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{{Short description|British children's and adult writer (born 1947)}}
{{Short description|British children's and adult writer (born 1947)}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{use dmy dates|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox writer
{{Infobox writer
| name = Anne Fine
| name = Anne Fine<br><small>[[Order of the British Empire|OBE]], [[Royal Society of Literature|FRSL]]</small>
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE|FRSL}}
| image =
| caption =
| image =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1947|12|7|df=yes}}
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1947|12|7|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Leicester, Leicestershire]], England
| birth_place = [[Leicester, Leicestershire]], England
| occupation = Writer
| occupation = Writer
| education =
| education =
| alma_mater = University of Warwick
| alma_mater = [[University of Warwick]]
| period = 1978–present
| period = 1978–present
| genre = Children's literature (all ages); [[black comedy]]
| genre = Children's literature (all ages); [[black comedy]]
| awards = {{awd |Carnegie Medal |1989, 1992}} {{awd |Guardian Prize |1990}}
| awards = {{awards |Carnegie Medal |1989, 1992}} {{awards |Guardian Prize |1990}}
| notableworks = {{plainlist|
| notableworks = {{plainlist|
* ''[[Madame Doubtfire]]''
* ''[[Madame Doubtfire]]''
* ''[[Goggle-Eyes]]''
* ''[[Goggle-Eyes]]''
* ''[[Flour Babies]]''
* ''[[Flour Babies]]''
}}
}}
| spouse = [[Kit Fine]] (divorced)
| spouse = [[Kit Fine]] (divorced)
| partner = Dick Warren<ref name=telegraph>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/authorinterviews/7992667/Anne-Fine-author.html | location=London | newspaper=The Daily Telegraph | first=Jessica | last=Salter | title=World of Anne Fine, author | date=14 September 2010}}</ref>
| partner = Dick Warren<ref name=telegraph>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/authorinterviews/7992667/Anne-Fine-author.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918102411/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/authorinterviews/7992667/Anne-Fine-author.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=18 September 2010 | location=London | newspaper=The Daily Telegraph | first=Jessica | last=Salter | title=World of Anne Fine, author | date=14 September 2010}}</ref>
| children = [[Cordelia Fine]]<br />Ione Fine
| children = [[Cordelia Fine]]<br />Ione Fine
| website = {{URL|www.annefine.co.uk}}
| website = {{URL|www.annefine.co.uk}}
}}
}}
'''Anne Fine''', [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]], [[Royal Society of Literature|FRSL]] (born 7 December 1947) is an English writer. Although best known for [[children's books]], she also writes for adults. She is a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Literature]] and she was appointed an OBE in 2003.<ref>
'''Anne Fine''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE|FRSL}} (born 7 December 1947) is an English writer. Although best known for [[children's books]], she also writes for adults. She is a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Literature]] and she was appointed an OBE in 2003.<ref>
{{cite web|url=http://www.jubileebooks.co.uk/2003/07/anne-fine-awarded-obe/ |title=Anne Fine Awarded OBE |publisher=Jubilee Books |date=21 July 2003 |access-date=21 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930025647/http://www.jubileebooks.co.uk/2003/07/anne-fine-awarded-obe/ |archive-date=30 September 2011 }}</ref>
{{cite web|url=http://www.jubileebooks.co.uk/2003/07/anne-fine-awarded-obe/ |title=Anne Fine Awarded OBE |publisher=Jubilee Books |date=21 July 2003 |access-date=21 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930025647/http://www.jubileebooks.co.uk/2003/07/anne-fine-awarded-obe/ |archive-date=30 September 2011 }}</ref>


Fine has written more than seventy children's books, including two winners of the annual [[Carnegie Medal (literary award)|Carnegie Medal]] and three highly commended runners-up.<ref name=ccsu/>{{efn |name=HC}} For some of those five books she also won the Guardian Prize, one Smarties Prize, two Whitbread Awards, and she was twice the Children's Author of the Year.
Fine has written more than seventy children's books, including two winners of the annual [[Carnegie Medal (literary award)|Carnegie Medal]] and three highly commended runners-up.<ref name=ccsu/>{{efn |name=HC}} For some of those five books she also won the Guardian Prize, one Smarties Prize, two Whitbread Awards, and she was twice the Children's Author of the Year.


