Devid Almond

David Almond (David Almond) is an English writer best known as the author of works aimed at children and young adults, written in the genre of magical realism.

David Almond was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on May 15, 1951, into a Catholic family. He studied at the University of East Anglia, and then worked as a teacher for five years. For some time Almond lived in a commune of artists and writers, after which he returned to his native Newcastle.

In 1985, Almond’s first book, Sleepless Nights, a collection of short stories aimed at an adult audience, was published. The writer’s first children’s novel was published in 1998 and was titled Skellig (translated into Russian by Olga Varshaver). The book was a great success; a film of the same name was made based on its plot, and a stage production and an opera were also created. Almond received the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Prize.

The writer’s next work, Kit's Wilderness, published in 1999, won the Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association.

The book The Fire-Eaters, published in 2003, received the Whitbread Prize in the category “Best Children’s Book.”

The novel Clay, published in 2005, was nominated for the Guardian Prize and was also included by the American Library Association in its list of the best books of 2007 for young adults. The novel was adapted for the screen in 2008.

Almond’s works have been translated into more than 20 languages. In 2010, he became the recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, often called the “Nobel Prize for children’s literature.”

Currently, the writer lives with his family in Northumberland in northeastern England. ____________ source