{{Short description|British writer of young adult and children's literature}} {{BLP sources|date=February 2010}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
'''Janni Howker''' is a British writer of adult and children's fiction who has adapted her own books for the screen. She has worked across the UK running creative writing workshops for adults and children, and is involved in several arts development programmes.{{when|date=September 2013}}<!--is she active?-->
==Life==
Howker was born in Cyprus to a British military family with Lancashire roots.<ref name=walker/> She lives in a cottage near the "very remote" Scottish border, and several of her books are set in the region, which she calls "my inspiration".<ref name=walker/> The most important may be ''Martin Farrell'', which features a boy caught in the midst of the bloody feuds of the Border Reivers.
== Awards ==
''The Nature of the Beast'' won the 1985 Whitbread Children's Book Award.<ref name=costa-winners>[http://www.costabookawards.com/media/5508/past_winners_complete_list.pdf (past_winners_complete_list.pdf)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028174309/http://www.costabookawards.com/media/5508/past_winners_complete_list.pdf |date=28 October 2012 }}. Section "Whitbread Winners 1971–2005". Costa Book Awards. Retrieved 2013-09-09.</ref>
For ''The Nature of the Beast'' and again next year for ''Isaac Campion'' in 1986, Howker was a highly commended runner-up for the annual Carnegie Medals from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. (From 1979 to 2002 the distinction was approximately annual, with 29 high commendations in a 24-year period including Howker alone for both 1985 and 1986.)<ref name=ccsu/>
* International Reading Award * Tom-Gallon Award * Observer Teenage Fiction Award * Somerset Maugham Award
== Works == <!-- 2013-09-09 these 6 books are the only ones reported by WorldCat libraries (except their foreign-language editions) --> The U.S. review service ''Kirkus Reviews'' covered at least three of Howker's books (‡).<!--search of online reprints hits 3--> ''Badger on the Barge''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/janni-howker-2/badger-on-the-barge-and-other-stories/|title=BADGER ON THE BARGE and Other Stories by Janni Howker|via=kirkusreviews.com}}</ref> and ''The Topiary Garden''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/janni-howker/the-topiary-garden/|title=THE TOPIARY GARDEN by Janni Howker, Anthony Browne|via=kirkusreviews.com}}</ref> garnered starred reviews and the service called ''Isaac Campion'' "another glowing novel" and "unforgettable".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/janni-howker-3/isaac-campion/|title=ISAAC CAMPION by Janni Howker|via=kirkusreviews.com}}</ref>
=== Novels === * ''The Nature of the Beast'' (Julia MacRae Books, 1985) * ''Isaac Campion'' (MacRae, 1986)‡ * ''Martin Farrell'' (MacRae, 1994)
=== Short fiction === * ''Badger on the Barge'' (MacRae, 1984)‡ —collection of five stories (200pp), short-listed for both the Whitbread Children's Book Award and the Carnegie Medal{{citation needed |date=August 2012}} * ''The Topiary Garden'' (MacRae, 1993)‡ —one story from ''Badger on the Barge'', illustrated by Anthony Browne (64pp) * ''Walk with a Wolf'' (Walker, 1997) —children's picture book illustrated by Sarah Fox-Davies * "Mud" —short story{{citation needed|date=September 2013}}
==See also== {{Portal bar |Children's literature |North West England}} <!-- delete the word "bar" if there are enough ordinary See also -->
==References== {{Reflist |25em |refs= <ref name=ccsu> [http://web.ccsu.edu/library/nadeau/award%20books/CarnegieMedal.htm "Carnegie Medal Award"]. 2007(?). Curriculum Lab. Elihu Burritt Library. Central Connecticut State University ('''CCSU'''). Retrieved 2012-07-13.</ref> <ref name=walker> [http://www.walker.co.uk/contributors/Janni-Howker-2676.aspx "Janni Howker"]. Walker Books. Retrieved 2013-09-09. Autobiographical sketch.</ref>
}}
==External links== * [http://lccn.loc.gov/n84017543 Janni Howker] at Library of Congress Authorities – with 7 catalogue records
{{Authority control}} <!-- |GND=111112478 altho same VIAF bundle is only a nameholder that links several of her works -->
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howker, Janni}} Category:British children's writers Category:People from Cumbria<!-- Cumbria-based, 2001, per Northwest Writers Awards --> Category:Living people Category:Alumni of Lancaster University Category:Alumni of Cartmel College, Lancaster Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:British women children's writers
{{UK-child-writer-stub}}