SAD NEWS I am sorry to have to report the desperately sad news that Diana Wynne Jones died on 26th March, 2011. She enjoyed a mini-remission late last year (see messages below), but this year the cancer developed, and she sickened again. I am sure all Diana's fans will want to extent their sympathies to her family.
We can remember Diana through two forthcoming books. A short novel for younger readers, Earwig and the Witch, will be published in summer 2011 by HarperCollins (UK), Greenwillow (US) and Tokuma Shoten (Japan). This tells the story of young Earwig, who loved living in an orphanage and hates Bella Yaga, who chose her from the children's home and makes her do horrible jobs such as scrubbing the floor and powdering rats' bones. With the help of Thomas the Cat, Earwig solves her predicament with DWJ's trademark humour and understanding.
Secondly, next year David Fickling Publishers will be producing a collection of Diana's articles, lectures, talks, etc. This will include an introduction by Charlie Butler and an interview by him with her, probably Diana's last ever interview.
Diana's papers are being preserved by Seven Stories, the museum and archive of children's books.
THANK YOU FROM DIANA (7th August 2010) Diana says thank you to everyone who has sent her good wishes (see next notice). She has stopped the chemo- and radiotherapy because it made her feel so ill, so she is not well enough to respond to individual questions. But she says it is very nice of everyone to send such messages, and she has been really touched by the response..
IMPORTANT NOTICE (March 2010) I am sorry to have to report that Diana is not at all well at the moment. She has been suffering from cancer and because of her illness, she is not able to read emails right now and she is not able to reply to letters and queries. If you would like to send a good wish, you can email via me (Meredith) and I will print out the messages (no questions, please) every week or so and post them to Diana - meredithxyz at googlemail.com - Sorry you have to manually change the email address but this is the only way to cut down on spam. (March 2010)
REPRINTS Changeover and The Skiver's Guide are available now in reprinted editions.
2010 NEW BOOK Diana's latest book, Enchanted Glass, is available now from HarperCollins in the UK and Greenwillow in the US. A stand-alone book, not part of any series, there are the expected magicians, but it also includes giant vegetables, revenge by cauliflower cheese (?!) and fortune-telling using racing tips. Review coming soon
COMING SOON: Report on the first ever conference on Diana Wynne Jones, that took place in Bristol, England on 3–5 July 2009. More than 70 DWJ enthusiasts got together to explore and discuss DWJ's works.
HOUSE OF MANY WAYSReview of 2008's fun book in which the magician Howl – and Sophie, Morgan and Calcifer – make guest appearances
THE GAME is now out in a new UK edition by HarperCollins, along with great new covers for the Chrestomanci books
WORLD FANTASY AWARD SPEECH Diana has won the 2007 World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Read her acceptance speech here.
CARNEGIE AWARD Diana has been put forward for the prestigious Carnegie Award for childrens' books
COMING SOON – A review of Charles Butler's critical work Four British Fantasists (Diana Wynne Jones, Susan Cooper, Alan Garner, Penelope Lively)
BLACK MARIA BALLET Picture of and comment on this excellent production
NEW LOOK FOR CHRESTOMANCI HarperCollins are giving the Chrestomanci books a make-over, starting with a new edition of Charmed Life and the paperback issue of The Pinhoe Egg. They also include "Beyond the Book" sections, with facts about Diana, a Q and A session with her, and other fun stuff.
RECENT STUFF
BOOK REVIEW – Farah Mendlesohn's excellent critical analysis DWJ: Children's Literature and the Fantastic Tradition
Speaking at the first public UK showing of the film Howl's Moving Castle, at the Cambridge Film Festival, July 2005, Diana talked about her views on the film, as well as answering questions on Chrestomanci's dressing gowns and when The True State of Affairs is set … An interview with Diana is included on the DVD
Diana Wynne Jones is one of Britain's top fantasy and science fiction writers. She has produced over 30 books for children and adults, winning awards around the world. Her books include the popular Chrestomanci series for children and the spoof The Tough Guide to Fantasyland.
This site is created by Meredith MacArdle (meredithxyz at googlemail.com) and Helen Scott. There is plenty of material by Diana Wynne Jones herself, as well as articles by fans about her books. Some of Diana's articles, as well as the autobiography and the picture gallery, are quite long files. Be patient if they take a few seconds to download - it's worth the wait. The bibliography is believed to be complete (but any omissions will be gratefully received). And, please let us know of any news or other web sites we should mention. The scrolling quotes are from either The Skiver's Guide or The Tough Guide to Fantasyland.
