Gillian Cross

Gillian Clare Arnold was born in London on 24 December 1945 to James Eric and Joan Emma Arnold.{{cite web |title=Cross, Gillian 1945– |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/cross-gillian-1945 |website=Encyclopedia.com |accessdate=3 March 2020 |archive-date=3 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303221717/https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/cross-gillian-1945 |url-status=live }} As a girl, she attended the North London Collegiate School. She married Martin Cross on May 10, 1967.

Later, she received a Bachelor of Arts with first-class honours from Somerville College, Oxford in 1969, and a Master of Arts from the same university in 1972. In 1974, she received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Sussex.

Cross and her husband had four children.

Before becoming a full-time writer, Cross held several different jobs, including acting as an assistant to a Member of Parliament.

In 1979, she published her first book, The Runaway. Three years later, she inaugurated The Demon Headmaster series of eight books (1982 to 2019). The same year, she also completed The Dark Behind the Curtain, a horror story illustrated by David Parkins and published by Oxford University Press.[http://lccn.loc.gov/90168648 "The dark behind the curtain"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428110143/https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=LCCN&searchArg=90168648&searchType=1&permalink=y |date=28 April 2020 }}. Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 13 July 2012. It was highly commended for the 1982 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. A Map of Nowhere, published in 1988, was highly commended for the 1988 Carnegie. Two years later, she won the Medal two years later for Wolf, which was also runner-up for the 1991 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

In early 2014, she became a patron for the Leamington Spa-based charity Cord, after their work in Sudan inspired her latest novel, After Tomorrow.{{cite web |title=Leamington charity inspired new Gillian Cross novel |url=http://leamingtonobserver.co.uk/2014/01/19/news-Leamington-charity-inspired-new-Gillian-Cross-novel-94755.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20140617085958/http://leamingtonobserver.co.uk/2014/01/19/news-Leamington-charity-inspired-new-Gillian-Cross-novel-94755.html |archivedate=17 June 2014 |website=Leamington Observer |publisher= |df=dmy-all}}

In the 2024 Dorset Council election, Gillian Cross contested Beacon ward as a Labour Party candidate.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-03 |title=Lib Dems pledge car park charges review as they take control of Dorset Council |url=https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/24299046.dorset-elections-lib-dems-take-control-dorset-council/ |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=Dorset Echo |language=en}}

{{Incomplete list|date=June 2023}}

Three of Cross's books are Junior Library Guild selections: The Great American Elephant Chase (1995),{{Cite web |title=Junior Library Guild : The Great American Elephant Chase by Gillian Cross |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780823410163J&name=Great_American_Elephant_Chase |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=www.juniorlibraryguild.com}} New World (1995),{{Cite web |title=Junior Library Guild : New World by Gillian Cross |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780823411665J&name=New_World |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=www.juniorlibraryguild.com}} and Pictures in the Dark (1997).{{Cite web |title=Junior Library Guild : Pictures in the Dark by Gillian Cross |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780823412679J&name=Pictures_In_The_Dark |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=www.juniorlibraryguild.com}}

In 1987, The Horn Book Magazine has included two of Cross's books on their list of the best fiction of the year: Roscoe’s Leap (1987) and The Great American Elephant Chase (1993).{{Cite web |last=Book |first=Horn |title=Horn Book Fanfare 1938 to present |url=https://www.hbook.com/story/bookreviews/horn-book-fanfare-1938-to-present |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=The Horn Book |archive-date=20 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320225503/https://www.hbook.com/story/bookreviews/horn-book-fanfare-1938-to-present |url-status=live }}

