Jacqueline Wilson
Dame Jacqueline Wilson DBE, FRSL (née Aitken; born 17 December 1945) is an English novelist who writes for children's literature. As her children's novels frequently feature themes of adoption, divorce and mental illness, they tend to attract controversy.[1] Four of her books appear in the BBC's The Big Read poll of the 100 most popular books in the UK, and for her lifetime contribution as a children's writer, Wilson was a UK nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2014.[2]
Wilson is the author of many book series. Her Tracy Beaker series, inaugurated in 1991 with The Story of Tracy Beaker, includes three sequels and has been adapted into four CBBC television series: The Story of Tracy Beaker, Tracy Beaker Returns, The Dumping Ground, and The Tracy Beaker Survival Files. As of 2019, Wilson has written 111 novels
Life and career
Early life
Wilson was born in Bath, Somerset, in 1945. Her father was a civil servant; her mother was an antiques dealer.[4] She particularly enjoyed books by Noel Streatfeild, as well as American classics like Little Women and What Katy Did.[5] At the age of nine, she wrote her first book which was 21 pages long.[6] Wilson was given the nickname Jacky Daydream at school; Wilson later used the nickname as the title of her autobiography.[7]
A lecture hall at Kingston University's Penrhyn Road campus has been named after her.[8] After leaving school at age 16, she began training as a secretary but then applied to work with the Dundee-based publishing company DC Thomson on a new girls' magazine, Jackie.[9]
Career and marriage
She began a relationship with a printer named Millar Wilson, marrying in 1965 when she was 19. Two years later, they had a daughter, Emma.[9] They divorced in 2004.[10][11] When Wilson focused on writing, she completed a few crime fiction novels before dedicating herself to children's books. At the age of 40, she took A-level English and earned a grade A.[10] She had mixed success with about 40 books before the breakthrough to fame in 1991 with The Story of Tracy Beaker,[12] published by Doubleday. On 4th April 2020, Wilson publicly came out as gay.[13] She has been living with a female partner for 18 years.[13]
University of Roehampton and charity work
In June 2013, Wilson was appointed professorial fellow of the University of Roehampton,[14] and a Pro-Chancellor. In February 2014, it was announced that she would be appointed Chancellor of the university (its honorary figurehead) from August 2014.[15] She was reappointed in 2017 for a further three years.[16] She teaches modules in both the Children's Literature and Creative Writing master's degree (MA) programmes offered by the university.[17]
Wilson is patron of the charity Momentum in Kingston upon Thames,[18] which helps Surrey children undergoing treatment for cancer (and their families), and she is also patron of The Friends of Richmond Park.[19][20] Wilson is also a patron of the Letterbox Club, a BookTrust initiative.[21]
Reception
In The Big Read, a 2003 poll conducted by the BBC, four of Wilson's books were ranked among the 100 most popular books in the UK: Double Act, Girls In Love, Vicky Angel, and The Story of Tracy Beaker.[22] Fourteen books by Wilson ranked in the top 200.[22] In 2002, she replaced Catherine Cookson as the most borrowed author in Britain's libraries,[23] a position she retained until being overtaken by James Patterson in 2008.[24]
Awards, honours and achievements
Wilson has won many awards including the Smarties Prize and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. The Illustrated Mum (1999) won the annual Guardian Prize, a once-in-a-lifetime book award judged by a panel of British children's writers,[25] and the annual British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year; it also made the 1999 Whitbread Awards shortlist. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People's Choice Award.[clarification needed] Girls in Tears was the Children's Book of the Year at the 2003 British Book Awards.
