Patricia Wrightson

Patricia Wrightson
Born Patricia Furlonger
(1921-07-19)19 July 1921
Lismore, New South Wales
Died March 15, 2010(2010-03-15) (aged 88)
Lismore, New South Wales
Occupation Children's book author
Language English
Nationality Australian
Notable award(s) Order of the British Empire
Ditmar Award
Dromkeen Medal
Hans Christian Andersen Award
Australian Children's Book of the Year Award (1956, 1974, 1978, 1984)

Patricia Wrightson (19 June 1921 – 15 March 2010) was an Australian author who wrote a number of highly regarded and influential children's books.[1] Her reputation came to rest largely on her magic realist titles. Her books, including the widely praised The Nargun and The Stars (1973), were among the first Australian books for children to draw on Australian Aboriginal mythology.[2] Her books have been published in 16 languages.[3]

Literary career

She was born on 19 June 1921 in Lismore, New South Wales. Her formal education came largely through a state correspondence school set up for children in the country.[2] During World War II, she worked in a munitions factory in Sydney. In the mid-60s she became assistant editor, and later editor, of the School Magazine, a literary publication for children.[2]

She wrote 27 books during her lifetime and entwined Australian Aboriginal mythology into her writing. As her writing developed, Wrightson's work revealed two key characteristics: her use of Aboriginal folklore, with its rich fantasy and mystery, and her understanding of the importance of the land.

Awards

Since 1955 when her first novel, The Crooked Snake, was published, her books have won many prestigious awards all over the world. She was awarded an Order of the British Empire in 1977, the Dromkeen Medal in 1984 and the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1986, all for her services to children's literature.[3][4]

Many of her books were shortlisted for the Australian Children's Book of the Year Award and she won this award four times: in 1956 for The Crooked Snake, in 1974 for The Nargun and The Stars, in 1978 for The Ice is Coming and in 1984 for A Little Fear. The Patricia Wrightson Award for Children's Literature was established in 1979 in her honour.

She died of "natural causes" on 15 March 2010, a few days after entering a New South Wales hospital.[5]

List of awards

Selected bibliography

Notes

  1. ^ Obituary The Times, 23 April 2010.
  2. ^ a b c "Patricia Wrightson obituary" Julia Eccleshare guardian.co.uk, Sunday 9 May 2010
  3. ^ a b "Patricia Wrightson Internationally acclaimed Australian author dies at 88"
  4. ^ "About the Author" in Wrightson, P., The Nargun and The Stars, Puffin Books, 1973 ISBN 0-14-030780-X
  5. ^ a b McGuirk, Rod (25 March 2010). "Australian author Patricia Wrightson dies at 88". Charlotte Observer. Associated Press. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/03/25/1335127/australian-author-patricia-wrightson.html. Retrieved 2 April 2010. 
  6. ^ "Dromkeen Medal". Scholastic. http://www.scholastic.com.au/common/dromkeen/medal.asp. Retrieved 15 July 2007. 
Authors: Eleanor Farjeon (1956) • Astrid Lindgren (1958) • Erich Kästner (1960) • Meindert DeJong (1962) • René Guillot (1964) • Tove Jansson (1966) • James Krüss and José Maria Sanchez-Silva (1968) • Gianni Rodari (1970) • Scott O'Dell (1972) • Maria Gripe (1974) • Cecil Bødker (1976) • Paula Fox (1978) • Bohumil Říha (1980) • Lygia Bojunga Nunes (1982) • Christine Nöstlinger (1984) • Patricia Wrightson (1986) • Annie M. G. Schmidt (1988) • Tormod Haugen (1990) • Virginia Hamilton (1992) • Michio Mado (1994) • Uri Orlev (1996) • Katherine Paterson (1998) • Ana Maria Machado (2000) • Aidan Chambers (2002) • Martin Waddell (2004) • Margaret Mahy (2006) • Jürg Schubiger (2008) • David Almond (2010)
Illustrators: Alois Carigiet (1966) • Jiří Trnka (1968) • Maurice Sendak (1970) • Ib Spang Olsen (1972) • Farshid Mesghali (1974) • Tatyana Mavrina (1976) • Svend Otto S. (1978) • Suekichi Akaba (1980) • Zbigniew Rychlicki (1982) • Mitsumasa Anno (1984) • Robert Ingpen (1986) • Dusan Kállay (1988) • Lisbeth Zwerger (1990) • Kveta Pacovská (1992) • Jörg Müller (1994) • Klaus Ensikat (1996) • Tomi Ungerer (1998) • Anthony Browne (2000) • Quentin Blake (2002) • Max Velthuijs (2004) • Wolf Erlbruch (2006) • Roberto Innocenti (2008) • Jutta Bauer (2010)