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• The Runaway (1979)
• The Iron Way (1979)
• Revolt at Ratcliffe's Rags (1979)
• A Whisper of Lace (1981)
• The Dark Behind the Curtain (1982)
• The Demon Headmaster series:
• # The Demon Headmaster (1982)
• # The Prime Minister's Brain (1985)
• # The Revenge of the Demon Headmaster (1994)
• # The Demon Headmaster Strikes Again (1996)
• # The Demon Headmaster Takes Over (1997)
• # Facing the Demon Headmaster (2002)
• # Total Control (2017)
• # Mortal Danger (2019)
• Born of the Sun (1983)
• On the Edge (1984)
• Swimathon! (1986)
• Chartbreak (1986); US title, Chartbreaker
• Roscoe's Leap (1987)
• A Map of Nowhere (1988)
• Rescuing Gloria (1989)
• Wolf (1990)
• The Monster from Underground (2009)
• Twin and Super-Twin (1990)
• The Mintyglo Kid (1991)
• Gobbo the Great (1991)
• Rent-a-Genius (1991)
• Save Our School (1991)
• The Great Elephant Chase (1992); US title, The Great American Elephant Chase
• The Tree House (1993)
• The Furry Maccaloo (1993)
• Beware Olga! (1993)
• What Will Emily Do? (1994)
• New World (1994)
• The Crazy Shoe Shuffle (1995)
• Posh Watson (1995)
• Pictures in the Dark (1996)
• The Roman Beanfeast (1996)
• The Goose Girl (1998)
• Tightrope (1999)
• Down with the Dirty Danes! (2000)
• Calling a Dead Man (2001); US title, Phoning a Dead Man
• The Treasure in the Mud (2001)
• Dark Ground trilogy, or The Lost trilogy:
• # The Dark Ground (2004)
• # The Black Room (2005)
• # The Nightmare Game (2006)
• Sam Sorts It Out (2005)
• Brother Aelred's Feet (2007)
• Where I Belong (2007)
• After Tomorrow (2013)
• Shadow Cat (2015)

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{{reflist |group=lower-alpha |refs=

Cross was also a commended runner up twice, for Chartbreak (1986) and The Great Elephant Chase (1992).

• Since 1995 there are usually eight books on the Carnegie shortlist.

According to CCSU, some runners up through 2002 were Commended (from 1954) or Highly Commended (from 1966). The latter distinction was approximately annual from 1979, with 29 in 24 years including Cross alone in 1982 and three in 1988.

• No one has won three Carnegie Medals (awarded for 1936 to 2011 publications). Seven authors have won two. Among the dozens to win one, Cross and Melvin Burgess also wrote two Highly Commended books (1966–2002). (Burgess was a runner up for The Cry of the Wolf when Cross won the medal for Wolf.)

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{{reflist |25em |refs=

[http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/livingarchive/title.php?id=68 (Carnegie Winner 1990)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402232032/http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/livingarchive/title.php?id=68 |date=2 April 2012 }}. Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 13 July 2012.

[http://web.ccsu.edu/library/nadeau/award%20books/CarnegieMedal.htm "Carnegie Medal Award"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327101434/http://web.ccsu.edu/library/nadeau/award%20books/CarnegieMedal.htm |date=27 March 2019 }}. 2007(?). Curriculum Lab. Elihu Burritt Library. Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). Retrieved 13 July 2012.

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{{Portal|Children's literature |Speculative fiction/Horror}}

• {{official website |http://www.gillian-cross.co.uk/ }}
• {{isfdb name |6173 |Gillian Cross }}
• [http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/gillian-cross/ Gillian Cross at Fantastic Fiction]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080703162410/http://www.jubileebooks.co.uk/jubilee/magazine/authors/gillian_cross/gillian_cross.asp Author profile and interview]
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/studentlife/careersandchoices/dreamjobs/mediaandentertainment/writer/interview_writer_gillian_cross.shtml Gillian Cross answers questions about writing]
• {{LCAuth|n80166058|Gillian Cross|37|ue}}

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Category:English children's writers

Category:Carnegie Medal in Literature winners

Category:Costa Book Award winners

Category:Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford

Category:Alumni of the University of Sussex

Category:People educated at North London Collegiate School

Category:Writers from London

Category:1945 births

Category:Living people

Category:Labour Party (UK) politicians