For her contribution as a children's writer, Fine was a runner-up for the [[Hans Christian Andersen Medal]] in 1998.<ref name=andersen/><ref name="ibby-nominee"/> From 2001 to 2003, she was the second [[Children's Laureate]] in the UK.<ref name=laureate/><!-- is the subsequent OBE (lead paragraph) locally a greater honour than these two? -->
For her contribution as a children's writer, Fine was a runner-up for the [[Hans Christian Andersen Award|Hans Christian Andersen Medal]] in 1998.<ref name=andersen/><ref name="ibby-nominee"/> From 2001 to 2003, she was the second [[Children's Laureate]] in the UK.<ref name=laureate/><!-- is the subsequent OBE (lead paragraph) locally a greater honour than these two? -->


==Early life==
==Early life==
Fine was born and raised in [[Leicester]] and educated in neighbouring midland [[Ceremonial counties of England|counties]] of England. She attended [[Northampton High School, Northamptonshire|Northampton High School]] and earned a degree in politics from the [[University of Warwick]]. She was married to the philosopher [[Kit Fine]] until they were divorced; she has now been with her partner Dick Warren for more than twenty years.<ref name=telegraph/> She currently lives in [[Barnard Castle]], County Durham, England. She and Kit Fine have two daughters named [[Cordelia Fine]] and Ione Fine.
Fine was born and raised in [[Leicester]] and educated in neighbouring midland [[Ceremonial counties of England|counties]] of England. She attended [[Northampton High School, Northamptonshire|Northampton High School]] and earned a degree in politics from the [[University of Warwick]]. She was married to the philosopher [[Kit Fine]] until they were divorced; she has now been with her partner Dick Warren for more than twenty years.<ref name=telegraph/> She currently lives in [[Barnard Castle]], County Durham, England. She and Kit Fine have two daughters named [[Cordelia Fine]] and Ione Fine.


She has four sisters; her father was an electrical engineer and she grew up in Fareham, Hampshire. The eldest of the sisters is [[Elizabeth Arnold (children's writer)|Elizabeth Arnold]] who also writes books for children; the three younger sisters were triplets. She studied History and Politics at university, got married, and then her daughter Cordelia was born. At age 24, she wrote her first book.<ref>Hollindale, Peter (1999) ''An Interview with Anne Fine''. London: Mammoth</ref>
She has four sisters; her father was an electrical engineer and she grew up in Fareham, Hampshire. The eldest of the sisters is [[Elizabeth Arnold (children's writer)|Elizabeth Arnold]] who also writes books for children; the three younger sisters were triplets. She studied History and Politics at university, got married, and then her daughter Ione was born. At age 24, she wrote her first book.<ref>Hollindale, Peter (1999) ''An Interview with Anne Fine''. London: Mammoth</ref>


==Career==
==Career==
Describing the start of her writing career, Fine has written: “In 1971 my first daughter was born. Unable to get to the library in a snowstorm to change my library books, in desperation I sat down and started to write a novel. Clearly this was the right job for me, for I have never stopped writing for more than a few weeks since”.<ref name="Anne Fine official website">{{cite web | title= Anne Fine's Biography|url =http://www.annefine.co.uk/biography.php| author= Anne Fine | website= www.annefine.co.uk | access-date= 27 February 2015}}</ref> In September 2010, Fine told ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''’s Jessica Salter that this first book lay under her bed after being rejected by two publishers, adding “Five years later I unearthed it and entered it in a competition where I was runner-up, and it was finally published in 1978”.<ref name=telegraph/>
Describing the start of her writing career, Fine has written: "In 1971 my first daughter was born. Unable to get to the library in a snowstorm to change my library books, in desperation I sat down and started to write a novel. Clearly this was the right job for me, for I have never stopped writing for more than a few weeks since".<ref name="Anne Fine official website">{{cite web | title= Anne Fine's Biography|url =http://www.annefine.co.uk/biography.php| author= Anne Fine | website= annefine.co.uk | access-date= 27 February 2015}}</ref> In September 2010, Fine told ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'''s Jessica Salter that this first book lay under her bed after being rejected by two publishers, adding "Five years later I unearthed it and entered it in a competition where I was runner-up, and it was finally published in 1978".<ref name=telegraph/>


