Philip Ardagh
Encyclopedia
Philip Ardagh is an English children's author, primarily known for the Eddie Dickens
series of books. He has written more than 70 books including adult fiction and children's non-fiction.
In 2004 to 2005, he collaborated with rock legend Sir Paul McCartney
and illustrator-animator Geoff Dunbar to create Sir Paul's first children's book 'High In the Clouds'. Published simultaneously in the UK and US and other countries around the world in October 2005, there was an initial print run of half-a-million copies in the United States.
, England, where he grew up with one brother. Ardagh was educated privately at five different schools including The King's School
. He did not apply to go to university but got a place on what was then Britain's only advertising copywriting course at Watford College of Art.
He was christened at St Paul's Cathedral
in London by the Canon Residentiary, Chancellor and Chapter Treasurer, Frederick Hood, who co-wrote, with poet laureate John Betjeman
, the introduction to the book Folly Farm by philosopher Cyril Joad.
After a placement at the London advertising agency, Darcy McManus & Masius, he found full-time employment at the McCann-Erickson advertising agency, located beneath what is now known as BT Tower
. There he first met children's author Anthony Horowitz
, who joined the agency just as he was leaving. He later became a library assistant for the London Borough of Lewisham Leisure Services (Downham Library).
(published in 2000), originally written as letters sent to his nephew Ben.
Ardagh has achieved both critical and popular acclaim for his work. Set in Victorian
England, his Eddie Dickens books have been described as "A cross between Dickens
and Monty Python
" (The Guardian) and he himself as "a national treasure" (The Independent).
Popular in Germany, he has won both the Luchs (Lynx) Prize and the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis. Although some American critics accused Ardagh of ‘jumping on the Lemony Snicket
bandwagon’, Ardagh wrote the book as letters to his nephew Ben long before the first Snicket book was published. Ardagh once described the Snicket books as being more an homage to Edgar Allan Poe
, while his own Eddie Dickens books were an homage to Charles Dickens. Although his book's title The Rise of the House of McNally is derived from Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher
.
The movie rights to the Eddie Dickens books were optioned by Circle of Confusion's Jason Lust for Warner Bros, with director Francis Lawrence
slated in to direct. The option was renewed and Lawrence was replaced by young Canadian director Brad Peyton
. Lust has since become a key player in Henson's movie division, but remained a producer on the Eddie Dickens project until Warner Brothers' second option ran out at the end of 2006. A number of producers are currently interested in developing the project.
As well as writing novels, Ardagh also writes for BBC radio. His children’s dramas have included BBC radio’s first truly interactive radio drama, the nightly 'Arthur Storey and the Department of Historical Correction
' (in which he also appeared as the announcer), and (for BBC Radio 4’s GO4IT!) the six-week radio serial 'Secret Undercover Vets On Ice' he played himself and also 'pigeon on a ledge'. His adult work has included stories for BBC Radio 3, Radio 4 and Radio 7.
Ardagh has appeared as an uncredited extra (background artist) in If Money Be the Food Of Love, Play On, an episode of the cult British TV series Minder
, first broadcast in 1984.
Philip Ardagh is of Irish extraction. He is married and has one son.
The second book, Heir of Mystery, saw the introduction of Mr Maggs, a man with a head the shape of a pumpkin and with a shark's-tooth smile. Mr Maggs's Manifesto of Change is an example of Ardagh’s quirky trademark style, with such suggested changes as moving the letter Q further down the alphabet, nearer to X, Y and Z, “where it rightfully belongs” and banning the word "cruet" as the collective term for salt and pepper.
The third and final Unlikely Exploit is The Rise of the House of McNally. The McNallys’ powers are finally revealed and the three books are tied together.
Unlikely Exploits was illustrated by David Roberts, who also illustrated the Eddie Dickens series.
2008, it was announced that Ardagh had signed a deal with his publisher Faber & Faber to write three Grubtown Tales: books for young children set in the fictitious (and rather grubby) town of Grubtown. All three were set to be published in 2009.
The first uses pictures taken from the 19th-century Girls' Own Paper and the second uses illustrations of the original Sherlock Holmes stories taken from The Strand Magazine. A third, The Scandalous Life of the Lawless Sisters: Criminally Illustrated With What Was To Hand uses pictures from Punch from the year 1880 and is due for publication in late 2008. He is also a regular reviewer of children's books for The Guardian and has been a judge for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.
Adult Fiction:
Non-fiction:
Eddie Dickens
Eddie Dickens is the lead character in six books by British author Philip Ardagh:*Awful End *Dreadful Acts,*Terrible Times,*Dubious Deeds*Horrendous Habits*Final Curtain...
series of books. He has written more than 70 books including adult fiction and children's non-fiction.