Born 16 August 1934 London, England Died 26 March 2011 (aged 76) Bristol, England Occupation Novelist Genres Fantasy Notable work(s) The Chrestomanci Series leemac.freeserve.co.uk Diana Wynne Jones (16 August 1934 – 26 March 2011)[1] was a British writer, principally of fantasy novels for children and adults, as well as a small amount of non-fiction. Some of her better-known works include the Chrestomanci series and the novels Howl's Moving Castle and Dark Lord of Derkholm.
Jones was born in London, the daughter of Marjorie (née Jackson) and Richard Aneurin Jones, both of whom were educators.[citation needed] When war was announced, shortly after her fifth birthday, she was evacuated to Wales, and thereafter moved several times, including periods in Coniston Water, York, and back in London. In 1943 her family finally settled in Thaxted, Essex, where her parents worked running an educational conference centre. There, Jones and her two younger sisters Isobel (later Professor Isobel Armstrong, the literary critic) and Ursula spent a neglected childhood in which they were left chiefly to their own devices. After attending the Friends School Saffron Walden, she studied English at St Anne's College in Oxford, where she attended lectures by both C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien before graduating in 1956. In the same year she married John Burrow, a scholar of medieval literature, with whom she had three sons, Richard, Michael and Colin. After a brief period in London, in 1957 the couple returned to Oxford, where they stayed until moving to Bristol in 1976.[citation needed]
According to her autobiography, Jones was an atheist from the age of ten. Jones' books range from amusing slapstick situations to sharp social observation, to witty parody of literary forms. Foremost amongst the latter are her Tough Guide to Fantasyland, and its fictional companion-pieces Dark Lord of Derkholm (1998) and Year of the Griffin (2000), which provide a merciless (though not unaffectionate) critique of formulaic sword-and-sorcery epics.[citation needed] The Harry Potter books are frequently compared to the works of Diana Wynne Jones. Many of her earlier children's books were out of print in recent years, but have now been re-issued for the young audience whose interest in fantasy and reading was spurred by Harry Potter.[2][3] Jones' works are also compared to those of Robin McKinley and Neil Gaiman. She was friends with both McKinley[4] and Gaiman, and Jones and Gaiman are both fans of each others' work; she dedicated her novel Hexwood to him after something he said in a conversation that inspired a key part of the plot.[5] Gaiman had already dedicated his 1991 four-part comic book mini-series The Books of Magic to "four witches", of whom Jones was one.[6] Charmed Life, the first book in the Chrestomanci series, won the 1977 Guardian Award for Children’s Books. Jones was runner-up for the Children’s Book Award in 1981, and was twice runner-up for the Carnegie Medal. In 1999, she won two major fantasy awards: the children’s section of the Mythopoeic Awards in the USA, and the Karl Edward Wagner Award in the UK, which is awarded by the British Fantasy Society to individuals or organisations who have made a significant impact on fantasy.[citation needed] Her book Howl's Moving Castle was adapted as a Japanese animated movie in 2004, by filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. A version dubbed into English was released in the United Kingdom and USA in 2005, with the voice of Howl performed by Christian Bale. Archer's Goon was adapted for television in 1992.[citation needed] Her non-fiction work on clichés in fantasy fiction, The Tough Guide To Fantasyland, has a cult following among writers and critics, despite being difficult to find due to an erratic printing history. It was recently reissued in the UK, and has been reissued in the USA in 2006 by Firebird Books. The Firebird edition has additional material and a completely new design, including a new map.[citation needed] In July 2006 she was awarded an honorary D.Litt from the University of Bristol.[7] She received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2007.[8] Shortly after her death, it was reported that Earwig and the Witch and a collection of Jones' articles will be published later in 2011.[9] Illness and death