Her books for older children include ''[[Madame Doubtfire]]'' (1987), a satirical novel<ref>
Her books for older children include ''[[Madame Doubtfire]]'' (1987), a satirical novel<ref>
Line 47: Line 48:
Her work has been translated into 45 languages.<ref name=translations />
Her work has been translated into 45 languages.<ref name=translations />


In March 2014, Fine lent her support to the campaign [[Let books be books|Let Books Be Books]], which aims to persuade publishers of children's books to stop labelling and promoting books as "for boys" or "for girls". She told U.K. newspaper ''[[The Guardian]]'': "You'd think this battle would have been won decades ago. But even some seemingly bright and observant adults are buying into it again […] There are girls of all sorts, with all interests, and boys of all sorts with all interests. Just meeting a few children should make that obvious enough. But no, these idiotic notions are spouted so often they become a self-fulfilling societal straitjacket from which all our children suffer".<ref name="Guardian 7 March 2014" >{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/07/parents-gender-boys-girls-books-let-books-be-books|title= Parents push to end gender division of boys' and girls' books |last=Flood|first=Alison |date=7 March 2014 |website=www.theguardian.com | access-date=24 November 2014}}</ref>
In March 2014, Fine lent her support to the campaign [[Let books be books|Let Books Be Books]], which aims to persuade publishers of children's books to stop labelling and promoting books as "for boys" or "for girls". She told UK newspaper ''[[The Guardian]]'': "You'd think this battle would have been won decades ago. But even some seemingly bright and observant adults are buying into it again […] There are girls of all sorts, with all interests, and boys of all sorts with all interests. Just meeting a few children should make that obvious enough. But no, these idiotic notions are spouted so often they become a self-fulfilling societal straitjacket from which all our children suffer".<ref name="Guardian 7 March 2014" >{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/07/parents-gender-boys-girls-books-let-books-be-books|title= Parents push to end gender division of boys' and girls' books |last=Flood|first=Alison |date=7 March 2014 |website=The Guardian | access-date=24 November 2014}}</ref>


==Awards and nominations==
==Awards and nominations==
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The biennial [[Hans Christian Andersen Award]] conferred by the [[International Board on Books for Young People]] is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. In 1998, Fine was one of five finalists for the writing award.<ref name=andersen/><ref name="ibby-nominee"/>
The biennial [[Hans Christian Andersen Award]] conferred by the [[International Board on Books for Young People]] is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. In 1998, Fine was one of five finalists for the writing award.<ref name=andersen/><ref name="ibby-nominee"/>


She won the 1989 Carnegie Medal from the [[CILIP|Library Association]], recognising ''Goggle-Eyes'' as that year's best children's book,<ref name=medal1989/> and she was one of two highly commended runners-up for the same Medal with ''Bill's New Frock''.<ref name=ccsu/><ref group=lower-alpha name=HC/> She also won the once-in-a-lifetime Guardian Prize for ''Goggle-Eyes''<ref name=relaunch/> and the Smarties Prize in ages category 6–8 years for ''Bill's New Frock''.
She won the 1989 Carnegie Medal from the [[Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals|Library Association]], recognising ''Goggle-Eyes'' as that year's best children's book,<ref name=medal1989/> and she was one of two highly commended runners-up for the same Medal with ''[[Bill's New Frock]]''.<ref name=ccsu/><ref group=lower-alpha name=HC/> She also won the once-in-a-lifetime Guardian Prize for ''Goggle-Eyes''<ref name=relaunch/> and the Smarties Prize in ages category 6–8 years for ''Bill's New Frock''.


Three years later, she won the Carnegie Medal again for ''[[Flour Babies]]'' (Hamilton, 1992), which was also named the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year.
Three years later, she won the Carnegie Medal again for ''[[Flour Babies]]'' (Hamilton, 1992), which was also named the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year.
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''Up on Cloud Nine'' (Doubleday, 2002) was the last highly commended Carnegie runner-up, a distinction then used 29 times in 24 years. Fine is one of seven authors to win two Carnegie Medals (1936–2012) and the only author of three Highly Commended books.<ref name=ccsu/><ref group=lower-alpha name=HC/>
''Up on Cloud Nine'' (Doubleday, 2002) was the last highly commended Carnegie runner-up, a distinction then used 29 times in 24 years. Fine is one of seven authors to win two Carnegie Medals (1936–2012) and the only author of three Highly Commended books.<ref name=ccsu/><ref group=lower-alpha name=HC/>


