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  • Author Nominee:Ireland

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Kate Thompson
Ireland, Author

If there is a common thread to my books, it is that each involves an individual journey. The individual must stay true to themselves.

- Kate Thompson

Although she has lived in Ireland for many years and is an expert in traditional Irish music, Kate Thompson was born in England, in Halifax, Yorkshire in 1956. When she left school Thompson worked with racehorses. A period studying law did not work out for her and she spent time travelling and working with orphans in India before moving to Ireland.


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Thompson's first published children's book was the first volume in her 'Switchers' trilogy. This gothic fantasy was followed by three books in the science fiction genre, but after that Thompson has shown that she is equally comfortable writing historical fiction as in The Alchemist's Apprentice or in realist mode as she does in Annan Water, or mixing the 'real world' with the world of Irish mythology in The New Policeman and The Last of the High Kings.

Kate Thompson is one of the best-known names in Irish children's fiction, having published thirteen books for children, as well as three for adults. Her work has been recognised internationally and she is the recipient of many important awards. She is the first author in the history of the prestigious Irish children's awards, the Children's Books Ireland/Bisto Award, to win the overall Bisto Book of the Year Award four times. The New Policeman won the Whitbread Award for Children's Fiction, the Guardian Children's Book Prize, the Dublin Airport Authority Children's Book of the Year Award, in addition to the Bisto Book of the Year Award.

Dr Patricia Kennon comments that 'Thompson combines a sophisticated and stimulating voice with an inviting and identifiable range of experiences in her narratives. It is this uncompromising yet accessible commitment to honouring the complexity of young people's experiences which drives her fiction and which establishes her preeminent position in the arena of Irish children's fiction. And it is this sensitive yet challenging excavation of the depths of adolescent yearning for both autonomy and belonging which secures her further right to international success and renown.'

Selected bibliography

The Beguilers 2001 London: Bodley Head
The Alchemist's Apprentice 2002 London: Bodley Head
Annan Water 2004 London: Bodley Head
The New Policeman 2005 London: Bodley Head
The Fourth Horseman 2006 London: Bodley Head [End Page 36]

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