Joan Delano Aiken (1924–2004) was a prolific British author of fantasy, adventure, horror, and suspense tales for both juvenile and adult readers. The daughter of the American poet Conrad Aiken, she wrote works that blend humor and action with traditional mythic and fairy tale elements.
Born in Rye, East Sussex, England, Aiken worked as a librarian, journalist, editor, and advertising copywriter before turning to full-time fiction writing. During her teens, she published two poems in the prestigious Abinger Chronicle journal and a short story.
Aiken’s prolific output consisted of historical, crime, and children’s novels and plays, poetry, and short stories. Her adult fiction includes Trouble with Product X (1966,) Died on a Rainy Sunday (1972,) and Dangerous Games (1999.)
Aiken is best known for her children’s series of books, beginning with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1962) and ending with Midwinter Nightingale (2003.) These books are set in a make-believe historical period during the imagined reign of James III of England.
Aiken also wrote the nonfiction The Way to Write for Children (1982.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Joan Aiken
Children read to learn—even when they are reading fantasy, nonsense, light verse, comics or the copy on cereal packets, they are expanding their minds all the time, enlarging their vocabulary, making discoveries: it is all new to them.
—Joan Aiken
Topics: Learning
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Dorothy L. Sayers English Novelist, Playwright
Raymond Chandler American Novelist
L. P. Hartley British Writer, Critic
Neil Gaiman British Writer
Margery Allingham British Author
Lloyd Alexander American Writer
Mary Shelley English Novelist
Mary Elizabeth Braddon English Novelist
Frances Hodgson Burnett British Novelist, Playwright
Angela Carter English Novelist, Short Story Writer