Benjamin Dean (writer)

Last updated
Benjamin Dean
Born
Benjamin Dean Henry

(1993-11-08) 8 November 1993 (age 31)
Peterborough, England
Other namesBen Henry
Alma mater Manchester Metropolitan University
Years active2015–present

Benjamin Dean Henry (born 8 November 1993) is an English writer. He began his career as a celebrity reporter for BuzzFeed UK and has since become an author of children's and young adult fiction.

Contents

Early life

Dean was born in Peterborough [1] and raised by a single mother. [2] Dean attended Hampton College, Peterborough. He went on to graduate from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2015 with a degree in Creative Writing. [3]

Career

After graduating from university and under the name Ben Henry, Dean was hired to write for BuzzFeed UK . In 2017, he joined the network's celebrity desk as a reporter and interviewer. [4] [5] He entered a short story competition to be part of Juno Dawson's Proud anthology. Though his submitted story about a 17-year-old boy named Charlie was not selected, it caught the attention of agent Alice Sutherland-Hawes, who suggested Dean try writing children's fiction. [2]

Dean signed his first two-book deal in 2020 with Simon & Schuster Children's UK, through which he published his debut middle-grade book Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow in 2021. [6] The novel follows Archie Albright as he comes to terms with his parents' divorce. Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow won a 2022 Diverse Children's Book Award in the Children's category. [7] It was also shortlisted for the 2022 Waterstones Children's Book Prize in the Younger Fiction category. [8]

In 2022, Dean published his second middle grade book The Secret Sunshine Project [9] [10] and his first young adult (YA) novel The King is Dead. Regarding the latter, Dean had long been "intrigued by the Royal institution... How, through no achievement other than birth, one person or family can be given so much power" and wanted to put a character like himself in those shoes. [11] The King is Dead was shortlisted for Books Are My Bag Awards Young Adult Fiction.

Dean's second YA novel How to Die Famous, a thriller inspired by Dean's time as a celebrity reporter, followed in 2023. How to Die Famous shortlisted for the YA Book Prize [12] and the Jhalak Prize. [13]

In 2024, Dean published his third middle-grade book The Boy Who Fell From the Sky [14] and his third YA novel This Story is a Lie. This Story is a Lie featured on the 2025 World Book Day list. [15] [16] Dean sat on the judges' panel of the 2024 BBC Young Writers' Award alongside Katie Thistleton, Jeffrey Boakye, Katherine Webber and Nicola Dinan. [17]

Bibliography

Middle-grade

Young adult

Short stories

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryTitleResultRef
2022 Waterstones Children's Book Prize Younger FictionMe, My Dad and the End of the RainbowShortlisted [8]
Diverse Book AwardsChildren'sWon [7]
Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards Young Adult FictionThe King is DeadShortlisted [18]
2024 Jhalak Prize Children's and Young AdultHow to Die FamousShortlisted [13]
YA Book Prize Shortlisted [12]

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References

  1. ↑ Boon, Rosie (17 February 2022). "Peterborough author's 'dream come true' shortlisted for national Waterstones award". Peterborough Telegraph. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  2. 1 2 Hackett, Tamsin (27 November 2020). "Benjamin Dean: 'I did want to be able to write something that I could almost 'give' to my younger self'". The Bookseller. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  3. ↑ Silvers, Isabella (28 March 2022). "Benjamin Dean: "There's endless things I can discover about myself"". Mixed Messages. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  4. ↑ Wilson, Amy (25 May 2018). "Ben Henry joins the celebrity team at BuzzFeed" . Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  5. ↑ "Articles by Ben Henry". MuckRack. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  6. ↑ Comerford, Ruth (22 June 2020). "S&S pre-empts LGBTQ+ middle-grade debut". The Bookseller. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  7. 1 2 Comerford, Ruth (21 October 2022). "Dean, Bowen and Abdullah crowned winners at Diverse Book Awards". The Bookseller. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  8. 1 2 "Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 2022-02-11. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
  9. ↑ "Exclusive: LGBTQ+ author Benjamin Dean on having "every walk of life" represented in children's books". Gay Times. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  10. ↑ Imogen Russell Williams (25 March 2022). "Children's and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  11. ↑ Dean, Benjamin (12 July 2022). "Benjamin Dean on the inspiration behind his YA debut". Culture Fly. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  12. 1 2 Fraser, Katie (12 July 2024). "Benjamin Dean on his YA Book Prize shortlisted novel, How to Die Famous". The Bookseller. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  13. 1 2 "The Prize: 2024 Shortlist". Jhalak Prize. Archived from the original on 20 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  14. ↑ Empire, Kitty (6 February 2024). "Children's and teens roundup – the best new chapter books". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  15. ↑ Brown, Lauren (10 September 2024). "Coehlo, Donaldson and Dean on World Book Day 2025 £1 list". The Bookseller. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  16. ↑ "This Story is a Lie". World Book Day. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  17. ↑ "The winner of the 2024 BBC Young Writers' Award with Cambridge University has been announced!". BBC Radio 1. October 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  18. ↑ "Shortlist for Books Are My Bag Readers Awards announced". Books Ireland. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
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