Catherine Fisher (born 1957) is a poet and novelist for children and Young Adults. Best known for her internationally bestselling novel Incarceron and its sequel, Sapphique, she has published over 40 novels and 5 volumes of poetry. She has worked as an archaeologist, and as a school and university teacher, is an experienced broadcaster and adjudicator and has taught at the Arvon Foundation and Ty Newydd Writers' Centres. She lives in Wales, UK.
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Personal life
Fisher was born in Newport, in the Welsh county of Gwent. She graduated from the University of Wales with a degree in English Literature and Education.
Work experience
Catherine Fisher has worked as a primary-school teacher and as an archaeologist. She also taught writing for children at the University of South Wales. She has been a full-time writer of fiction and poetry since 2002.
Writing
Since the late 1980s, Fisher has been writing children's fantasy, both Young Adult and Middle Grade. These novels have been translated into over 30 languages, and many of her works have won or been shortlisted for literary awards. She has twice won the Welsh Books Council Tir na n'Og prize for fiction in English, with The Candle Man (2000) and The Clockwork Crow (2015). Her young adult fantasies Incarceron and Sapphique were New York Times bestsellers and Times Book of the Year. The Oracle, the first volume of a trilogy mixing Egyptian and Greek myth, was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize. The Clockwork Crow, first of an acclaimed trilogy for middle grade, an enchanting reworking of Welsh fairylore and Victorian Gothic, was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Prize. Fisher's work mixes myth, legend and folktale, with vibrant characters and language that is precise and evocative. She has written several well-received re-tellings of Welsh myth and legend, including The Cat With Iron Claws, and Culhwch and Olwen.
In addition to her writing for children, Fisher has published four poetry collections with Seren Books: Immrama (1988), The Unexplored Ocean (c. 1994), Altered States (1999) and The Bramble King (2019). She has also published a pamphlet, Folklore (2003), with Smith/Doorstop Books, and many poems in magazines and anthologies, including Poetry Wales, Poetry Now, The Poetry Review and the Forward Book of Poetry. The collection Immrama won the Welsh Arts Council Young Writers' Prize in 1989. She won the Cardiff International Poetry Competition in the same year with her poem 'Marginalia'.
Publications
Poetry
Immrama (1988) Seren Books ISBN 1854110039
The Unexplored Ocean (1994)Seren Books ISBN 185411106X
Altered States (1999) Seren Books ISBN 1854112732
Folklore (2003) Smith/Doorstop Books ISBN 1902382501
The Bramble King (2019) Seren Books. ISBN 9781781725078
Prose
The Conjuror's Game (1990) The Bodley Head ISBN 0370314123
The Conjuror's Game (1991) Red Fox ISBN 0099859602
Fintan's Tower (1991) The Bodley Head ISBN 0370315979
Fintan's Tower (1992) Red Fox ISBN 0099935201
Saint Tarvel's Bell (1992) Chivers Press ISBN 0862208998
The Candle Man (1994.) The Bodley Head ISBN 0370318897
The Candle Man (1994) Red Fox ISBN 0099301393.
The Hare And Other Stories (1994) Pont books
Belin's Hill (1997) The Bodley Head ISBN 0370322711
Belin's Hill (1997) Red Fox ISBN 0099539810
The Lammas Field (1999) Hodder Children's ISBN 0340736992
Darkwater Hall (2000) Hodder Children's ISBN 0340743832
Corbenic (2002) Red Fox ISBN 9780099438489
Darkhenge (2005) The Bodley Head ISBN 0370328590
The Weather Dress (2005) Pont Books ISBN 1843235935
Crown of Acorns (May 2010) Hodder Children's Books. ISBN 9780340970072
The Snow-Walker's Son (1993) The Bodley Head ISBN 0370317963 Red Fox pb ISBN 9780099251927