Fine was the second [[Children's Laureate]] (2001–03)<ref name="childrenslaureate.org.uk">{{cite web | title= Anne Fine: Children’s Laureate 2001-3 |url =http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk/Previous-laureates/Anne-Fine| author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->| website= www.childrenslaureate.org.uk | access-date= 27 February 2015}}</ref> and received the [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] for services to literature in the 2003 Queen's [[Birthday Honours]] List.<ref name="BBC News 13 June 2003">{{cite web | title= CBE for former Bishop of Durham |url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/2989272.stm| author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date= 13 June 2003 | website= BBC News | access-date= 27 February 2015}}</ref>
Fine was the second [[Children's Laureate]] (2001–03)<ref name="childrenslaureate.org.uk">{{cite web | title= Anne Fine: Children's Laureate 2001-3 |url =http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk/Previous-laureates/Anne-Fine| author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->| website= childrenslaureate.org.uk | access-date= 27 February 2015}}</ref> and received the [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] for services to literature in the 2003 Queen's [[Birthday Honours]] List.<ref name="BBC News 13 June 2003">{{cite web | title= CBE for former Bishop of Durham |url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/2989272.stm| author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date= 13 June 2003 | publisher= BBC News | access-date= 27 February 2015}}</ref>


;Awards<ref>[http://literature.britishcouncil.org/anne-fine "Anne Fine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111033316/http://literature.britishcouncil.org/anne-fine |date=11 November 2012 }}. Literature: Writers. [[British Council]]. Retrieved 23 November 2012.</ref>
;Awards<ref>[http://literature.britishcouncil.org/anne-fine "Anne Fine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111033316/http://literature.britishcouncil.org/anne-fine |date=11 November 2012 }}. Literature: Writers. [[British Council]]. Retrieved 23 November 2012.</ref>
Line 86: Line 87:
* 2006 Carnegie shortlist – ''The Road of Bones''
* 2006 Carnegie shortlist – ''The Road of Bones''
* 2007 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, ages 6–8, second place – ''Ivan the Terrible''
* 2007 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, ages 6–8, second place – ''Ivan the Terrible''
* 2014 Carnegie shortlist - ''Blood Family''
* 2014 Carnegie shortlist – ''Blood Family''


==Selected works==
==Selected works==
Line 133: Line 134:
* ''A Sudden Swirl of Icy Wind'' (1990)
* ''A Sudden Swirl of Icy Wind'' (1990)
* ''A Sudden Glow of Gold'' (1991)
* ''A Sudden Glow of Gold'' (1991)
The three "Sudden" books were reissued as one, ''Genie, Genie, Genie'' (2004) {{ISBN|1-4052-1202-0}}.
*:The three "Sudden" books were reissued as one, ''Genie, Genie, Genie'' (2004) {{ISBN|1-4052-1202-0}}.
* ''The Country Pancake'' (1989, {{ISBN|1-4052-0062-6}}), illus. [[Philippe Dupasquier]] – also published as ''Saving Miss Mirabelle''
* ''The Country Pancake'' (1989, {{ISBN|1-4052-0062-6}}), illus. [[Philippe Dupasquier]] – also published as ''Saving Miss Mirabelle''
* ''[[Bill's New Frock]]'' (1989, {{ISBN|1-4052-0060-X}}), illus. P. Dupasquier —winner of the Smarties Prize, ages 6–8
* ''[[Bill's New Frock]]'' (1989, {{ISBN|1-4052-0060-X}}), illus. P. Dupasquier —winner of the Smarties Prize, ages 6–8
Line 172: Line 173:
* ''Blood Family'' (2013) –shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal
* ''Blood Family'' (2013) –shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal
* ''Blue Moon Day'' (2014) –short story collection
* ''Blue Moon Day'' (2014) –short story collection
*''Shades of Scarlet'' (2021)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tolkien|first=Tom|title=School Reading List book of the month|url=https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/new-book-releases/books-of-the-month/|url-status=live|website=The School Reading List|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727003616/https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/new-book-releases/books-of-the-month/ |archive-date=27 July 2019 }}</ref> {{ISBN|9781788451352}}


