet Trouble: Bad to the Bone Boxer'' (August 1, 2010, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #7) * ''Pet Trouble: Dachshund Disaster'' (November 1, 2010, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #8)

The Menagerie

* ''The Menagerie'' (March 12, 2013, with Kari Sutherland, ''The Menagerie'' Book #1) * ''The Menagerie: Dragon on Trial'' (March 11, 2014, with Kari Sutherland, ''The Menagerie'' Book #2) * ''The Menagerie: Krakens and Lies'' (March 10, 2015, with Kari Sutherland, ''The Menagerie'' Book #3)

Spirit Animals

* ''Spirit Animals: Against the Tide'' (September 30, 2014, ''Spirit Animals'' Book #5)

Wings of Fire

* ''Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy'' (July 1, 2012, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #1) * ''Wings of Fire: The Lost Heir'' (January 1, 2013, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #2) * ''Wings of Fire: The Hidden Kingdom'' (May 28, 2013, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #3) * ''Wings of Fire: The Dark Secret'' (October 29, 2013, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #4) * ''Wings of Fire: The Brightest Night'' (March 25, 2014, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #5) * ''Wings of Fire: Moon Rising'' (December 30, 2014, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #6) * ''Wings of Fire: Winter Turning'' (June 30, 2015, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #7) * ''Wings of Fire: Escaping Peril'' (December 29, 2015, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #8) * ''Wings of Fire: Talons of Power'' (December 27, 2016, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #9) * ''Wings of Fire: Darkness of Dragons'' (July 25, 2017, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #10) * ''Wings of Fire: The Lost Continent'' (June 26, 2018, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #11) * ''Wings of Fire: The Hive Queen'' (December 26, 2018, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #12) * ''Wings of Fire: The Poison Jungle'' (July 30, 2019, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #13) * ''Wings of Fire: The Dangerous Gift'' (March 2, 2021, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #14) * ''Wings of Fire: The Flames of Hope'' (April 5, 2022, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #15) * ''Wings of Fire: The Hybrid Prince'' (March 3, 2026, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #16)

Wings of Fire: Winglets

* ''Wings of Fire: Winglets #1 - Prisoners'' (March 31, 2015, ''Wings of Fire'' Short Story #1) * ''Wings of Fire: Winglets #2 - Assassin'' (September 29, 2015, ''Wings of Fire'' Short Story #2) * ''Wings of Fire: Winglets #3 - Deserter'' (March 29, 2016, ''Wings of Fire'' Short Story #3) * ''Wings of Fire: Winglets #4 - Runaway'' (September 27, 2016, ''Wings of Fire'' Short Story #4) * ''Wings of Fire - A Winglets Collection: The First Three Stories'' (September 1, 2016, ''Wings of Fire'' Compilation of ''Prisoners'', ''Assassin'' and ''Deserter''; Limited Print) * ''Wings of Fire: The Winglets Flip Book'' (April 27, 2019, ''Wings of Fire'' Compilation of ''Assassin'' and ''Deserter''; Limited Print) * ''Wings of Fire: The Winglets Quartet - The First Four Stories'' (October 6, 2020, ''Wings of Fire'' Compilation of ''Prisoners'', ''Assassin'', ''Deserter'' and ''Runaway'')

Wings of Fire: Legends

* ''Wings of Fire: Legends - Darkstalker'' (June 28, 2016, ''Wings of Fire'' ''Legends'' Special Edition #1) * ''Wings of Fire: Legends - Dragonslayer'' (March 3, 2020, ''Wings of Fire'' ''Legends'' Special Edition #2)

Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel

* ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: The Dragonet Prophecy'' (January 2, 2018, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #1) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: The Lost Heir'' (February 26, 2019, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #2) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: The Hidden Kingdom'' (October 15, 2019, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #3) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: The Dark Secret'' (December 29, 2020, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #4) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: The Brightest Night'' (December 28, 2021, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #5) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: Moon Rising'' (December 27, 2022, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #6) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: Winter Turning'' (December 26, 2023, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #7) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: Escaping Peril'' (December 24, 2024, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #8)

Wings of Fire (Spin-offs and Tie-ins)

* ''Wings of Fire: Forge Your Dragon World'' (May 4, 2021, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Activity Book) * ''Wings of Fire: The Official Coloring Book'' (April 5, 2022, with Brianna C. Walsh, ''Wings of Fire'' Activity Book) * ''Wings of Fire: A Guide to the Dragon World'' (October 3, 2023, ''Wings of Fire'' Companion Book) * ''Wings of Fire: How to Draw'' (November 7, 2023, with Brianna C. Walsh, ''Wings of Fire'' Activity Book) * ''The Official Wings of Fire Stained Glass Art Book'' (February 4, 2025, ''Wings of Fire'' Activity Book) Note: All books credited under the name Tui T. Sutherland unless otherwise stated.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Tui American children's writers 1978 births Living people Contestants on American game shows Warriors (novel series) Williams College alumni Venezuelan emigrants to the United States American women children's writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers American fantasy writers Writers from Caracas