Steve Voake

Steve Voake is a successful English children's author from Midsomer Norton, Somerset, whose books have sold all over the world.

He started his teaching career at Midsomer Norton County Primary school in the late 80's. In 2003 he was head teacher of a primary school in Kilmersdon, Somerset, when the BBC reported that he was being hailed as the next J. K. Rowling. A bidding war had broken out amongst publishers and film makers for the rights to his first novel, The Dreamwalker's Child. The publication deal he accepted with Faber and Faber enabled him to give up his teaching job to be a full-time writer, although the book has not been made into a film.

Since then he has published twenty three books. The novelist and critic Amanda Craig has regularly praised his work. The Times often includes his books in its recommended lists of top children's books. The School Library Association has included one of his novels in its list of recommended books for boys.

He also contributed to the Higher Ground Project, a book featuring leading children's authors that was published to raise awareness of the Boxing Day Tsunami.

On 22 March 2017, Voake was on Westminster Bridge, London, and witnessed the Westminster terrorist attack.{{Cite web |url=http://www.somersetlive.co.uk/8203-parliament-attack-somerset-author-steve-voake-describe-westminster-bridge-atrocities/story-30223210-detail/story.html |title=Parliament attack: Somerset author Steve Voake describes Westminster Bridge atrocities | Somerset Live |access-date=23 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324084059/http://www.somersetlive.co.uk/8203-parliament-attack-somerset-author-steve-voake-describe-westminster-bridge-atrocities/story-30223210-detail/story.html |archive-date=24 March 2017 |url-status=dead }}

Early life

Steve Voake grew up in Midsomer Norton.{{cite web|url=http://www.walker.co.uk/contributors/Steve-Voake-4931.aspx|title=Walker Books – Steve Voake|access-date=9 June 2016}} After leaving school he sold ice-creams in the south of France for a while.{{cite book|title=The Starlight Conspiracy|first=Steve|last=Voake|date=1 March 2007|publisher=Faber & Faber|id={{ASIN|0571229980|country=uk}}}} He obtained a BA (Hons) in Philosophy at the University of Liverpool, then qualified as a teacher at the University of Exeter.{{cite web|url=http://www.bathspa.ac.uk/about/profiles/profile.asp?user=academic%5Cvoas1|access-date=9 June 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306083525/http://www.bathspa.ac.uk/about/profiles/profile.asp?user=academic%5Cvoas1|archive-date=6 March 2012|title=Bath Spa University – Resources – Errors}}

Career

He spent eight years as head teacher of Kilmersdon Primary School, near Midsomer Norton, Somerset. In his spare time he was writing his first children's book, The Dreamwalker's Child. In October 2003, while still working as a primary school head teacher, the BBC reported that he was "being hailed as the next JK Rowling" after the book gained interest from Hollywood and was "the subject of a furious bidding war between three UK publishers" and had "seen interest from book firms in Italy, Japan, Germany and the US".{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/3177956.stm|title=Headmaster 'is next JK Rowling'|date=9 October 2003|access-date=9 June 2016|publisher=BBC News}}

In addition, film companies DreamWorks, Warner Brothers, Fox Broadcasting Company and Miramax all asked to see the book

The BBC, The Times and The Independent then reported in 2003 that he agreed a £91,000 deal with Faber and Faber for the UK rights to his book.{{cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article990418.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604151652/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article990418.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 June 2011|title=Login|access-date=9 June 2016}} In 2005, the book was published in the UK as well as Italy, Germany, Greece, Holland, Russia, Portugal and Japan.

