{{short description|American writer (born 1941)}} {{For|the politician|Nancy Farmer (politician)}} {{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] --> | name = Nancy Farmer | image = <!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people - see [[WP:NONFREE]] --> | imagesize = 150px| |birth_date={{birth date and age|mf=yes|1941|7|9}} | birth_place = [[Phoenix, Arizona]], U.S. | occupation = Writer | education = [[Reed College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]]) | genre = [[Children's literature]], [[young adult literature]], [[fantasy]] and [[science fiction]] | notableworks = [[The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm]]<br> [[A Girl Named Disaster]]<br> [[The House of the Scorpion]]<br> Sea of Trolls series | spouse = Harold Farmer | children = 1 | awards = {{awards |[[National Book Award]] |2002}} {{awards |[[Buxtehuder Bulle]] |2003}} {{awards |[[Newbery Honor]] |1995, 1997, 2003}} | website = {{URL|www.nancyfarmer.weebly.com}} }}

'''Nancy Farmer''' (born 1941) is an American writer of [[children's literature|children's]] and young adult books and science fiction. She has written three [[Newbery Medal|Newbery Honor]] books<ref name=newbery/> and won the U.S. [[National Book Award for Young People's Literature]] for ''[[The House of the Scorpion]]'', published by [[Atheneum Books for Young Readers]] in 2002.<ref name=nba2002/>

== Early life ==

Farmer was born in [[Phoenix, Arizona]]. She earned her B.A. at [[Reed College]] (1963) and later studied chemistry and entomology at the University of California, Berkeley.<ref name="bio">{{Cite web |title=Bio |url=https://www.nancyfarmerwebsite.com/bio.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126162553/https://www.nancyfarmerwebsite.com/bio.html |archive-date=2022-11-26 |access-date=2025-05-28 |website=Nancy Farmer's official home page |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> She enlisted in the [[Peace Corps]] (1963–1965), and subsequently worked in [[Mozambique]] and [[Rhodesia]] (present-day [[Zimbabwe]]), where she studied biological methods of controlling the [[tsetse fly]] between 1975 and 1978.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Bio |url=https://nancyfarmer.weebly.com/bio.html |access-date=2025-05-28 |website=Nancy Farmer's official home page |language=en}}</ref>

== Career == Farmer began writing in the 1980s, at the age of 40, while still living in Zimbabwe. She began writing stories in Africa. It was for one of those stories that she won the [[Writers and Illustrators of the Future|Writers of the Future]] contest, which enabled her to move back to the [[United States]] and begin writing full-time. Her experiences in Africa would go on to influence her writing.<ref name=":0" />

== Personal life == Farmer met her future husband, Harold Farmer, at the University of Rhodesia (now the [[University of Zimbabwe]]). They married after a week-long courtship. As of 2010, Farmer lives in Arizona's [[Chiricahua Mountains]] with her husband. They have one son, Daniel.<ref name="moving">[[#web|Farmer]], [http://www.nancyfarmerwebsite.com/4/post/2010/06/moving.html "Moving"] (June 17, 2010).</ref>

==Bibliography==

===Novels===

* ''Lorelei: The Story of a Bad Cat'' (Harare, Zimbabwe: College Press, 1987) * ''The Eye, the Ear, and the Arm'' (College Press, 1989)<ref>[http://lccn.loc.gov/94980934 "The eye, the ear, and the arm"] (1989 printing). Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 2013-11-23. Catalog records show ''The Eye&nbsp;...'', 1989, 160 pages; ''The Ear&nbsp;...'', 1994, 311 pages.</ref><!--160pp--> * ''Tapiwa's Uncle'' (College Press, 1993)<!--85pp--> * ''Do You Know Me'', illustrated by [[Shelley Jackson]] ([[Orchard Books]], 1993)<!--105pp--> * ''[[The Ear, the Eye and the Arm]]'' (Orchard, 1994)<!--311pp, presumably expanded--> * ''The Warm Place'' (Orchard, 1995) * ''[[A Girl Named Disaster]]'' (Orchard, 1996) * ''[[The House of the Scorpion]]'' ([[Atheneum Books]], 2002) * ''A New Year's Tale'' (2013) – paperback and e-book for adults<ref name=home>[[#web|Farmer]], [http://www.nancyfarmerwebsite.com/ "Home"] (2013).</ref> * ''[[The Lord of Opium]]'' (2013) – sequel to ''The House of the Scorpion''

====The Sea of Trolls trilogy==== * ''[[The Sea of Trolls]]'' (Atheneum, 2004) * ''[[The Land of the Silver Apples]]'' (Atheneum, 2007) * ''[[The Islands of the Blessed]]'' (Atheneum, 2009)

