Marcus Sedgwick facts for kids

Marcus Sedgwick (8 April 1968 – 15 November 2022) was a British writer, illustrator and musician. He published novels such as Floodland (2001; winner of the Branford Boase Award) and The Dark Horse (2002; shortlisted for The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize). He authored several young adult and children's books and picture books, a work of nonfiction for adults, and illustrated a collection of myths and a book of folk tales for adults. According to School Library Journal his "most acclaimed titles" were those for young adults.

The first U.S. edition of his 2011 novel Midwinterblood won the 2014 Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association.

Early life

Marcus Sedgwick was born 8 April 1968 in Preston, a small village in East Kent, England. He has one brother, Julian, and a half-sister, Ellie. As a child he was shy and recalled being bullied at an all-boys grammar school.

His mother had once worked in Machynlleth at the Centre for Alternative Technology; the area was the setting for Susan Cooper's fantasy series The Dark Rising, and Sedgwick called those books influential for him. He was also influenced by Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast series, which his father had introduced him to.

He studied mathematics and politics at Bath University. When he was 20 years old, his father died.

Career

Before becoming a full-time author, Sedgwick worked as a booseller at Heffers, a children's bookstore, and in sales at children's publishers Ragged Bears and Walker Books. According to The Guardian he began writing "seriously" in 1994.

His first book, Floodland, was published in 2000, and it received the Branford-Boase award for the best debut children's novel of that year. Floodland tells the story of Zoe, who lives on her own on an island that used to be part of England before global warming caused the seas to rise. Publishers Weekly said that "Despite some page-turning chapters, Zoe and her story lack the credibility to sustain readers through the contradictory themes and sometimes unimaginative prose." Alternative Magazine said it was "a stunning debut novel that precluded more literary brilliance to follow."

Dark Horse (2001) was shortlisted for several awards. My Swordhand is Singing (2006) won a Booktrust award.

In 2013 he released Dark Satanic Mills, a graphic novel written in conjunction with his brother Julian Sedgwick and illustrated by John Higgins. His 2015 book The Ghosts of Heaven, a work of young adult fiction consisting of four loosely connected parts combined into an "intriguing" novel, according to Sarah McCarry writing for The New York Times.

He won numerous awards for his writing, most notably the Michael L. Printz Award in 2011 for Revolver, 2014 for The Ghosts of Heaven, and 2016 for Midwinter Blood. At the time of his death he was the most-nominated author for America’s most prestigious book prize for writing for young adults. In addition to writing, Sedgwick worked on film and book projects with his brother Julian. He was represented by RCW Literary Agency.

Sedgwick taught creative writing at Bath Spa University as a writer in residence from 2011 through 2014 and wrote reviews for the Guardian newspaper.

Personal life and death

In addition to drawing and writing, Sedgwick played the drums, and he was an avid music lover. Some of his favorite writers include Susan Cooper, Thomas Mann and Arthur Schnitzler.

Sedgwich was married and divorced three times. He has one daughter from his first marriage.

Sedgwick was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, in 2014. After his diagnosis he moved to the French Alps and then to Dordogne. His final release before his death was an adult work of nonfiction entitled All In Your Head: What Happens When Your Doctor Doesn’t Believe You? Sedgwick died in France on 15 November 2022, at the age of 54.

See also

In Spanish: Marcus Sedgwick para niños