"It would seem that you have no useful skill or talent whatsoever," he said. "Have you thought of going into teaching?"
- -- (Terry Pratchett, Mort)
Bibliography:
Terry Pratchett was born April 28, 1948 in Beaconsfield, England. He was first published at age 13 - a short story entitled "The Hades Business." Pratchett had "The Carpet People" published in 1971 at age 23, then "The Carpet People," followed by "The Dark Side of the Sun" in 1976 and "Strata" in 1981.
He finished the first of the Discworld novels "The Colour of Magic" in 1983. "The Light Fantastic" was published in 1986. In September 1987, soon after he had finished writing "Mort," Pratchett decided he could devote himself to writing full-time.
In total, Pratchett has published atleast 50 books, which fit into a wide variety of genres: adult non-fiction, young adult literature, childrens literature, short stories and graphic novels. He has 37 Discworld novels detailing the world of Ankh-Morpork - from the University, to the Royal Mint to the post office. He is able to be political without being preachy and his footnotes are hilarious and offer a humorous social commentary.
Also, interesting news....due to his acclaim in England, it appears Unseen Academicals (the latest Discworld novel) is going to make it to the tv screen, Pratchett's fourth such novel to do so:http://www.sfx.co.uk/2011/01/25/next-pratchett-tv-adaptation-announced/
Other stories have been turned into plays throughout England.
Awards/Distinctions:
Pratchett's first series of books for young readers, Truckers, known in the USA as the Bromeliad Trilogy, became the first children's book to appear in the British adult paperback fiction best-seller lists.
He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's 1998 Birthday Honours List, 'for services to literature' and received a knighthood for "services to literature" in 2009.
In 2003 Pratchett joined Charles Dickens as the two authors with five books in the BBC's Big Read 'Top 100' (four of which were Discworld novels). Pratchett was also the author with the most novels in the 'Top 200' (fifteen). Three Discworld novels that centred on the character Tiffany Aching 'trainee witch' have each received the Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book (in 2004, 2005 and 2007).
Pratchett was the recipient of NESFA's Skylark Award in 2009 and in 2010 he received a World Fantasy award for lifetime achievement. He is the 2011 recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the ALA, recognizing a significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.
British Book Awards' 'Fantasy and Science Fiction Author of the Year' for 1994; British Science Fiction Award in 1989 for his novel, Pyramids; Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2008 for Making Money; The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents won the 2001 Carnegie Medal for best children's novel; Night Watch won the 2003 Prometheus Award for best libertarian novel.Connecting with the author/further research:
Professor Sir Terry Pratchett Inaugural Lecture "The Importance of Being Amazed about Absolutely Everything" on 4 November 2010 at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. You can watch his speech here: http://youtu.be/n2FZ_0d3yEI (running time approximately 1:00, retreived May 1, 2011).
The BBC has a Meet the Author series. Here is their episode on Terry, which includes an interview about his life's work: http://youtu.be/NhvUHI6WJcY
Teachervision.com has created a wonderful resource to help teachers spark discussion about three different Terry Pratchett novels: A Hat Full of Sky, The Wee Free Men, and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. The free printable includes pre-reading activities and discussion questions: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/harpercollins/terry-pratchett_tg.pdf. Covering three pieces would complete an interesting author study of Pratchett's body or work, which could be augmented with some of the aforementioned resources and videos.
Check out Terry Pratchett's other novels on his website:
http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/
You can also try his author's page on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Terry-Pratchett/e/B000AQ0NN8/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1298399235
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