Jan Mark
Jan Mark | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Janet Marjorie Brisland 22 June 1943 Welwyn Garden City,England |
| Died | 16 January 2006(aged 62) Oxford,England |
| Nationality | British |
| Genre | Children'sandyoung adult |
| Notable works | Thunder and Lightnings,Handles |
| Notable awards | Carnegie Medal |
Jan Mark(22 June 1943 – 16 January 2006) was a British writer best known forchildren's books.In all she wrote over fifty novels and plays and many anthologised short stories. She won the annualCarnegie Medalfrom theLibrary Association,recognising the year's best children's book by aBritish subject,both forThunder and Lightnings(1976) and forHandles(1983).[1][2]She was also a "Highly Commended" runner up forNothing To Be Afraid Of(1980).
Life
[edit]Janet Marjorie Brisland was born inWelwyn Garden City,Hertfordshireand was raised and educated inAshfordinKent.[3]She was a secondary school teacher between 1965 and 1971 and became a full-time writer in 1974. She was married once and divorced, and was survived by her daughter Isobel and son Alex.
Mark is known for acutely observed short stories that are concise and show an imaginative use of language.[4]She also wrote novels about seemingly ordinary children in contemporary settings, such asThunder and Lightnings,as well as science fiction novels set in their own universes with their own rules, such asThe Ennead.Her last works include the young adult novelsThe Eclipse of the CenturyandUseful Idiots.
The title ofThunder and Lightnings,a story set in ruralNorfolk,is a reference to the British RAF jet fighter theEnglish Electric Lightningand in turn inspired the name of a website documentingCold WarBritish military aircraft.[5]
Jan Mark was popular inFlanders, Belgium,where she participated in an educational project to stimulate teachers of English into using teenage fiction in the classroom. HerFlemishfriends devoted a website to her and to her work.[6]
Jan Mark died suddenly at her home inOxfordfrommeningitis-relatedsepticaemiain January 2006, aged 62.
Selected works
[edit]- King John and the Abbot(2006)ISBN978-1-84299-385-9
- Voyager(2006) the sequel toRiding TychoISBN978-0-333-99774-1
- Turbulence(2005)ISBN0-340-86099-5
- Robin Hood All at Sea(2005)ISBN1-842-99332-1
- Riding Tycho(2005)ISBN0-340-91320-7
- Useful Idiots(2004)ISBN0-385-75023-4
- The Eclipse of the Century(1999)ISBN0-439-01482-4
- Mr Dickens Hits Town(1999)ISBN0-88776-468-1
- The Midas Touch(1999)ISBN0-7636-0488-7
- My Frog and I(1997)ISBN1-903285-97-6
- The Tale of Tobias(1996)ISBN1-56402-692-2
- They Do Things Differently There(1994)ISBN0-09-941397-3
- Fun With Mrs Thumb(1993)ISBN1-56402-247-1
- Enough Is Too Much Already(1988)ISBN0-370-31094-2
- Zeno Was Here(1988)ISBN0-374-29664-2
- Fun(1988)ISBN0-670-82457-7
- Trouble Half-way(1986)ISBN0-689-31210-5
- Fur(1986)ISBN0-7445-0478-3
- Handles(1985)ISBN0-689-31140-0
- Feet and Other Stories(1983)ISBN0-7226-5839-7
- Aquarius(1982)ISBN0-689-31051-X
- The Dead Letter Box(1982)ISBN0-241-10804-7
- Nothing To Be Afraid Of(1981)ISBN0-06-024087-3
- Hairs in the Palm of the Hand(1981)ISBN0-7226-5728-5
- Divide and Rule(1980)ISBN0-690-04012-1
- The Ennead(1978)ISBN0-690-03872-0
- Under the Autumn Garden(1977)ISBN0-7226-5347-6
- Thunder and Lightnings(1976)ISBN0-690-03901-8
References
[edit]- ^(Carnegie Winner 1976)Archived29 January 2013 at theWayback Machine.Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners.CILIP.Retrieved 2012-07-12.
- ^(Carnegie Winner 1983).Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
- ^Fickling, David; Pullman, Philip; Appleton, Jon (24 January 2006)."Obituary: Jan Mark".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved14 April2019.
- ^Eccleshare, Julia (ed.) '1001 Children's Books', Cassell: 2009,ISBN978-1-84403-671-4p.857
- ^Thunder & Lightnings
- ^http:// janmark.beArchived16 February 2007 at theWayback Machine
External links
[edit]
- Jan Mark at Walker Books
- Jan Mark at Fantastic Fiction
- Jan Mark's Flemish fansiteArchived16 February 2007 at theWayback Machine
- Jan Mark resources and information
- Jan MarkatLibrary of Congress,with 25 library catalogue records
- 1943 births
- 2006 deaths
- 20th-century British educators
- 20th-century British women educators
- 20th-century British novelists
- 20th-century British short story writers
- 20th-century British women writers
- 20th-century British writers
- 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century English educators
- 20th-century English novelists
- 20th-century English women writers
- 21st-century British educators
- 21st-century British novelists
- 21st-century British short story writers
- 21st-century British women writers
- 21st-century British writers
- 21st-century English dramatists and playwrights
- 21st-century English educators
- 21st-century English novelists
- 21st-century English women writers
- 21st-century English writers
- British fantasy writers
- British horror writers
- British schoolteachers
- British science fiction writers
- British speculative fiction writers
- British women children's writers
- British women dramatists and playwrights
- British women short story writers
- English women writers
- British writers of young adult literature
- Carnegie Medal in Literature winners
- Deaths from meningitis
- Deaths from sepsis in the United Kingdom
- English fantasy writers
- English horror writers
- English schoolteachers
- English science fiction writers
- English short story writers
- English speculative fiction writers
- English women dramatists and playwrights
- British women educators
- English women novelists
- British ghost story writers
- Infectious disease deaths in England
- Literacy and society theorists
- Neurological disease deaths in England
- People from Ashford, Kent
- People from Welwyn Garden City
- British psychological fiction writers
- British weird fiction writers
- British women science fiction and fantasy writers
- British women writers of young adult literature
- Writers of young adult science fiction