US rights were subsequently bought at auction for a six-figure sum.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2005/01/13/steve_voake_feature.shtml|title=Steve Voake's The Dreamwalker's Child strides into print|access-date=9 June 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604214848/http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2005/01/13/steve_voake_feature.shtml|archive-date=4 June 2011}}{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/cover-stories-alex-garland-craig-russell-michael-foot-steve-voake-582817.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317143823/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/cover-stories-alex-garland-craig-russell-michael-foot-steve-voake-582817.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 March 2010|access-date=9 June 2016|website=The Independent|location=London |title=Cover Stories: Alex Garland; Craig Russell; Michael Foot; Steve Voake – Features, Books – the Independent }}

In 2007 he collaborated with his cousin Charlotte Voake, the Nestle Smarties Book Prize-winning author of Pizza Kittens and Ginger, to write Insect Detective.{{cite web|url=http://www.booktrustchildrensbooks.org.uk/Home|access-date=9 June 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125122912/http://www.booktrustchildrensbooks.org.uk/Home|archive-date=25 November 2011|title=Booktrust Childrens Books: > Home}}

He is currently also Senior Lecturer in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University. and a Royal Literary Fellow at the University of Exeter.

Novels

The Dreamwalker's Child (2005)
The Web of Fire (2006)
The Starlight Conspiracy (2007)
Daisy Dawson (2007)
Daisy Dawson and the Secret Pond (2008)
Daisy Dawson and the Big Freeze (2009)
Insect Detective (2009)
Blood Hunters (2009)
Fightback (2010)
Hooey Higgins and the Shark (2010)
Hooey Higgins and the Tremendous Trousers (2010)
Hooey Higgins and the Big Boat Race (2011)
"Dark Woods" (2011)
"Daisy Dawson at the Seaside" (2011)
"Daisy Dawson on the Farm" (2012)
"Hooey Higgins Goes for Gold" (2012)
"Hooey Higgins and the Big Day Out" (2012)
"Hooey Higgins and the Awards of Awesomeness" (2013)
"Hooey Higgins and the Storm" (2014)
"Hooey Higgins and the Christmas Crash" (2014)
"Maxwell Mutt and the Downtown Dogs" (2016)
"Maxwell Mutt and the Squirrel without a Story" (2017)
"Maxwell Mutt and the Biscuit & Bone Club" (2019)

Award nominations

The Dreamwalker's Child – shortlisted for Stockton Children's Book of the Year Award and Concorde Book Award
The Starlight Conspiracy – shortlisted for Concorde Book Award
Blood Hunters – selected for National 'Booked Up' Scheme 2009, Shortlisted for Manchester Book Award, Shortlisted for Leeds Book Award, shortlisted for Cheshire Schools Book Award
The School Library Association included The Web of Fire in its list of "Top books for boys".{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article1794683.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706140712/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article1794683.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 July 2008|title=Login|access-date=9 June 2016}}
Fightback – Won the Bolton book Award
"Hooey Higgins and the Shark" awarded Outstanding International Book by United States Board of Books for Young People, 2013
"Insect Detective" was awarded Best Illustrated Children's Non Fiction Book by the English Association (2009)
'My Brother Saves Things' longlisted for University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor's International Poetry Prize, 2016
"Pencil" – Poems on the Buses Exhibition, Guernsey Literary Festival 2017
"TT" longlisted for Poetry Society's National Poetry Competition 2020

Personal life

He lives with his family in Westbury-sub-Mendip, Somerset.{{cite web|url=http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/guardian/news/Undefined-Headline/article-1043375-detail/article.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505114311/http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/guardian/news/Undefined-Headline/article-1043375-detail/article.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 May 2013|title=Somerset News, Stories & Events Online – Somerset Live|access-date=9 June 2016}}

Media coverage

=UK national newspapers=

The Times has published many favourable articles featuring Steve Voake or his books and frequently including them in their holiday specials of recommended books at Christmas or the summer holidays,{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/children/article707592.ece|title=Login|access-date=9 June 2016}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3016035.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010202159/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3016035.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 October 2008|title=Login|access-date=9 June 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/children/article683214.ece|title=Login|access-date=9 June 2016}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article430723.ece|title=Login|access-date=9 June 2016}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Their critic, the novelist Amanda Craig in particular has recommended them,{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/children/article1461848.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015142653/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/children/article1461848.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 October 2008|title=Login|access-date=9 June 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/children/article6028053.ece|title=Login|access-date=9 June 2016}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article1796074.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015143422/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article1796074.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 October 2008|title=Login|access-date=9 June 2016}}

