Occupation Writer Role Writer Nationality British Children Sophie Hannah | Period 1975–present Nominations Carnegie Medal Name Adele Geras | |
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Awards National Jewish Book Award for Children's Literature Books Troy, Ithaka, Facing the light, The Tower Room, Little Ballet Star Similar People Norman Geras, Sophie Hannah, Emma Chichester Clark | ||
Adèle Geras (born 15 March 1944) is an English writer for young children, teens and adults. Her husband was the Marxist academic Norman Geras and their daughter Sophie Hannah is also a novelist and poet.
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Early life
Geras was born in Jerusalem, British Mandatory Palestine. Her father was in the Colonial Service and she had a varied childhood, living in countries such as Nigeria, Cyprus, Tanzania, Gambia and British North Borneo in a short span of time. She attended Roedean School in Brighton and then graduated from St Hilda's College, Oxford with a degree in Modern Languages. She was known for her stage and vocal talents, but decided instead to become a full-time writer.
Work
Geras's first book was Tea at Mrs Manderby's, which was published in 1976. Her first full-length novel was The Girls in the Velvet Frame. She has written more than 95 books for children, young adults, and adults. Her best-known books are Troy (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal) Ithaka, Happy Ever After (previously published as the Egerton Hall Trilogy), Silent Snow, Secret Snow, and A Thousand Yards of Sea.
Her novels for adults include: Facing the Light, Hester's Story, Made in Heaven, and A Hidden Life.
In December 2016 Geras appeared as a member of the team from St Hilda's College Oxford in the Christmas Special of BBC Two's University Challenge.
Awards
Geras won two prizes in the United States, one the Sydney Taylor Book Award for the My Grandmother's Stories and the National Jewish Book Award for Golden Windows. She has also won prizes for her poetry and was a joint winner of the Smith Doorstop Poetry Pamphlet Award, offered by the publisher of that name.