Born in Yorkshire in 1952, Helen Dunmore studied English at York University and taught in Finland for two years before publishing her first book. She has worked as a writer, reader, performer and teacher of Poetry and Creative Writing, tutoring residential writing courses for the Arvon Foundation and taking part in the Poetry Society's Writer in Schools scheme. She has also taught at the University of Glamorgan, the University of Bristol's Continuing Education Department and for the Open College of the Arts. She also reviews for The Times and The Observer, contributes to arts programmes on BBC Radio and has been a judge for the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Whitbread Book of the Year award.
Her poetry collections include The Apple Fall (1983), The Sea Skater (1986), which won the Alice Hunt Bartlett Award in 1987, The Raw Garden (1988) and Short Days, Long Nights: New and Selected Poems (1991).
Her novels include Zennor in Darkness (1993), winner of the McKitterick Prize, a fictional account of D. H. Lawrence's life in Cornwall during the First World War; the acclaimed A Spell of Winter (1995), about a brother and sister brought up by their grandfather in his decaying house in the country, winner of the first Orange Prize for Fiction; Talking to the Dead (1996), a tale of two sisters locked in an intense, obsessive relationship; Your Blue-Eyed Boy (1998), the story of a judge's fight to take control of both her professional and personal lives; and With Your Crooked Heart (1999), a story of two brothers, set in contemporary London. The Siege (2001), was shortlisted for both the Whitbread Novel Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction, ans is set during the siege of Leningrad in 1941. Mourning Ruby (2003), is a story about memory, love and history, and House of Orphans (2006), is a historical novel set in Finland. She is also the author of two collections of short stories, Love of Fat Men (1997) and Ice Cream (2000).
She has written a number of books for children, including Secrets (1994), which won the Signal Poetry Award, and the novels Brother, Brother, Sister, Sister (1999) and The Zillah Rebellion (2001).
Helen Dunmore is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her latest adult novel is Counting the Stars (2008)and her latest children's books are The Tide Knot (2006), the second in a fantasy trilogy set in Cornwall, and The Deep (2007). The Tide Knot was shortlisted for the 2006 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. Glad of These Times (2007) is her latest poetry collection.
The fourth and final book in her children's Ingo series, The Crossing of Ingo, was published in May 2008. LAST UPDATED 17/01/09
The Apple Fall Bloodaxe, 1983
The Sea Skater Bloodaxe, 1986
The Raw Garden Bloodaxe, 1988
Short Days, Long Nights: New and Selected Poems Bloodaxe, 1991
Going to Egypt Julia MacRae, 1992
In the Mon£y Julia MacRae, 1993
Zennor in Darkness Viking, 1993
Burning Bright Viking, 1994
Recovering a Body Bloodaxe, 1994
Secrets Bodley Head, 1994
A Spell of Winter Viking, 1995
Allie's Apples Methuen, 1995
Amina's Blanket Heinemann, 1996
Fatal Error Yearling, 1996
Go Fox Young Corgi, 1996
Talking to the Dead Viking, 1996
Bestiary Bloodaxe, 1997
Love of Fat Men Viking, 1997
Penguin Modern Poets 12 (Helen Dunmore, Jo Shapcott, Matthew Sweeney) Penguin, 1997
Clyde's Leopard (Cambridge Reading Series) Cambridge University Press, 1998
Great-Grandma's Dancing Dress (Cambridge Reading Series) Cambridge University Press, 1998
Your Blue-Eyed Boy Viking, 1998
Allie's Rabbit Mammoth, 1999
Brother, Brother, Sister, Sister Scholastic, 1999
With Your Crooked Heart Viking, 1999
Aliens Don't Eat Bacon Sandwiches Mammoth, 2000
Allie Away Mammoth, 2000
Ice Cream Viking, 2000
Zillah and Me Scholastic, 2000
Out of the Blue: Poems 1975-2001 Bloodaxe, 2001
Snollygoster Scholastic, 2001
The Siege Viking, 2001
The Ugly Duckling Scholastic, 2001
The Zillah Rebellion Scholastic, 2001
Zillah's Leaving Scholastic, 2002
Mourning Ruby Viking, 2003
The Silver Bead Scholastic, 2003
The Lilac Tree Scholastic, 2004
The Seal Cove Scholastic, 2004
Ingo HarperCollins, 2005
House of Orphans Viking, 2006
The Tide Knot HarperCollins, 2006
Glad of These Times Bloodaxe, 2007
The Deep HarperCollins, 2007
Counting the Stars Fig Tree Press, 2008
The Crossing of Ingo HarperCollins, 2008
1987 Alice Hunt Bartlett Award The Sea Skater
1994 McKitterick Prize Zennor in Darkness
1995 Signal Poetry Award Secrets
1996 Orange Prize for Fiction A Spell of Winter
2001 Whitbread Novel Award (shortlist) The Siege
2002 Orange Prize for Fiction (shortlist) The Siege
2006 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (shortlist, 9-11 years category) The Tide Knot
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