===For adults===
===For adults===
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* ''[[Raking the Ashes]]'' (2005) {{ISBN|0-593-05412-1}}
* ''[[Raking the Ashes]]'' (2005) {{ISBN|0-593-05412-1}}
* ''Our Precious Lulu'' (2009) {{ISBN|0-593-06361-9}}
* ''Our Precious Lulu'' (2009) {{ISBN|0-593-06361-9}}
* "Walk on Water, Walk on Air", ''[[Sunday Times]]'', 18 January 2009 ([http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article5516647.ece online edition])
* "Walk on Water, Walk on Air", ''[[Sunday Times]]'', 18 January 2009 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110615070358/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article5516647.ece online edition])


==Notes==
==Notes==
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[http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=273 "Hans Christian Andersen Awards"]. [[International Board on Books for Young People]] (IBBY). Retrieved 29 July 2013.</ref>
[http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=273 "Hans Christian Andersen Awards"]. [[International Board on Books for Young People]] (IBBY). Retrieved 29 July 2013.</ref>
<ref name="ibby-nominee">
<ref name="ibby-nominee">
[https://archive.is/20130114185952/http://www.literature.at/viewer.alo?objid=14769&viewmode=fullscreen&scale=3.33&rotate=&page=105 "Candidates for the Hans Christian Andersen Awards 1956–2002"]. ''The Hans Christian Andersen Awards, 1956–2002''. IBBY. [[Gyldendal]]. 2002. Pages 110–18. Hosted by [[Austrian Literature Online]] (literature.at). Retrieved 29 July 2013.</ref>
[https://archive.today/20130114185952/http://www.literature.at/viewer.alo?objid=14769&viewmode=fullscreen&scale=3.33&rotate=&page=105 "Candidates for the Hans Christian Andersen Awards 1956–2002"]. ''The Hans Christian Andersen Awards, 1956–2002''. IBBY. [[Gyldendal]]. 2002. Pages 110–18. Hosted by [[Austrian Literature Online]] (literature.at). Retrieved 29 July 2013.</ref>
<ref name=laureate>
<ref name=laureate>
[http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk/previous-laureates/anne-fine/ "Anne Fine"]. Children's Laureate (childrenslaureate.org.uk). [[Booktrust]]. Retrieved 28 September 2013.</ref>
[http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk/previous-laureates/anne-fine/ "Anne Fine"]. Children's Laureate (childrenslaureate.org.uk). [[Booktrust]]. Retrieved 28 September 2013.</ref>
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* [http://www.myhomelibrary.org/ "My Home Library" program launch], by Fine as Children's Laureate
* [http://www.myhomelibrary.org/ "My Home Library" program launch], by Fine as Children's Laureate
* {{british council |anne-fine}}
* {{british council |anne-fine}}
* {{isfdb name}}
* {{ISFDB name}}
;Interviews
;Interviews
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2005_15_mon_03.shtml BBC Radio 4 ''Woman's Hour'' interview] about ''[[Raking the Ashes]]'' on 11 April 2005.
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2005_15_mon_03.shtml BBC Radio 4 ''Woman's Hour'' interview] about ''[[Raking the Ashes]]'' on 11 April 2005.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fine, Anne}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fine, Anne}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century English novelists]]
[[Category:English children's writers]]
[[Category:20th-century English women writers]]
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[[Category:21st-century English novelists]]
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[[Category:21st-century English women writers]]
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[[Category:Alumni of the University of Warwick]]
[[Category:British Book Award winners]]
[[Category:British Book Award winners]]
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[[Category:British Children's Laureate]]
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[[Category:British women children's writers]]
[[Category:Carnegie Medal in Literature winners]]
[[Category:Carnegie Medal in Literature winners]]
[[Category:Costa Book Award winners]]
[[Category:Costa Book Award winners]]
[[Category:Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners]]
[[Category:English children's writers]]
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[[Category:English women novelists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature]]
[[Category:Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners]]
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[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
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[[Category:Alumni of the University of Warwick]]
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[[Category:People from Leicester]]
[[Category:People educated at Northampton High School, England]]
[[Category:People educated at Northampton High School, England]]
[[Category:British Children's Laureate]]
[[Category:Writers from Leicester]]
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[[Category:20th-century English novelists]]
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[[Category:21st-century English novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century English women writers]]
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[[Category:21st-century English women writers]]
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[[Category:British women children's writers]]
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[[Category:English women novelists]]