In 2004 to 2005, he collaborated with rock legend Sir Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and illustrator-animator Geoff Dunbar to create Sir Paul's first children's book 'High In the Clouds'. Published simultaneously in the UK and US and other countries around the world in October 2005, there was an initial print run of half-a-million copies in the United States.
Early life and career
Philip Ardagh was born in 1961, in KentKent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England, where he grew up with one brother. Ardagh was educated privately at five different schools including The King's School
The King's School, Canterbury
The King's School is a British co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in the historic English cathedral city of Canterbury in Kent. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group....
. He did not apply to go to university but got a place on what was then Britain's only advertising copywriting course at Watford College of Art.
He was christened at St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
in London by the Canon Residentiary, Chancellor and Chapter Treasurer, Frederick Hood, who co-wrote, with poet laureate John Betjeman
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
, the introduction to the book Folly Farm by philosopher Cyril Joad.
After a placement at the London advertising agency, Darcy McManus & Masius, he found full-time employment at the McCann-Erickson advertising agency, located beneath what is now known as BT Tower
BT Tower
The BT Tower is a tall cylindrical building in London, United Kingdom, located at 60 Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia W1T 4JZ, London Borough of Camden. It has been previously known as the Post Office Tower, the London Telecom Tower and the British Telecom Tower. The main structure is tall, with a...
. There he first met children's author Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Craig Horowitz is an English novelist and screenwriter. He has written many children's novels, including The Power of Five, Alex Rider and The Diamond Brothers series and has written over fifty books. He has also written extensively for television, adapting many of Agatha Christie's...
, who joined the agency just as he was leaving. He later became a library assistant for the London Borough of Lewisham Leisure Services (Downham Library).
Eddie Dickens
After years of working seven days a week writing non-fiction titles and retelling myths and legends (often for 'fixed-fee' non-royalty payments), Philip Ardagh became an overnight success with Awful EndAwful End
Awful End is a 2000 children's novel by Philip Ardagh and the first book of the Eddie Dickens trilogy, which was followed by The Further Adventures of Eddie Dickens....
(published in 2000), originally written as letters sent to his nephew Ben.
Ardagh has achieved both critical and popular acclaim for his work. Set in Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
England, his Eddie Dickens books have been described as "A cross between Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
and Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
" (The Guardian) and he himself as "a national treasure" (The Independent).
Popular in Germany, he has won both the Luchs (Lynx) Prize and the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis. Although some American critics accused Ardagh of ‘jumping on the Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
bandwagon’, Ardagh wrote the book as letters to his nephew Ben long before the first Snicket book was published. Ardagh once described the Snicket books as being more an homage to Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
, while his own Eddie Dickens books were an homage to Charles Dickens. Although his book's title The Rise of the House of McNally is derived from Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in September 1839 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. It was slightly revised in 1840 for the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque...
.
The movie rights to the Eddie Dickens books were optioned by Circle of Confusion's Jason Lust for Warner Bros, with director Francis Lawrence
Francis Lawrence
Francis Lawrence is an American music video and film director.-Life and career:Lawrence was born in Vienna, Austria. His father is a physicist who taught at California State University, Northridge and his mother is V.P. Technology at a PR agency. He moved to Los Angeles at the age of three...
slated in to direct. The option was renewed and Lawrence was replaced by young Canadian director Brad Peyton
Brad Peyton
Brad Peyton is a Canadian-born film director, writer and television producer, born in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador. His latest film is Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.-Career:...
. Lust has since become a key player in Henson's movie division, but remained a producer on the Eddie Dickens project until Warner Brothers' second option ran out at the end of 2006. A number of producers are currently interested in developing the project.
As well as writing novels, Ardagh also writes for BBC radio. His children’s dramas have included BBC radio’s first truly interactive radio drama, the nightly 'Arthur Storey and the Department of Historical Correction
Arthur Storey and the Department of Historical Correction
Arthur Storey and the Department of Historical Correction is believed to be BBC radio's first truly interactive radio drama, broadcast live during BBC7’s Big Toe Radio Show between 14 November and 18 November 2005...
' (in which he also appeared as the announcer), and (for BBC Radio 4’s GO4IT!) the six-week radio serial 'Secret Undercover Vets On Ice' he played himself and also 'pigeon on a ledge'. His adult work has included stories for BBC Radio 3, Radio 4 and Radio 7.
Ardagh has appeared as an uncredited extra (background artist) in If Money Be the Food Of Love, Play On, an episode of the cult British TV series Minder
Minder (TV series)
Minder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...
