Cottrell-Boyce has won two major British awards for children's books, the 2004 Carnegie Medal for Millions, which originated as a film script, and the 2012 Guardian Prize for The Unforgotten Coat, which was commissioned by a charity.[3][4] In July 2024 he was appointed as Children's Laureate, succeeding Joseph Coelho.[5]
He read English at Keble College, Oxford, where he went on to earn a doctorate. He wrote criticism for the magazine Living Marxism. As a result, there was supposedly always a copy of the magazine on sale in the newsagent set of long-running British soap Coronation Street, while Cottrell-Boyce was on the writing staff of that programme.
He met Denise Cottrell, a fellow Keble undergraduate, and they married in Keble College chapel. Together they have seven children.[10] He is also a patron of the Insight Film Festival,[11] a biennial, interfaith festival held in Manchester, UK, to make positive contributions to understanding, respect and community cohesion.[12]
Aidan Cottrell-Boyce, one of the couple's sons, is also a writer.[13]
Career
He was a leading light in the Liverpool band "Dead Trout" in 1979.
After he met Michael Winterbottom, the two collaborated on Forget About Me. Winterbottom made five further films based on screenplays written by Cottrell-Boyce, Butterfly Kiss, Welcome to Sarajevo, The Claim, 24 Hour Party People and Code 46. Their 2005 collaboration, A Cock and Bull Story, is their last according to Cottrell-Boyce, who asked that his contribution be credited to "Martin Hardy", a pseudonym. He told Variety, "I just had to move on... what better way to walk away than by giving Winterbottom a good script for free?"[14]
Cottrell-Boyce has been praised by Roger Ebert as one of the few truly inventive modern-day screenwriters. He has spoken against the "three-act structure" and the "hero's journey" formulas, which are often regarded as axiomatic truths in the business[15][clarification needed]. Perhaps his most famous example of this is in 24 Hour Party People where the character of Anthony Wilson states that “Scott Fitzgerald said there are no second acts in American lives. This is Manchester. We do things differently. This is the second act” which Cottrell-Boyce has stated was due to criticism of the script not following the three act structure.[16]
In addition to original scripts, Cottrell-Boyce has also adapted novels for the screen and written children's fiction. His first novel Millions was based on his own screenplay for the film of the same name; it was published by Macmillan in 2004. Cottrell-Boyce won the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians, recognising it as the year's best children's book published in the U.K.[17][18] His next novel Framed, he made the shortlist for both the Carnegie[19] and the Whitbread Children's Book Award. He adapted it as a screenplay for a 2009 BBC television film. He made the Carnegie shortlist again for Cosmic (2008).[19] In 2011, he was commissioned to write a sequel to the Ian Fleming children's book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,[20] which was published in October 2011 as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again.[21] In addition to Coronation Street, he wrote many episodes of the soap opera Brookside, as well as its spin-offs Damon and Debbie and South.
He wrote and staged his first original theatre production Proper Clever at the Liverpool Playhouse during the city's European Capital of Culture Year, in 2008. On 18 September 2010, he co-presented the Papal Visit at Hyde Park with TV personality Carol Vorderman. In June 2012, he assumed the position of Professor of Reading (the first such professorship) at Liverpool Hope University.[22]
Cottrell-Boyce was the writer[6][23][24] of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, whose storyline he based on Shakespeare's The Tempest.[22] He collaborated with director Danny Boyle and other members of the creative team, including designer Mark Tildesley,[23] in the development of the story and themes, and wrote "short documents that told the story of each segment"[25] to provide context for choreographers, builders and other participants. He also wrote the brochure,[23][25] the stadium announcements[23] and the media guide for presenter Huw Edwards.[6][25]
Three months later, Cottrell-Boyce won the 2012 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for The Unforgotten Coat.[4] That story of a crosscultural friendship was inspired by a Mongolian girl he met as a writer visiting her school, whose family was subsequently deported by the British immigration office. It was commissioned by Reader Organisation of Liverpool and 50,000 copies were given away.[26] The Guardian Prize is judged by a panel of British children's writers and recognises the year's best book by an author who has not yet won it. Interviewed by the sponsoring newspaper, Cottrell-Boyce told The Guardian that "I'm definitely a children's writer[;] that's what I want to be. I'm always trying to get rid of everything else. ... The movies I'm doing are ones that have been on the blocks for a long time."[3]
In January 2018, he was on the victorious Keble College, Oxford University Challenge "famous alumni" team; he got almost all of the points scored by Keble (total score 240) and was lionized on social media as a consequence; Reading University scored 0 in that game, thus making television history.[30]
Cottrell-Boyce is an advocate for reading aloud and patron of The Reader Organisation. a charity that works through volunteers to bring literature to everyone, through reading aloud in prisons, care homes and other community spaces.[31] In July 2024 he was appointed as Children's Laureate for the term 2024 to 2026, succeeding Joseph Coelho.[5]
The Carnegie Medal for Writing, established in 1936 as the Carnegie Medal, is an annual British literary award for English-language books for children or young adults. It is conferred upon the author by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), who in 2016 called it "the UK's oldest and most prestigious book award for children's writing".
Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car is a children's story written by Ian Fleming and illustrated by John Burningham. It was initially published in three volumes, the first of which was released on 22 October 1964 by Jonathan Cape, before being published as one book. The story concerns the exploits of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang—a car with hidden powers and abilities—and its owners, the Pott family.
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author of the book by The Guardian newspaper, which established it in 1965 and inaugurated it in 1967. It was a lifetime award in that previous winners were not eligible. At least from 2000 the prize was £1,500. The prize was apparently discontinued after 2016, though no formal announcement appears to have been made.
The Carnegie Medal for Illustration is a British award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) which inherited it from the Library Association.
Carl James Hunter is an English director and screenwriter and the bassist in the Liverpool-based pop group The Farm.
David Almond is a British author who has written many novels for children and young adults from 1998, each one receiving critical acclaim.
Kevin John William Crossley-Holland is an English translator, children's author and poet. His best known work is probably the Arthur trilogy (2000–2003), for which he won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and other recognition.
Robert E. Swindells is an English author of children's and young adult fiction.
Siobhan Dowd was a British writer and activist. The last book she completed, Bog Child, posthumously won the 2009 Carnegie Medal from the professional librarians, recognising the year's best book for children or young adults published in the UK.
Winifred Shirley Hughes was an English author and illustrator. She wrote more than fifty books, which have sold more than 11.5 million copies, and illustrated more than two hundred.
Meg Rosoff is an American writer based in London, United Kingdom. She is best known for the novel How I Live Now, which won the Guardian Prize, the Printz Award, the Branford Boase Award and made the Whitbread Awards shortlist. Her second novel, Just in Case, won the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians recognising the year's best children's book published in the UK.
Framed is a 2005 children's novel by English writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce. It was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, Whitbread Children's Book of the Year, Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, and Blue Peter Book Award.
John Burningham was an English author and illustrator of picture books for young children. He lived in north London with his wife Helen Oxenbury, another illustrator. His last published work was a husband-and-wife collaboration, There's Going to Be a New Baby, written by John and illustrated by Helen for "ages 2+".
Patrick Ness FRSL is an American-British author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter. Born in the United States, Ness moved to London and holds dual citizenship. He is best known for his books for young adults, including the Chaos Walking (2008–2010) trilogy and A Monster Calls (2011).
Millions is a novel published early in 2004, the first book by British screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce. It is an adaptation of his screenplay for the film Millions, although it was released six months before the film (September). Set in England just before British adoption of the euro the story features two boys who must decide what to do with a windfall in expiring currency.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again is a children's novel written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce. It is a continuation of Ian Fleming's Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. Boyce was commissioned by the Fleming family to write this sequel. The book was first published by Macmillan Children's Books in 2011.
Andy Mulligan is a French writer best known for young adult fiction. His work is strongly influenced by his experiences as a volunteer worker in Calcutta, India, and as an English and drama teacher in Brazil, Vietnam, the Philippines, and the UK. He has been married to Anne Robinson since their elopement in 2015.
Lockwood & Co. is a young adult supernatural thriller series by Jonathan Stroud. It follows three young operatives of a psychic detection agency as they fight ghosts in London, England.
Zana Fraillon is an Australian writer of fiction for children and young adults based in Melbourne, Australia. Fraillon is known for allowing young readers to examine human rights abuses within fiction and in 2017 she won an Amnesty CILIP Honour for her book The Bone Sparrow which highlights the plight of the Rohingya people. The Bone Sparrow has been translated to stage and is set to premier in the York Theatre Royal, England, from 25 February 2022.
Joseph Aaron Coelho is a British poet and children's book author who was Children's Laureate from 2022 to 2024. In 2023, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 2024, he was announced the winner of the Carnegie Medal for his YA novel The Boy Lost in the Maze.
↑ "COTTRELL-BOYCE, Frank", Who's Who 2010, A & C Black, 2010; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2009; online edn, Nov 2009 . Retrieved 2010-05-16.
1 2 3 4 Press DeskArchived 2 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine (directory). CILIP. Retrieved 2012-08-18. Quote: "media releases relating to the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards in date order." (2002 to 2006 releases concern 2001 to 2005 awards.)
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