He is an author often suggested on National Curriculum reading lists in the United Kingdom and has attracted the attention of academics who specialise in the study of children's literature.Īlmond currently lives with his family in Northumberland, England.Īwards: Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (2010). He has been greatly influenced by the works of the English Romantic poet William Blake. Recurring themes throughout include the complex relationships between apparent opposites (such as life and death, reality and fiction, past and future) forms of education growing up and adapting to change the nature of 'the self'.

His works are highly philosophical and thus appeal to children and adults alike. His first play aimed at adolescents, Wild Girl, Wild Boy, toured in 2001 and was published in 2002. His subsequent novels are: Kit's Wilderness (1999), Heaven Eyes (2000), Secret Heart (2001), The Fire Eaters (2003) and Clay (2005). His first children's novel, Skellig (1998), set in Newcastle, won the Whitbread Children's Novel of the Year Award and also the Carnegie Medal. He started out as an author of adult fiction before finding his niche writing literature for young adults. When he was young, he found his love of writing when some short stories of his were published in a local magazine. He was born and raised in Felling and Newcastle in post-industrial North East England and educated at the University of East Anglia. David Almond is a British children's writer who has penned several novels, each one to critical acclaim.

Novel skellig by david almond