# Susan Price

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English children's writer (born 1955)

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This article is about the children's author. For other people, see [Susan Price (disambiguation)](/source/Susan_Price_(disambiguation)).

Susan Price Born 8 July 1955 (1955-07-08) (age 70) Dudley, England Occupation Author of children's and young adult novels Nationality English Notable works The Ghost Drum (1987) The Sterkarm Handshake (1998)

**Susan Price** (born 8 July 1955) is an [English](/source/English_people) author of [children's](/source/Children's_literature) and [young adult novels](/source/Young_adult_fiction). She has won both the [Carnegie Medal](/source/Carnegie_Medal_(literary_award)) and the [Guardian Prize](/source/Guardian_Prize) for British children's books.[1][2]

Price was born in [Dudley](/source/Dudley), [Worcestershire](/source/Worcestershire) (now [West Midlands](/source/West_Midlands_(county))) in what is known as the [Black Country](/source/Black_Country).[3] The region had a major effect on her writing which is "grounded in its history and geology, the limestone and iron ore and coal and fireclay of a landscape that spawned the industrial revolution".[4] From a working class family, she left school without qualifications, and stacked supermarket shelves and washed up in hotel kitchens while writing her first books.[5]

She has written over 60 books, and also worked as a [Royal Literary Fund](/source/Royal_Literary_Fund) fellow attached to [De Montford University](/source/De_Montfort_University).[6]

## Writing

Many of Susan Price's works are [fantasy](/source/Fantasy_literature), from [science fiction](/source/Science_fiction) to [ghost stories](/source/Ghost_story); some are [historical novels](/source/Historical_fiction); others are about animals or everyday life. Many of her short stories are re-tellings of tales from [folklore](/source/Folklore). Her first Ghost World novel, *[The Ghost Drum](/source/The_Ghost_Drum)* (1987), is an original [fairy tale](/source/Fairy_tale) using elements from Russian history and [Russian folklore](/source/Russian_folklore). She won the [Carnegie Medal](/source/Carnegie_Medal_(literary_award)) from the [Library Association](/source/CILIP), recognising *The Ghost Drum* as the year's best children's book by a [British subject](/source/British_subject);[1] reissued in 2024 it was described as a "rediscovered gem".[5]

In *[The Sterkarm Handshake](/source/The_Sterkarm_Handshake)* (1998) and its sequel *A Sterkarm Kiss* (2003), time travel brings together a young [anthropologist](/source/Anthropologist) from 21st century Britain and a young warrior from 16th century Scotland. They become lovers and she sides with his border clan in conflict with a 21st-century corporation. For the first book, Price won the [Guardian Children's Fiction Prize](/source/Guardian_Children's_Fiction_Prize), a once-in-a-lifetime award judged by a panel of British children's writers.[2]

The Pagan Mars trilogy (2005–2008), also known as [Odin](/source/Odin) or [Mars](/source/Mars_(mythology)),[7] is set in a scientifically advanced [alternative world](/source/Parallel_universe_(fiction)) where the [pagan gods](/source/Paganism) are still worshiped and slavery, called bondery, is commonplace.

## Bibliography

### Novels - for older readers

- *city life* (1974)

- *Twopence a Tub* (1975)

- *Sticks and Stones* (1976)

- *Home from Home* (1977)

- *Christopher Uptake* (1981)

- *From Where I Stand* (1984)

- Ghost World - *[The Ghost Drum](/source/The_Ghost_Drum)* (1987) — winner of the Carnegie Medal[1] - *Ghost Song* (1992) - *Ghost Dance* (1993)

- *Foiling the Dragon* (1994)

- *Elfgift* (1996)

- *Elfking* (1996)

- Sterkarm - *[The Sterkarm Handshake](/source/The_Sterkarm_Handshake)* (1998) — winner of the Guardian Prize[2] - *A Sterkarm Kiss* (2003) - *A Sterkarm Tryst* (2017)

- *The Ghost Wife* (1999)

- *The Wolf-Sisters* (2001)

- *The Bearwood Witch* (2001)

