Elizabeth Laird (author)

Elizabeth Laird (born 1943) is a British writer of children's fiction and travel. She is also known for the large body of folktales which she collected from the regions of Ethiopia. Her books have been translated into at least fifteen languages.[1]

For the Canadian physicist, see Elizabeth Laird (physicist).

Biography

Laird was born in New Zealand in 1943. She was the fourth child of her Scottish father and New Zealand mother. The family settled in Purley, near London in 1945. A fifth child was born in 1947. He suffered severe disabilities and died in 1949. Laird's first children's novel, Red Sky in the Morning (Heinemann, 1988), was inspired in some measure by her father's life.[1]

Laird has been a judge of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction since its inception in 2010.[2]:4

Laird has received several awards for her work,[3] and has been shortlisted five times for the Carnegie Medal for British children's literature.[4]

Selected works

Young adult

Picture books
  • Rosy's Garden (1979)
  • A Book of Promises (1999)
  • Beautiful Bananas (2004)

Short stories
  • Me and My Electric (1998)
  • Hot Rock Mountain (2004)
  • The Fastest Boy In The World (2014)

Awards and nominations
  • Red Sky in the Morning – Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal.
  • Hiding Out – Winner of the Smarties Young Judges Award.
  • Jake's Tower – Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.
  • The Garbage King – Winner of the Scottish Arts Council Children's Book of the Year award and the Stockport Book award. It has also been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, the Blue Peter Award, the Salford Children's Book Award, the Calderdale Children's Book Award, the Lincolnshire Young People's Book Award, the Stockton Children's Book of the Year, the West Sussex Children's Book Award, the Portsmouth Book Award and the Sheffield Children's Book Award.
  • A Little Piece of Ground – Winner of the Hampshire Book Award and has been shortlisted for the Southern Schools Book Award.

References
  1. O'Reilley, Elizabeth (2008). "Elizabeth Laird". British Council - Literature. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  2. "Ten years of exceptional fiction" (PDF). walterscottprize.co.uk. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  3. "Children's author faces Jewish wrath: Tale of boy's life in West Bank prompts pressure groups to call for withdrawal". The Guardian. 23 August 2003.
  4. Hagnevik, Monica (2016). "Elizabeth Laird: Author - United Kingdom". Bookbird. 54 (2): 60.
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