Author Diana Wynne Jones died 26 March 2011 of cancer. Born in London, England, on 16 August 1934, she won the World Fantasy Awards’ Life Achievement Award in 2007 (her acceptance speech is here), and Mythopoeic Awards in 1996 (for The Crown of Dalemark) and 1999 (for Dark Lord of Derkholm).
The Guardian, in its lengthy obituary, says “Her intelligent and beautifully written fantasies are of seminal importance for their bridging of the gap between ‘traditional’ children’s fantasy, as written by CS Lewis or E Nesbit, and the more politically and socially aware children’s literature of the modern period, where authors such as Jacqueline Wilson or Melvyn Burgess explicitly confront problems of divorce, drugs and delinquency.”
She started her writing career started as a playwright, and saw three of her plays produced in London between 1967 and 1970. Her first novel, Changeover (1970), was adult humor, but then she shifted her focus to fantasy for younger readers. Among her better known books are The Tough Guide to Fantasyland (1996), the Chrestomanci series (Charmed Life [1977], The Magicians of Caprona [1980], The Lives of Christopher Chant [1988], Conrad’s Fate [2005], The Pinhoe Egg [2006], along with several collections of shorter stories), and the Castle series. Archer’s Goon (1984) was nominated for a World Fantasy Award, and adapted into a six-part television series by the BBC in 1992. Howl’s Moving Castle (1986) was animated by Hayao Miyazaki, and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2005.
Her fan-run, but official, web site, in announcing her death, notes “We can remember Diana through two forthcoming books. A short novel for younger readers, Earwig and the Witch, will be published in summer 2011 by HarperCollins (UK), Greenwillow (US) and Tokuma Shoten (Japan). This tells the story of young Earwig, who loved living in an orphanage and hates Bella Yaga, who chose her from the children’s home and makes her do horrible jobs such as scrubbing the floor and powdering rats’ bones. With the help of Thomas the Cat, Earwig solves her predicament with DWJ’s trademark humour and understanding.
“Secondly, next year David Fickling Publishers will be producing a collection of Diana’s articles, lectures, talks, etc. This will include an introduction by Charlie Butler and an interview by him with her, probably Diana’s last ever interview.
“Diana’s papers are being preserved by Seven Stories, the museum and archive of children’s books.”
She is survived by her husband, Chaucerian scholar John A. Burrow, whom she married in 1956, as well as their three sons and five grandchildren.