===Picture books=== * ''Runnery Granary'', illus. [[Joseph A. Smith (artist)|Jos. A. Smith]] ([[Greenwillow Books]], 1996) – A Mystery Must Be Solved—Or the Grain is Lost! * ''Casey Jones's Fireman: The Story of Sim Webb'', illus. James Bernardin (New York: Phyllis Fogelman Books, 1999) * ''Clever Ali'', illus. Gail De Marcken (Orchard, 2006)

===Short stories=== * "The Mirror", ''L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Volume IV'' (1988), pp.&nbsp;35–65 – collection of twelve 1987 finalists; "The Mirror" won the grand prize<ref name=sfadb/> * "Tapiwa's Uncle", ''[[Cricket (magazine)|Cricket]]'' (February 1992)<!--presumably a short version--> * "Origami Mountain", ''[[Year's Best Fantasy and Horror|The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror]]: Sixth Annual Collection'' (1992) * "Falada: the Goose Girl's Horse", ''A Wolf At the Door'', eds. [[Ellen Datlow]] and [[Terri Windling]] (2000) * "Remember Me", ''[[Firebirds (anthology)|Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction]]'', ed. [[Sharyn November]] (2003) * "Bella's Birthday Present", ''Can You Keep a Secret'', ed. Lois Metzger (2007) * "The Mole Cure", ''[[Fantasy and Science Fiction]]'' (August 2007) * "Ticket to Ride", ''Firebirds Soaring: An Anthology of Original Speculative Fiction'', ed. Sharyn November (2008) * "Castle Othello", ''Troll's Eye View'', eds. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (2009)

==Awards== "The Mirror" (1987) * 1988, [[Writers of the Future]] Grand Prize<ref name=sfadb/>

''The Ear, the Eye and the Arm'' (1994) * 1995 [[Newbery Honor Book]] (a Newbery Medal runner-up)<ref name=newbery> [http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal "Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922–Present"]. [[Association for Library Service to Children]]. (ALSC). [[American Library Association]] (ALA).<br> &nbsp; [http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/aboutnewbery/aboutnewbery "The John Newbery Medal"]. ALSC. ALA. Retrieved 2012-04-15.</ref> * 1995, Hal Clement Award ([[Golden Duck Award]], Young Adult)<ref name=sfadb/>

''A Girl Named Disaster'' (1996) *1996, [[National Book Award]] (U.S.) finalist, Young People's Literature<ref name=nba1996> [https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1996 "National Book Awards – 1996"]. NBF. Retrieved 2012-01-26.</ref> *1997, Newbery Honor<ref name=newbery/>

''The House of the Scorpion'' (2002) *2002, [[National Book Award for Young People's Literature]]<ref name=nba2002> [https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2002 "National Book Awards – 2002"]. [[National Book Foundation]] ('''NBF'''). Retrieved 2012-01-26. <br>(With acceptance speech by Farmer and introduction by panelist [[Han Nolan]], who remarked: "this year perhaps more than any other year obliterated any boundaries left between the young adult and adult novel.")</ref> *2003, Newbery Honor<ref name=newbery/> *2003, [[Buxtehuder Bulle]] (Germany) *2003, [[Michael L. Printz Award|Printz]] Honor

''The Land of the Silver Apples'' (2007) * 2007, [[Emperor Norton in popular culture#Literature|Emperor Norton Award]] ("extraordinary invention and creativity unhindered by the constraints of paltry reason")<ref name=sfadb/>

==See also== {{Portal bar |Children's literature |Speculative fiction |Africa}} <!-- delete the word "bar" if there are enough ordinary See also -->

== References == {{reflist |25em |refs= <ref name=sfadb> [http://www.sfadb.com/Nancy_Farmer "Nancy Farmer"]. Science Fiction Awards Database (''sfadb.com''). Mark R. Kelly and the [[Locus Science Fiction Foundation]]. Retrieved 2013-11-23.</ref>

}}

* <span id=web>Farmer</span>. ''Nancy Farmer's official home page'' (nancyfarmerwebsite.com). 2008–present. Retrieved 2013-11-23.

==External links== * {{official website |www.nancyfarmer.weebly.com }} *[http://www.locusmag.com/2004/Issues/01Farmer.html Excerpts from a ''Locus'' magazine interview with Nancy Farmer] * {{ISFDB name|2951}} * {{LibraryThing author|farmernancy}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farmer, Nancy}} [[Category:1941 births]] [[Category:20th-century American novelists]] [[Category:20th-century American short story writers]] [[Category:20th-century American women novelists]] [[Category:21st-century American novelists]] [[Category:21st-century American short story writers]] [[Category:21st-century American women novelists]] [[Category:American children's writers]] [[Category:American fantasy writers]] [[Category:American science fiction writers]] [[Category:American women children's writers]] [[Category:American women short story writers]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:National Book Award for Young People's Literature winners]] [[Category:Newbery Honor winners]] [[Category:Novelists from Arizona]] [[Category:Reed College alumni]] [[Category:American women science fiction and fantasy writers]] [[Category:Writers of young adult science fiction]]