Latest revision as of 21:08, 24 October 2024

Anne Fine

OBE FRSL
Born (1947-12-07) 7 December 1947 (age 77)
Leicester, Leicestershire, England
OccupationWriter
Alma materUniversity of Warwick
Period1978–present
GenreChildren's literature (all ages); black comedy
Notable works
Notable awardsCarnegie Medal
1989, 1992
Guardian Prize
1990
SpouseKit Fine (divorced)
PartnerDick Warren[1]
ChildrenCordelia Fine
Ione Fine
Website
www.annefine.co.uk

Anne Fine OBE FRSL (born 7 December 1947) is an English writer. Although best known for children's books, she also writes for adults. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and she was appointed an OBE in 2003.[2]

Fine has written more than seventy children's books, including two winners of the annual Carnegie Medal and three highly commended runners-up.[3][a] For some of those five books she also won the Guardian Prize, one Smarties Prize, two Whitbread Awards, and she was twice the Children's Author of the Year.

For her contribution as a children's writer, Fine was a runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1998.[4][5] From 2001 to 2003, she was the second Children's Laureate in the UK.[6]

Early life

[edit]

Fine was born and raised in Leicester and educated in neighbouring midland counties of England. She attended Northampton High School and earned a degree in politics from the University of Warwick. She was married to the philosopher Kit Fine until they were divorced; she has now been with her partner Dick Warren for more than twenty years.[1] She currently lives in Barnard Castle, County Durham, England. She and Kit Fine have two daughters named Cordelia Fine and Ione Fine.

She has four sisters; her father was an electrical engineer and she grew up in Fareham, Hampshire. The eldest of the sisters is Elizabeth Arnold who also writes books for children; the three younger sisters were triplets. She studied History and Politics at university, got married, and then her daughter Ione was born. At age 24, she wrote her first book.[7]

Career

[edit]

Describing the start of her writing career, Fine has written: "In 1971 my first daughter was born. Unable to get to the library in a snowstorm to change my library books, in desperation I sat down and started to write a novel. Clearly this was the right job for me, for I have never stopped writing for more than a few weeks since".[8] In September 2010, Fine told The Daily Telegraph's Jessica Salter that this first book lay under her bed after being rejected by two publishers, adding "Five years later I unearthed it and entered it in a competition where I was runner-up, and it was finally published in 1978".[1]

Her books for older children include Madame Doubtfire (1987), a satirical novel[9] that Twentieth Century Fox filmed as Mrs. Doubtfire, starring Robin Williams. Goggle-Eyes (Hamish Hamilton, 1989) was adapted for television by Deborah Hall for the BBC.

Her books for middle children include Bill's New Frock (Methuen, 1989) and How to Write Really Badly (1996).

Her work has been translated into 45 languages.[10]

In March 2014, Fine lent her support to the campaign Let Books Be Books, which aims to persuade publishers of children's books to stop labelling and promoting books as "for boys" or "for girls". She told UK newspaper The Guardian: "You'd think this battle would have been won decades ago. But even some seemingly bright and observant adults are buying into it again […] There are girls of all sorts, with all interests, and boys of all sorts with all interests. Just meeting a few children should make that obvious enough. But no, these idiotic notions are spouted so often they become a self-fulfilling societal straitjacket from which all our children suffer".[11]

Awards and nominations

[edit]

The biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award conferred by the International Board on Books for Young People is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. In 1998, Fine was one of five finalists for the writing award.[4][5]

She won the 1989 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising Goggle-Eyes as that year's best children's book,[12] and she was one of two highly commended runners-up for the same Medal with Bill's New Frock.[3][a] She also won the once-in-a-lifetime Guardian Prize for Goggle-Eyes[13] and the Smarties Prize in ages category 6–8 years for Bill's New Frock.

Three years later, she won the Carnegie Medal again for Flour Babies (Hamilton, 1992), which was also named the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year. The Tulip Touch (Hamilton, 1996) was her second Whitbread winner and her second highly commended for the Carnegie.