, first broadcast in 1984.
Philip Ardagh is of Irish extraction. He is married and has one son.
Unlikely Exploits
Ardagh embarked on Unlikely Exploits, a three-book series about the fall and rise of the downtrodden McNally family. In the first paragraph of the first chapter of the first book, The Fall of Fergal, young Fergal McNally falls to his death from a hotel window. It was serialized BBC Radio 4.The second book, Heir of Mystery, saw the introduction of Mr Maggs, a man with a head the shape of a pumpkin and with a shark's-tooth smile. Mr Maggs's Manifesto of Change is an example of Ardagh’s quirky trademark style, with such suggested changes as moving the letter Q further down the alphabet, nearer to X, Y and Z, “where it rightfully belongs” and banning the word "cruet" as the collective term for salt and pepper.
The third and final Unlikely Exploit is The Rise of the House of McNally. The McNallys’ powers are finally revealed and the three books are tied together.
Unlikely Exploits was illustrated by David Roberts, who also illustrated the Eddie Dickens series.
Grubtown Tales
Just before the Bologna Children's Book FairBologna Children's Book Fair
The Bologna Children's Book Fair or La fiera del libro per ragazzi is the leading professional fair for children's books in the world.Since 1963, it is held yearly for four days in March or April in Bologna, Italy...
2008, it was announced that Ardagh had signed a deal with his publisher Faber & Faber to write three Grubtown Tales: books for young children set in the fictitious (and rather grubby) town of Grubtown. All three were set to be published in 2009.
Other
Ardagh has written two humorous books for adults: The Not-So-Very-Nice Goings-On At Victoria Lodge: Without Illustrations By The Author and The Silly Side of Sherlock Holmes: A Brand New Adventure Using A Bunch of Old Pictures.The first uses pictures taken from the 19th-century Girls' Own Paper and the second uses illustrations of the original Sherlock Holmes stories taken from The Strand Magazine. A third, The Scandalous Life of the Lawless Sisters: Criminally Illustrated With What Was To Hand uses pictures from Punch from the year 1880 and is due for publication in late 2008. He is also a regular reviewer of children's books for The Guardian and has been a judge for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.
List of books
Children's Fiction:- Awful EndAwful EndAwful End is a 2000 children's novel by Philip Ardagh and the first book of the Eddie Dickens trilogy, which was followed by The Further Adventures of Eddie Dickens....
(US: A House Called Awful End) [The Eddie Dickens Trilogy] (2000) - Dreadful Acts [The Eddie Dickens Trilogy] (2001)
- Terrible Times [The Eddie Dickens Trilogy] (2002)
- Dubious Deeds [The Further Adventures of Eddie Dickens]
- Horrendous Habits [The Further Adventures of Eddie Dickens]
- Final Curtain [The Further Adventures of Eddie Dickens]
- The Fall of Fergal [Unlikely Exploits]
- Heir of Mystery [Unlikely Exploits]
- The Rise of the House of McNally [Unlikely Exploits]
- Stinking Rich and Just Plain Stinky [Grubtown Tales]
- The Far From Great Escape [Grubtown Tales]
- The Year That It Rained Cows [Grubtown Tales]
- High In the Clouds (with Sir Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
& Geoff Dunbar)
Adult Fiction:
- The Not-So-Very-Nice Goings-On At Victoria Lodge, Without Illustrations by the Author
- The Silly Side of Sherlock Holmes, A Brand New Adventure Using A Bunch of Old Pictures
Non-fiction:
- The Hieroglyphs Handbook, Teach Yourself Ancient Egyptian
- The Archaeologist's Handbook, An Insider's Guide to Digging Up The Past
- WOW! Ideas that Changed the World
- WOW! Events that Changed the World
- WOW! Inventions that Changed the World
- WOW! Discoveries that Changed the World
- The Truth About Christmas
- The Truth About Love
- The Truth About Fairies
- Why Are Castles Castle-Shaped?
- Did Dinosaurs Snore?
- The History Detectives series (with Colin King)
- The Get A Life series
- Philip Ardagh's book of absolutely useless lists for absolutely every day of the year
Awards
- Luchs (Lynx) Prize (Awarded by Die Zeit newspaper in Germany)
- Deutscher JugendliteraturpreisDeutscher JugendliteraturpreisThe Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's literature. It is Germany's only state-funded literary award. In the past, authors from many countries...
(German youth literature prize) - Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2009 (category seven-to-14 years)
External links
- Philip Ardagh Official Website
- Faber and Faber UK publisher of Philip Ardagh's fiction