Ann Pilling

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}

{{Use British English|date=December 2015}}{{Short description|English author and poet}}{{Infobox author

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1944|10|17|df=y}}

| nationality = English

| occupation = Author and poet

| pseudonym = Ann Cheetham

| awards = Guardian Children's Fiction Prize (1986)

| birth_place = Warrington, England

| education = King's College London

}}

Ann Pilling (born 17 October 1944) is an English author and poet best known for young adult fiction. She has also written horror fiction under the pen name Ann Cheetham.{{cite book|title=The Writer's Directory 2012|year=2012|publisher=St. James Press|location=Detroit, Mich.|isbn=9781558628397|pages=1984|url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX1863817236&v=2.1&u=nu_main&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w|edition=30th}}

For Henry's Leg, published by Viking Kestrel in 1985, she won the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a once-in-a-lifetime book award judged by a panel of British children's writers.

Pilling was born in Warrington, Lancashire, and grew up in a house "groaning with books". She started writing poetry when she was eight. At twelve years old, she took herself to church because 'I had a strong sense of God'. Her religious faith is important to her but she more often chooses secular subjects. She studied English at King's College London and wrote a Master's thesis on C. S. Lewis., her first introduction to contemporary children's books.

Works

= Horror stories =

The first four books (Dark Powers series) were originally published as by Ann Cheetham.

  • Black Harvest (1983)
  • The Beggar's Curse (1984)
  • The Witch of Lagg (1985)
  • The Pit (1987)
  • The Empty Frame (1997)

= Children's books =

  • The Year of the Worm (1984)
  • Henry's Leg (1985)
  • The Friday Parcel (1986)
  • No Guns No Oranges (1986)
  • Our Best Stories (1986), eds. Pilling and A. Wood
  • The Big Pink (1987)
  • The Beast in the Basement (1988)
  • Dustbin Charlie (1988)
  • On the Lion's Side (1988)
  • Stan (1988)
  • The Big Biscuit (1989)
  • The Jungle Sale (1989)
  • Our Kid (1989)
  • Getting Rid of Aunt Mildred (1990)
  • The Donkey's Day Out (1990)
  • Before I Go to Sleep: Bible Stories, Poems, and Prayers for Children, selected and retold, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton (London: Kingfisher, New York: Crown Publishers, Toronto: Kids Can Press, 1990); reissued 2000 as A Kingfisher Treasury of Bible Stories, Poems and Prayers for Bedtime {{OCLC|59564291}}
  • The Boy with His Leg in the Air (1991)
  • Vote for Baz (1992)
  • Considering Helen (1993)

'Dustbin Charlie Cleans Up' (1994)

  • The Kingfisher Children's Bible: Stories from the Old and New Testaments, retold, illus. Denton (2003); reissued 2003 as The Kingfisher Book of Bible Stories {{OCLC|53072371}}
  • Realms of Gold: Myths and Legends from Around the World, retold, illus. Denton (1993); reissued 2003 as The Kingfisher Treasury of Myths and Legends {{OCLC|52470749}}
  • The Baked Bean Kids (1993)
  • Mother's Daily Scream (1995)
  • The Life of Jesus (1996)
  • Noah's Ark (1996)
  • Amber's Secret (2000)
  • Why Bear Has a Stumpy Tail and Other Creation Stories (2000)
  • The Catnappers: The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat (Collins, 2003), as by Ann Cheetham, illus. Clare Mackie {{OCLC|51107280}}

= Adult books =

  • A Broken Path (1991)
  • Considering Helen (1993)

= Poetry =

  • 'Growing Pains' (2008, winner of Smith/Doorstop Pamphlet Competition)
  • 'Home Field' (2008) Arrowhead Press
  • 'The Dancing Sailors' ( 2011) Indigo Dreams Publishing
  • 'Ground Cover' (2015) Indigo Dreams Publishing
  • 'Ways of Speech' ( 2020) Shoestring Press
  • In Flight' ( 2024 ) Mudfog Press

Awards ==

Her 1988 children's books On the Lion's Side and Stan were shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.

See also

{{Portal|Children and Young Adult Literature}}

{{Portal bar| Children's literature}}

References

{{reflist |25em |refs=

{{cite web |title=Ann Pilling |url=http://www.puffin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000025563,00.html |publisher=Puffin Books |accessdate=22 November 2012 |archive-date=14 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214040629/http://www.puffin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000025563,00.html |url-status=live }}

[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/12/guardianchildrensfictionprize2001.guardianchildrensfictionprize "Guardian children's fiction prize relaunched: Entry details and list of past winners"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090634/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/12/guardianchildrensfictionprize2001.guardianchildrensfictionprize |date=27 March 2019 }}. guardian.co.uk 12 March 2001. Retrieved 2013-06-04.

}}