Jones was diagnosed with lung cancer in the early summer of 2009.[10] She underwent surgery in July and reported to friends that the procedure had been successful.[11] However in June 2010 she announced that she would be discontinuing chemotherapy, "which is serving only to make her feel very ill indeed." She stated at one point that she had regained her sense of taste and smell. Mid-2010, she was halfway through a new book, with plans for another to follow.[12] She died on 26 March 2011 from the disease.[1] In order of internal chronology: The Lives of Christopher Chant (1988) Carnegie Medal, Commended Conrad's Fate (2005) Charmed Life (1977) Carnegie Medal, Commended; Guardian Award; Preis der Leseratten (ZDF Schülerexpress, Germany) The Magicians of Caprona (1980) The Pinhoe Egg (2006) Mythopoeic Awards for children's literature, nominated; Locus Awards for young adult book, nominated Mixed Magics (2000) (short stories of varying internal dates) Stealer of Souls (2002) (published for World Book Day 2002) - this story was previously published in Mixed Magics Witch Week (1982) (separate from other books in series, but set in same era as The Magicians of Caprona - The Pinhoe Egg - Charmed Life, and containing the Chrestomanci as a major character) Reading order Diana Wynne Jones herself, however, recommended reading the books in this order:[citation needed] Charmed Life (1977) The Lives of Christopher Chant (1988) Conrad's Fate (2005) Witch Week (1982) The Magicians of Caprona (1980) The short stories can be read in any order after that. In chronology The Pinhoe Egg is set soon after a short story in Mixed Magics which follows on from "The Magicians of Caprona". [edit]Chronicles of Chrestomanci The Chronicles of Chrestomanci series are set in three volumes: Volume 1 contains Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant. Volume 2 contains Witch Week and The Magicians of Caprona. Volume 3 contains Conrad's Fate and The Pinhoe Egg. Derkholm series Dark Lord of Derkholm (1998) Mythopoeic Fantasy Award See also Jones' remarks on winning the award Year of the Griffin (2000) [edit]Dalemark Quartet In order of internal chronology: The Spellcoats (1979) Cart and Cwidder (1975) Drowned Ammet (1977) Crown of Dalemark (1993) However, when the books were published by Oxford University Press, they were numbered in the order in which they were published (Cart, Drowned Ammet, Spellcoats, Crown) and it is possible to read them in this order without any spoilers. [edit]Castle series Howl's Moving Castle (1986) Honor book for the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, 2004 Hayao Miyazaki movie nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Castle in the Air (1990) Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, nominated House of Many Ways (2008) [edit]Magids series Deep Secret (1997) (marketed to adults) The Merlin Conspiracy (2003) [edit]Miscellaneous Changeover (1970) (for adults) Wilkins' Tooth (1973) (US title: Witch's Business) The Ogre Downstairs (1974) Dogsbody (1975) Carnegie Medal, Commended Eight Days of Luke (1975) Power of Three (1977) Guardian Award, Commended; Zilveren Griffel (Netherlands) The Time of the Ghost (1981) The Homeward Bounders (1981) Archer's Goon (1984) Boston Globe - Horn Book Honor Book; World Fantasy Award for Best Novel nominee Fire and Hemlock (1985) Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, nominated A Tale of Time City (1987) Wild Robert (1989) Black Maria (1991) (US title: Aunt Maria) Yes, Dear (1992) (picture book for the very young) A Sudden Wild Magic (1992) (marketed to adults) British Fantasy Award, nominated Hexwood (1993) Puss in Boots (1999) (for the very young) Enna Hittims (2006) (This story originally appeared in Unexpected Magic: Collected Stories) The Game (2007) novella Enchanted Glass (2010) Earwig and the Witch (2011) Collections Warlock at the Wheel and Other Stories (1981) (contains two Chrestomanci stories, both also in Mixed Magics) Stopping for a Spell (1993) Everard's Ride (1994) Minor Arcana (1996) British Fantasy Award, nominated Believing is Seeing (1999) (similar to Minor Arcana) Unexpected Magic (2002) Anthologies Hidden Turnings (editor) (1989) Fantasy Stories (editor) (1994) Spellbound (editor) (1995) Some Short Stories "Chair Person", "The Four Grannies" and "Who Got Rid of Angus Flint?" in Stopping for a Spell "Little Dot" in Firebirds "I'll Give You My Word" in Firebirds Rising "JoBoy" in The Dragon Book
Non-Fiction or Poetry "A Slice of Life" in Now We Are Sick (1991) The Medusa article in which Jones discusses her opinions of adult literature as opposed to children's literature. The Skiver's Guide (1984) "The Shape of the Narrative in The Lord of the Rings" in the collection Everard's Ride (1994) The Tough Guide to Fantasyland (1997) Hugo Award for Nonfiction, nominated; World Fantasy Award Finalist
Books about Jones
Rosenberg (ed.), Teya, et al. (2002). Diana Wynne Jones: An Exciting and Exacting Wisdom. Peter Lang. ISBN 0-820-45687-X. Mendlesohn, Farah (2005). Diana Wynne Jones: Children's Literature and the Fantastic Tradition. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-97023-7. Butler, Charles (2006). Four British Fantasists: Place and Culture in the Children's Fantasies of Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, and Susan Cooper. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-810-85242-X.
本城市首頁
看回應文章
等級：8
回應給：
