Susan Price, born 1955 in Dudley

Dudley

Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...

 in the West Midlands

West Midlands (county)

The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...

, is an award-winning English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 writer of novels for young adults. She also writes for younger children. She still lives in the Black Country

Black Country

The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...

.

Writing

Many of Susan Price's works are fantasy, from science-fiction to ghost stories; some are historical novels; others are about animals or everyday life. Many of her short stories are re-tellings of tales from folklore. An original novel based on folklore, The Ghost Drum

The Ghost Drum

The Ghost Drum is a children's fantasy novel by Susan Price, first published in 1987. It is an original fairy tale using elements from Russian history and folklore and, like many traditional tales, is full of cruelty, violence and sudden death. It is the first of the Ghost World Sequence, which...

, won the Carnegie Medal

Carnegie Medal

The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...

 for 1987.

In her award-winning novel The Sterkarm Handshake

The Sterkarm Handshake

The Sterkarm Handshake is a young adult science fiction novel by Susan Price which won the 1999 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. It deals with time travel between the 21st and 16th centuries and its effect on the Sterkarms, an ancient Scottish clan....

and its sequel A Sterkarm Kiss, time travel brings together a young woman from 21st century Britain and a young warrior from 16th century Scotland. She takes his side in a conflict between a 21st century corporation and his border clan, and they develop a relationship.

The Pagan Mars Trilogy is set in a scientifically advanced alternative world where the pagan gods are still worshipped and slavery - called bondery - is commonplace.

Novels - for older readers

• city life (1974)
• Twopence a Tub (1975)
• Sticks and Stones (1976)
• Home from Home (1977)
• Christopher Uptake (1981)
• From Where I Stand (1984)
• The Ghost World Sequence: The Ghost Drum
  The Ghost Drum
  The Ghost Drum is a children's fantasy novel by Susan Price, first published in 1987. It is an original fairy tale using elements from Russian history and folklore and, like many traditional tales, is full of cruelty, violence and sudden death. It is the first of the Ghost World Sequence, which...
  
  (1987); Ghost Song (1992); Ghost Dance (1993)
• Foiling the Dragon (1994)
• Elfgift (1996)
• Elfking (1996)
• Sterkarm: The Sterkarm Handshake
  The Sterkarm Handshake
  The Sterkarm Handshake is a young adult science fiction novel by Susan Price which won the 1999 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. It deals with time travel between the 21st and 16th centuries and its effect on the Sterkarms, an ancient Scottish clan....
  
  (1998 - Winner of the 1999 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize); A Sterkarm Kiss (2003)
• The Ghost Wife (1999)
• Wolf Sisters (2001)
• The Bearwood Witch (2001)
• The Pagan Mars Trilogy: Odin's Voice (2005); Odin's Queen (2006); Odin's Son (2008)
• Feasting the Wolf (2007)

Novels - for younger readers

• The Devil's Piper (1973)
• In a Nutshell (1983)
• Odin's Monster (1986)
• Master Thomas Katt (1988)
• The Bone Dog (1989)
• Phantom from the Past (1989)
• A Feasting of Trolls (1990)
• Thunderpumps (1990)
• Knocking Jack (1992)
• Coming Down To Earth (1994)
• A True Spell and a Dangerous (1998)
• The Saga of Aslak (1997)
• Pedro (Piccadilly Pips) (1997)
• Wolf's Footprint (2003)
• Olly Spellmaker & the Sulky Smudge (2004)
• Olly Spellmaker and the Hairy Horror (2004)
• Olly Spellmaker: Elf Alert!(2005)

Short story collections

• The Carpenter and Other Stories (1981)
• Ghosts at Large (1984)
• Ghostly Tales (1987)
• Here Lies Price (1987)
• Forbidden Doors (1991)
• Head and Tales (1995)
• Hauntings (1995)
• Nightcomers (1997)
• The Story Collector (1998)
• Ghosts and Lies (1998)
• Telling Tales (1999)
• The Kings Head (2002)
• The Fraid

As editor

• Horror Stories (1988)
• The Treasury of Nursery Tales (1991)
• The Dark Side: Truly Terrifying Tales (2007)

External links

• Official homepage
• Susan Price at Fantastic Fiction