Up on Cloud Nine (Doubleday, 2002) was the last highly commended Carnegie runner-up, a distinction then used 29 times in 24 years. Fine is one of seven authors to win two Carnegie Medals (1936–2012) and the only author of three Highly Commended books.[3][a]

Fine was the second Children's Laureate (2001–03)[14] and received the OBE for services to literature in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours List.[15]

Awards[16]
Runners-up, nominations, etc.
  • 1984 Guardian shortlist – The Granny Project
  • 1987 Guardian shortlist – Madame Doubtfire
  • 1987 Whitbread shortlist – Madame Doubtfire
  • 1989 Carnegie, highly commended – Bill's New Frock[3]
  • 1993 Carnegie shortlist – The Angel of Nitshill Road
  • 1996 Carnegie, highly commended – Tulip Touch[3]
  • 2002 Carnegie, highly commended – Up on Cloud Nine[3]
  • 2004 shortlist for the Red House Children's Book Award, Younger Readers – The More The Merrier
  • 2006 Carnegie shortlist – The Road of Bones
  • 2007 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, ages 6–8, second place – Ivan the Terrible
  • 2014 Carnegie shortlist – Blood Family

Selected works

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Picture books

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  • Poor Monty (1991) ISBN 1-4052-1097-4
  • Ruggles (2001, ISBN 0-86264-895-5), illustrated by Ruth Brown
  • Big Red Balloon (2012)
  • Hole in the Road (2014)
  • Under the Bed (2015)

For younger children

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For middle children

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For older children

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For adults

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Today there are usually eight books on the Carnegie shortlist. CCSU lists 32 "Highly Commended" runners-up for the Carnegie Medal from 1966 to 2002 but only three before 1979 when the distinction became approximately annual. There were 29 "HC" books in 24 years including two in 1989 and one each in 1996 and 2002. (The "Commended" distinction was used about 135 times from 1954 to 2002.)
    • No one has won three Carnegies. Among the seven authors with two Medals, six were active during 1966–2002 and all wrote at least one highly commended runner-up, led by Anne Fine with three.
  2. ^ a b c Anne Fine's first two books, The Summer-House Loon and The Other Darker Ned, published by Methuen Children's Books in 1978 and 1979, were updated, linked by new text, and published by Corgi Children's Books in 2006 under the title On The Summerhouse Steps.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Salter, Jessica (14 September 2010). "World of Anne Fine, author". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010.
  2. ^ "Anne Fine Awarded OBE". Jubilee Books. 21 July 2003. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Carnegie Medal Award". 2007(?). Curriculum Lab. Elihu Burritt Library. Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Hans Christian Andersen Awards". International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Candidates for the Hans Christian Andersen Awards 1956–2002". The Hans Christian Andersen Awards, 1956–2002. IBBY. Gyldendal. 2002. Pages 110–18. Hosted by Austrian Literature Online (literature.at). Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  6. ^ "Anne Fine". Children's Laureate (childrenslaureate.org.uk). Booktrust. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  7. ^ Hollindale, Peter (1999) An Interview with Anne Fine. London: Mammoth
  8. ^ Anne Fine. "Anne Fine's Biography". annefine.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  9. ^ Mary Ellen Snodgrass, Encyclopaedia of Satirical Literature, Oxford, 1996, p. xv.
  10. ^ "Anne Fine's books in translation" Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  11. ^ Flood, Alison (7 March 2014). "Parents push to end gender division of boys' and girls' books". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  12. ^ a b c (Carnegie Winner 1989). Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  13. ^ a b c "Guardian children's fiction prize relaunched: Entry details and list of past winners". theguardian 12 March 2001. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  14. ^ "Anne Fine: Children's Laureate 2001-3". childrenslaureate.org.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  15. ^ "CBE for former Bishop of Durham". BBC News. 13 June 2003. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  16. ^ "Anne Fine" Archived 11 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Literature: Writers. British Council. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  17. ^ a b (Carnegie Winner 1992). Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  18. ^ Tolkien, Tom. "School Reading List book of the month". The School Reading List. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019.
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Library resources about
Anne Fine
By Anne Fine
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Preceded by Children's Laureate of the United Kingdom
2001–2003 		Succeeded by
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