Nancy Farmer (born 1941) is an American writer of children's and young adult books and science fiction. She has written three Newbery Honor Books[1] and won the U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature for The House of the Scorpion, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 2002.[2]
Biography
Farmer was born in Phoenix, Arizona. She earned her B.A. at Reed College (1963) and later studied chemistry and entomology at the University of California, Berkeley.[3] She enlisted in the Peace Corps (1963–1965), and subsequently worked in Mozambique and Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe), where she studied biological methods of controlling the tsetse fly between 1975 and 1978.[3]
She met her future husband, Harold Farmer, at the University of Rhodesia (now the University of Zimbabwe). They married after a week-long courtship. As of 2010, Farmer lives in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains with her husband. They have one son, Daniel.[4]
Bibliography
Novels
- Lorelei: The Story of a Bad Cat (Harare, Zimbabwe: College Press, 1987)
- The Eye, the Ear, and the Arm (College Press, 1989)[5]
- Tapiwa's Uncle (College Press, 1993)
- Do You Know Me, illustrated by Shelley Jackson (Orchard Books, 1993)
- The Ear, the Eye and the Arm (Orchard, 1994)
- The Warm Place (Orchard, 1995)
- A Girl Named Disaster (Orchard, 1996)
- The House of the Scorpion (Atheneum Books, 2002)
- A New Year's Tale (2013) – paperback and e-book for adults[6]
- The Lord of Opium (2013) – sequel to The House of the Scorpion
The Sea of Trolls trilogy
- The Sea of Trolls (Atheneum, 2004)
- The Land of the Silver Apples (Atheneum, 2007)
- The Islands of the Blessed (Atheneum, 2009)
Picture books
- Runnery Granary, illus. Jos. A. Smith (Greenwillow Books, 1996) – A Mystery Must Be Solved—Or the Grain is Lost!
- Casey Jones's Fireman: The Story of Sim Webb, illus. James Bernardin (New York: Phyllis Fogelman Books, 1999)
- Clever Ali, illus. Gail De Marcken (Orchard, 2006)
Short stories
- "The Mirror", L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Volume IV (1988), pp. 35–65 – collection of twelve 1987 finalists; "The Mirror" won the grand prize[7]
- "Tapiwa's Uncle", Cricket (February 1992)
- "Origami Mountain", The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Sixth Annual Collection (1992)
- "Falada: the Goose Girl's Horse", A Wolf At the Door, eds. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (2000)
- "Remember Me", Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction, ed. Sharyn November (2003)
- "Bella's Birthday Present", Can You Keep a Secret, ed. Lois Metzger (2007)
- "The Mole Cure", Fantasy and Science Fiction (August 2007)
- "Ticket to Ride", Firebirds Soaring: An Anthology of Original Speculative Fiction, ed. Sharyn November (2008)
- "Castle Othello", Troll's Eye View, eds. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (2009)
Awards
"The Mirror" (1987)
- 1988, Writers of the Future Grand Prize[7]
The Ear, the Eye and the Arm (1994)
- 1995 Newbery Honor Book (a Newbery Medal runner-up)[1]
- 1995, Hal Clement Award (Golden Duck Award, Young Adult)[7]
A Girl Named Disaster (1996)
- 1996, National Book Award (U.S.) finalist, Young People's Literature[8]
- 1997, Newbery Honor[1]
The House of the Scorpion (2002)
- 2002, National Book Award for Young People's Literature[2]
- 2003, Newbery Honor[1]
- 2003, Buxtehuder Bulle (Germany)
- 2003, Printz Honor
The Land of the Silver Apples (2007)
- 2007, Emperor Norton Award ("extraordinary invention and creativity unhindered by the constraints of paltry reason")[7]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d
"Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922–Present". Association for Library Service to Children. (ALSC). American Library Association (ALA).
"The John Newbery Medal". ALSC. ALA. Retrieved 2012-04-15. - ^ a b
"National Book Awards – 2002". National Book Foundation (NBF). Retrieved 2012-01-26.
(With acceptance speech by Farmer and introduction by panelist Han Nolan, who remarked: "this year perhaps more than any other year obliterated any boundaries left between the young adult and adult novel.") - ^ a b Farmer, "Bio" (no date).
- ^ Farmer, "Moving" (June 17, 2010).
- ^ "The eye, the ear, and the arm" (1989 printing). Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 2013-11-23. Catalog records show The Eye ..., 1989, 160 pages; The Ear ..., 1994, 311 pages.
- ^ Farmer, "Home" (2013).
- ^ a b c d "Nancy Farmer". Science Fiction Awards Database (sfadb.com). Mark R. Kelly and the Locus Science Fiction Foundation. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
- ^ "National Book Awards – 1996". NBF. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
- Farmer. Nancy Farmer's official home page (nancyfarmerwebsite.com). 2008–present. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
External links
- Official website
- Excerpts from a Locus magazine interview with Nancy Farmer
- Nancy Farmer at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Nancy Farmer at LibraryThing
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
