Sarah Ellis (author)
{{Short description|Canadian children's writer and librarian (born 1952)}}
{{For|the 19th Century English author|Sarah Stickney Ellis}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Sarah Ellis
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1952|05|19}}
| death_date =
| occupation = Writer, librarian, teacher
| period =
| genre = Children's literature
| alma_mater = {{plainlist}}
- University of British Columbia, BA, 1973; MLS, 1975
- Simmons College, MA, 1980
{{endplainlist}}
| website = {{URL|sarahellis.ca}}
| birth_place = Vancouver, British Columbia
}}
Sarah Ellis (born 19 May 1952 in Vancouver){{Cite web |title=Ellis, Sarah 1952- |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/ellis-sarah-1952 |access-date=2023-05-02 |website=Encyclopedia.com |archive-date=2022-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519001226/https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/ellis-sarah-1952 |url-status=live }} is a Canadian children's writer and librarian. She has been a librarian in Toronto and Vancouver. She has also written reviews for Quill and Quire.Ellis, Sarah. Quill and Quire. January 2009. {{full citation needed|date=July 2015}} She taught writing at the Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a masthead reviewer for The Horn Book.
Ellis has said that she gets her ideas from "memories, anecdotes people tell me, radio interviews, dreams, newspaper articles, family stories, being curious, observing the world, paying attention."{{cite web |url=http://www3.telus.net/andyspandy/index.html |title=Sarah Ellis: Writer, Reader, Storyteller, Librarian. |accessdate=2 November 2010 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165249/http://www3.telus.net/andyspandy/index.html |url-status=live }} She is a strong advocate for children's literature and she belongs to many different clubs and unions such as the Writers' Union of Canada, the Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable, Children's Writers and Illustrators and many more.
Biography
Ellis was born 19 May 1952 in Vancouver, British Columbia to Joseph Walter and Ruth Elizabeth Ellis and has two older brothers.{{Cite web |title=Ellis, Sarah |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/ellis-sarah |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=Encyclopedia.com |archive-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127211510/https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/ellis-sarah |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://sarahellis.ca/about/ |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=Sarah Ellis |language=en-US |archive-date=2019-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706112051/http://sarahellis.ca/about/ |url-status=live }}
She attended the University of British Columbia where she received her Bachelor of Arts honours in 1973 and a Master of Library Science (MLS) in 1975. After receiving her MLS, Ellis began working as a librarian in Vancouver before attending Simmons College, where she graduated with a Master of Arts degree in children's literature in 1980.Donohue, Kathleen. "Sarah Ellis". Oxford University Press 2001
Ellis published her first book, The Baby Project, in 1986.
In 1999, she was a writer-in-residence at Massey College at the University of Toronto.
Ellis retired from library work in 2007 but shortly after began teaching at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has also written reviews for Quill and Quire and is a masthead reviewer for The Horn Book.
She is an out lesbian.{{Cite web |title=Secret garden |url=http://archives.xtra.ca/Story.aspx?s=1421710 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005031830/http://archives.xtra.ca/Story.aspx?s=1421710 |archive-date=2007-10-05 |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=Xtra}}
Awards and honours
In 1995, Ellis won the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People,{{Cite web |title=1995 Vicky Metcalf Award for Children's Literature Recipient: Sarah Ellis |url=https://bookcentre.ca/book-review/1995_vicky_metcalf_award_for_childrens_literature_recipient_sarah_ellis |access-date=2023-05-02 |website=Canadian Children's Book Centre |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205134000/http://bookcentre.ca/book-review/1995_vicky_metcalf_award_for_childrens_literature_recipient_sarah_ellis |url-status=live }} and in 2013, she received the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence.{{cite web |author=Martha Perkins |date=April 11, 2013 |title=Sarah Ellis and Lorna Crozier to receive Lieutenant Governor Award |url=http://www.wevancouver.com/arts/202619661.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130630161629/http://www.wevancouver.com/arts/202619661.html |archivedate=June 30, 2013 |accessdate=May 8, 2013 |work=WE Vancouver}} She has also been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award four times.
In 2012, Ellis was chair of the judges for the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2013-06-04 |title=And the Judges Are... |url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2009 |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=Shelf Awareness |archive-date=2023-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207075408/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2009 |url-status=live }}
Publications
=Middle grade and young adult fiction=
- The Baby Project (1986)
- Next Door Neighbours (1990)
- Pick Up Sticks (1991)
- Out of the Blue (1994)
- The Several Lives of Orphan Jack, illustrated by Bruno St-Aubin (2003)
- Odd Man Out (2006)
- Outside In (2014)
- Dodger Boy (2018)
=Picture books=
- Next Stop!, illustrated by Ruth Ohi (2000)
- The Queen's Feet, illustrated by Dušan Petričić (2006)
- Salmon Forest, with David Suzuki, illustrated by Sheena Lott (2003)
- Waiting for Sophie, illustrated by Carmen Mok (2017)
- As Glenn as Can Be, illustrated by Nancy Vo (2022)
== Ben series ==
The Ben books are illustrated by Kim LaFave.
- Ben Over Night (2001)
- Big Ben (2001)
- A+ for Big Ben (2015)
- Ben Says Goodbye (2015)
- Ben and the Scaredy-Dog (2018)
=Short story collections=
- Back of Beyond: Stories of the Supernatural (1997)
=''Dear Canada Diary'' books=
- A Prairie as Wide as the Sea: The Immigrant Diary of Ivy Weatherall (2002)
- A Season for Miracles: Twelve Tales of Christmas (2006)
- Days of Toil and Tears: The Child Labour Diary of Flora Rutherford (2008)
- A Christmas to Remember: Tales of Comfort and Joy (2009)
- That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton (2011)
=Nonfiction books=
- The Young Writer's Companion, illustrated by Juan Fitzherbert (1999)
- From Reader to Writer: Teaching Writing Through Classic Children's Books (2000)
=Anthologies edited=
- Girls' Own: An Anthology of Canadian Fiction for Young Readers (2001)
References
External links
- {{official website |http://sarahellis.ca}}
- {{LCAuth|n91099717|Sarah Ellis|15|ue}}
{{Portal |Children's literature}}
{{Governor General's English children's literature|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Sarah}}
Category:Canadian children's writers
Category:Governor General's Award–winning children's writers
Category:Canadian lesbian writers
Category:Writers from Vancouver
Category:Canadian women children's writers
Category:Canadian women librarians
Category:Vermont College of Fine Arts faculty
Category:University of British Columbia alumni
Category:Simmons University alumni