The Guardian reported on Steve Voake's inclusion on the School Library Association List.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/may/16/schools.education|title=The list in full|website=The Guardian|location=London |date=16 May 2007|access-date=9 June 2016}} The Observer favourably reviewed The Dreamwalker's Child{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/mar/27/booksforchildrenandteenagers.features|title=Teenage fiction: 27 Mar|first=Hephzibah|last=Anderson|website=The Guardian|location=London |date=27 March 2005|access-date=9 June 2016}}". The Daily Telegraph has also reviewed his work,{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3664174/Boys-will-be-boys-and-so-will-girls.html|title=Boys will be boys, and so will girls|date=April 2007 |access-date=9 June 2016}} as has The Independent.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/teenage-fiction-reviewed-758046.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/teenage-fiction-reviewed-758046.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Teenage fiction reviewed|website=The Independent|location=London |date=31 March 2005|access-date=9 June 2016}} The Times Educational Supplement covered Steve Voake's contribution to the Higher Ground Project, a book published to raise awareness of the Boxing Day Tsunami.{{cite web|url=http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=2137193|title=When I was in the wave I felt like a little ant|date=6 September 2015|access-date=9 June 2016}}

=UK local newspapers=

Many local newspapers have covered his work, including the Somerset Guardian Standard,{{cite web|url=http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/guardian/news/s/article-1552031-detail/article.html|title=What's on|date=26 November 2009|access-date=9 June 2016}}{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|url=http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/guardian/news/Storybook-style/article-1077293-detail/article.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912223820/http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/guardian/news/Storybook-style/article-1077293-detail/article.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 September 2012|title=Storybook style|date=15 June 2009|access-date=9 June 2016}} the Bath ChronicleBath Chronicle:

http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Pupils-enter-world-books/article-762196-detail/article.html and the Worcester News.{{cite web|url=http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/kidzzone/bookreviews/5_7/3961020.Daisy_Dawson_and_the_Secret_Pool_by_Steve_Voake/|title=Daisy Dawson and the Secret Pool by Steve Voake |access-date=9 June 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322002844/http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/kidzzone/bookreviews/5_7/3961020.Daisy_Dawson_and_the_Secret_Pool_by_Steve_Voake/|archive-date=22 March 2012}}

=Foreign periodicals=

Abroad, there has been considerable newspaper coverage, including The Herald Journal, (Utah, United States),{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-kEfAAAAIBAJ&pg=4859,2539110&dq=steve-voake&hl=en|title=Herald-Journal – Google News Archive Search|access-date=9 June 2016}} the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=%22steve%20voake%22&scoring=a&hl=en&ned=uk&sa=N&start=10|access-date=9 June 2016|title=Google News}} and in Fantasy Magazine in Italy.{{cite web|url=http://www.fantasymagazine.it/notizie/2541/steve-voake-e-le-lune-di-aurobon/|title=Steve Voake e le lune di Aurobon ∂ FantasyMagazine.it|access-date=9 June 2016}}

=Television and radio=

CBBC featured an interview with Steve Voake in its Newsround programme.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4610000/newsid_4617500/4617572.stm|title=Authors on the spot: Steve Voake|date=19 January 2006|access-date=9 June 2016|publisher=BBC News}}

BBC Somerset Sound has interviewed him on the radio.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2006/01/13/bath_literature_festival_2006_event_feature.shtml|title=Somerset – So Somerset – Bath Literature Festival 2006|access-date=9 June 2016}} The BBC has regularly reported on Steve Voake in its news pages on its website.

Literary festivals

He is now a regular on the book festival circuit and has been invited to speak at literary festivals including Cheltenham, Frome, Bath, Somerset, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Guildford.