Tim Bowler | |
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Born | Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England | 14 November 1953
Occupation | Writer |
Nationality | English |
Genre | thriller |
Website | |
www |
Tim Bowler (born 14 November 1953) is an author of books for teenagers and young adults. He won the 1997 Carnegie Medal from the CILIP, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject, for the novel River Boy . [1]
The Sunday Telegraph has called him "the master of the psychological thriller" [2] and The Independent "one of the truly individual voices in voices in British teenage fiction". [3]
Bowler was born in Leigh-on-Sea, and educated at the University of East Anglia where he studied Swedish and Scandinavian studies. [4]
His first published novel was Midget (1994), a psychological thriller set in Leigh-on-Sea. This has been followed by several other novels: Dragon's Rock (1995), a thriller set in Devon; River Boy (1997), a story about love and bereavement and winner of the Carnegie Medal; Shadows (1999), a love story; Storm Catchers (2001), a kidnap thriller; Starseeker (2002), an exploration of love, loss and music, also made into a play; Apocalypse (2004), an allegory about the future of mankind; Frozen Fire (2006), a philosophical thriller about the nature of reality; Bloodchild (2008), a story about memory, secrets and betrayal; Buried Thunder (2011), a dark psychological thriller; and Sea of Whispers (2013), a haunting and mysterious story set on the remote island of Mora.
Blade (2008 to 2013) is a series of urban thrillers. Reviewing it for The Bookbag, Jill Murphy wrote, "Nobody in children's writing is producing anything like this. It's electrifying." [5] Some editions in translation (e.g. Germany and Korea) are four books, each comprising two original volumes.
Bowler speaks at conferences, schools, and book festivals and makes regular appearances on radio. He lives in a village in Devon and writes in a small stone outhouse. [6]
The Carnegie Medal is a British literary award that annually recognises one outstanding new English-language book for children or young adults. It is conferred upon the author by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). CILIP calls it "the UK's oldest and most prestigious book award for children's writing".
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River Boy is a young adult novel by Tim Bowler, published by Oxford in 1997. It is the story of a teenage girl facing the prospect of bereavement. Bowler won the annual Carnegie Medal, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. River Boy also won the 1999 Angus Book Award.
Bloodchild is a young adult novel written by British author Tim Bowler. It was originally published in 2008 in the UK. Bloodchild opens with a startling scene of visionary sensation. A boy lies dying in a deserted country lane. As he slips away, he sees almost abstract blocks of colour, as vivid and monumental as a Rothko painting. A deep blue ocean is sucking him under; misty red faces are swirling like shadows around him; and a girl with blue eyes as wide as the ocean is commanding him back to life.