- Pagan Mars - *Odin's Voice* (2005) - *Odin's Queen* (2006) - *Odin's Son* (2008)

- *Feasting the Wolf* (2007)

### Novels - for younger readers

- *The Devil's Piper* (1973)

- *In a Nutshell* (1983)

- *Odin's Monster* (1986)

- *Master Thomas Katt* (1988)

- *The Bone Dog* (1989)

- *Phantom from the Past* (1989)

- *A Feasting of Trolls* (1990)

- *Thunderpumps* (1990)

- *Knocking Jack* (1992)

- *Coming Down To Earth* (1994)

- *A True Spell and a Dangerous* (1998)

- *The Saga of Aslak* (1997)

- *Pedro (Piccadilly Pips)* (1997)

- *Wolf's Footprint* (2003)

- *Olly Spellmaker & the Sulky Smudge* (2004)

- *Olly Spellmaker and the Hairy Horror* (2004)

- *Olly Spellmaker: Elf Alert!* (2005)

### Short story collections

- *The Carpenter and Other Stories* (1981)

- *Ghosts at Large* (1984)

- *Ghostly Tales* (1987)

- *Here Lies Price* (1987)

- *Forbidden Doors* (1991)

- *Head and Tales* (1995)

- *Hauntings* (1995)

- *Nightcomers* (1997)

- *The Story Collector* (1998)

- *Ghosts and Lies* (1998)

- *Telling Tales* (1999)

- *The Kings Head* (2002)

- *The Fraid*

### As editor

- *Horror Stories* (1988)

- *The Treasury of Nursery Tales* (1991)

- *The Dark Side: Truly Terrifying Tales* (2007)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-medal1987_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-medal1987_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-medal1987_1-2) [(Carnegie Winner 1987)](http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/livingarchive/title.php?id=71) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090608044248/http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/livingarchive/title.php?id=71) 8 June 2009 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. [CILIP](/source/CILIP). Retrieved 2012-08-05.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-relaunch_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-relaunch_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-relaunch_2-2) ["Guardian children's fiction prize relaunched: Entry details and list of past winners"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/12/guardianchildrensfictionprize2001.guardianchildrensfictionprize) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090634/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/12/guardianchildrensfictionprize2001.guardianchildrensfictionprize) 27 March 2019 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). *guardian.co.uk* 12 March 2001. Retrieved 2012-08-05.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Susan Price"](https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100344687?rskey=odNF1w&result=14). *Oxford Reference*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210515080756/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100344687?rskey=odNF1w&result=14) from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Authorgraph No.89: Susan Price – Books For Keeps"](https://booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/24182/). *booksforkeeps.co.uk*. Retrieved 4 February 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_5-1) Bannerman, Lucy (4 February 2024). ["Ghost Drum by Susan Price review — a rediscovered gem of a fairytale"](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/ghost-drum-by-susan-price-book-review-39vgh7h52). *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0140-0460](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0140-0460). Retrieved 4 February 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Susan Price"](https://www.rlf.org.uk/fellowships/susan-price/). *The Royal Literary Fund*. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-isfdb_7-0)** [Susan Price](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?3168) at the [Internet Speculative Fiction Database](/source/Internet_Speculative_Fiction_Database). Retrieved 2012-08-05.

### Citations

- [Channel 4 Biography](https://archive.today/20131104183549/http://www.channel4learning.net/sites/bookbox/authors/price/index.htm)

- [Official website](http://www.susanpriceauthor.com/)

## External links

- [Children and Young Adult Literature portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Children_and_Young_Adult_Literature)
- [Speculative fiction portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Speculative_fiction)

- [Susan Price](https://lccn.loc.gov/n50021850) at the [Library of Congress](/source/Library_of_Congress), with 20 library catalogue records

- [Susan Price](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Susan_Price) at the [Internet Speculative Fiction Database](/source/Internet_Speculative_Fiction_Database)

- [Susan Price at Fantastic Fiction](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/p/susan-price/)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States France BnF data Japan Czech Republic Netherlands Academics CiNii People Trove DDB Other Open Library

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Susan Price](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Price) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Price?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.