Two of her books were "Highly Commended" runners-up for the annual Carnegie Medal: The Story of Tracy Beaker (1991) and Double Act (1995).[26][a]
In June 2002, Wilson was appointed an OBE for services to literacy in schools[27] and from 2005 to 2007 she served as the fourth Children's Laureate.[4][27] In that role Wilson urged parents and child-care providers to continue reading aloud to children long after they are able to read for themselves. She also campaigned to make more books available for blind people and campaigned against cutbacks in children's TV drama.[citation needed]
In October 2005, she received an honorary degree from the University of Winchester in recognition of her achievements in and on behalf of children's literature. In July 2007 the University of Roehampton awarded her an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Letters) in recognition of her achievements in and on behalf of children's literature. She has also received honorary degrees from the University of Dundee, the University of Bath and Kingston University.[citation needed]
In the 2008 New Year Honours, Wilson was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).[28]
In July 2012, Dame Jacqueline was also elected an honorary fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.[29]
In 2017, Wilson received the Special Award at the BAFTA Children's Awards.[30]
Adaptations
A dramatisation of Wilson's Double Act, written and directed by Vicky Ireland, was first performed at The Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, London from 30 January to 12 April 2003, and toured throughout the UK. The playscript was published by Collins Plays Plus. Ireland has also written dramatisations of The Lottie Project (performed at Polka Theatre and San Pol Theatre, Madrid), Midnight, Bad Girls and Secrets, which were also commissioned by the Polka Theatre, and a dramatisation of The Suitcase Kid which was performed at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond and later toured throughout the UK. The scripts for these plays were published by Nick Hern Books.
The following books by Wilson have been adapted for TV:
Cliffhanger (1995, Channel 4). Part of Look, See and Read, two-part drama.
Double Act (2002, Channel 4). Starring twins Zoe and Chloe Tempest-Jones as Ruby and Garnet, with a special appearance by Jacqueline Wilson as the casting director at the auditions. This was a one-off 100-minute feature.
The Story of Tracy Beaker (2002–2005, CBBC). Starring Dani Harmer as Tracy and Lisa Coleman (whose sister, Charlotte, appeared in Double Act as Miss Debenham) as Cam. Original broadcast dates: 8 January 2002 – 18 December 2005.
The Illustrated Mum (2003, Channel 4). Starring former EastEnders star Michelle Collins as Marigold Westward, who won a BAFTA Award for her role, and who went on to play Stella Price in Coronation Street, Alice Connor as Dolphin Westward and Holly Grainger as Star Westward. This was a four-part mini-series but later shown as a full feature with no ad breaks. It was again repeated at Christmas 2004. Original broadcast date: 5 December 2003.
Best Friends (2004, ITV). This was a six-part miniseries, but was originally broadcast as one feature with a slightly different ending. It starred Chloe Smyth as Gemma and Poppy Rogers as Alice. Original broadcast date: 3 December 2004. This was repeated on the CITV Channel on 6 March 2010.
Girls in Love (ITV). Starring Olivia Hallinan as Ellie, Zaraah Abrahams as Magda and Amy Kwolek as Nadine. There have been two series of Girls in Love broadcast. Original broadcast dates: 1 April 2003 – 18 April 2005.
Dustbin Baby (BBC). Featuring an A-list cast including Juliet Stevenson as Marion, David Haig as a new character, Elliot, and Dakota Blue Richards as April. Original broadcast date: 21 December 2008.
Tracy Beaker Returns (2010–2012). This is a series in which Tracy (Dani Harmer) returns to the "Dumping Ground" (Stowey House, whose name has been changed to Elm Tree House) to earn money for her new book because she used Cam's credit card without permission to publish it. She realises that Elm Tree House has changed and the new children act just like she did herself in her days. At times, she tries to help the children, concluding in the new social workers almost firing her. But sometimes she only gets the child's part of the story, then being told the whole thing and being totally confused and outraged.
The Tracy Beaker Survival Files (2011–2012). A spin-off series where Tracy teaches lessons about various subjects using her stories from the past, and clips from The Story of Tracy Beaker and Tracy Beaker Returns.
The Dumping Ground (2013–). The continued life at the Dumping Ground after Tracy Beaker moves on to a new care home, and focuses more on just one child in the care home.
The Dumping Ground Survival Files (2014). A spin-off series where the Dumping Ground kids teach lessons about various subjects using stories that have happened to them and their friends in the past, using clips from Tracy Beaker Returns and The Dumping Ground.
Hetty Feather (2015–). Stars Isabel Clifton as Hetty Feather, living her life in the Foundling Hospital and, later at the end of the third series, starting her life as a maid in service.
The Dumping Ground: I'm... (2016–2017). A spin-off series similar to the Survival Files, but instead where the characters make videos about themselves, who they are, what they like and stuff that's happened to them in their life.
Katy was made into a three-part TV series, Katy, broadcast on CBBC in March 2018.[31]
Four Children and It is being adapted into a feature film named Four Kids and It
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