William HorwoodWilliam Horwood
William Horwood was born on May 12, 1944,[1] in Oxford, and was brought up on the south-east coast of England.[2] In 1963 he went to Bristol University; he obtained an honours degree in Geography with Economics in 1996.[3] After graduating he taught at a London preparatory school for two years, then went into journalism where he worked for ten years, initially as a news reporter, later as a management, marketing and business freelance journalist for the Financial Times, the Guardian, Marketing and Reader's Digest . He was a features editor of the London Daily Mail from 1972-77.[4] In 1982 he received a diploma in management studies, with distinction, from the Buckinghamshire College of Higher Education.
He had resigned from the Daily Mail "in 1978 aged 34 to finally write his first novel."[5] Duncton Wood, was published in 1980 and became a bestseller.[6] Duncton Wood was nominated for the 1981 Locus Awards for Best Fantasy Novel.[7] It was followed by The Stonor Eagles (1982), Callanish (1984) and Skallagrigg (1987). In 1988 Duncton Quest, the sequel to Duncton Wood, was published, and then Duncton Found (1989), which completes the Duncton Chronicles trilogy. The companion Duncton trilogy, The Book of Silence, began in 1991 with Duncton Tales, and continued with Duncton Rising (1992) and Duncton Stone (1993).
A short story by William Horwood, "The Museum Bell", was published in Lands of Never: an anthology of modern fantasy in 1983.
William Horwood's three standalone novels are The Stonor Eagles (first published in 1982), Callanish (1984), and Skallagrigg(1987).
The Willows in Winter, Horwood's sequel to Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, was published in 1994. Toad Triumphant and The Willows and Beyond were published in 1996. The Willows at Christmas, published in October of 1999, completes the Tales of the Willows series.
The Wolves of Time duology, begun in 1995 with Journeys to the Heartland, concluded with Seekers at the WulfRock in 1997. This was originally to be a trilogy with a third volume, Wanderers of the Wolfways, in between, but publishing constraints reduced it to two books rather than three.
The Boy With No Shoes was published in 2004. It is "fictionalised biography", loosely based on the author's own youth in a fishing town in East Kent, England.
Dark Hearts of Chicago was published in 2007, then in 2008 as City of Dark Hearts by "James Conan". It is a historical novel co-authored with historian Helen Rappaport. The Codburg Conspiracy, under the name James Conan, is due to be published in 2010.
Hyddenworld: Spring was published in February 2010 by Pan Macmillan. A fantasy novel, it is the first of a four-book series.[8]
William Horwood has been married three times and has six children; he lives in Oxford.[9] His interests include mountain walking and backpacking, wild flowers, windsurfing and—of course—writing.
Sources
[1] [3] [4] "William Horwood". Thomson Gale. Last updated 2005. Retrieved March 6, 2006, from Contemporary Authors Online.
[2] Author information in Skallagrigg by William Horwood. London, England: Penguin Books, 1988.
[5] http://www.williamhorwood.co.uk/deal-kent-novels.html Retrieved September 12, 2010.
[6] Duncton Wood (Hamlyn Paperbacks) in London Times list of best-selling books on Wednesday, October 14, 1981; November 4; and November 18, 1981. Retrieved through Gale online database, August 7, 2009.
[7] http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Locus1981.html Retrieved December 6, 2009.
[8] William Horwood at panmacmillan.com. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
[9] Author details: William Horwood at HodderHeadline.co.uk. Retrieved July 23, 2006.
Links
http://www.williamhorwood.co.uk/ - William Horwood's official website (down as of June 2012)
A bibliographical blurb on William Horwood from the Speakers' Agency. This includes a larger version of the photograph seen on some dust jackets.
An author profile from VoyagerOnline.
Biography - Horwood, William (1944-): An article from: Contemporary Authors Online
De vermomming van William Horwood by Eduard Luteijn, a piece printed in Bzzletin in 1995.
From Canadian Reference Centre database: What does life tell us about love? Interview with William Horwood in The Times of August 18, 2004.