- Born
- Died
- Birth nameGillian Honorine Mary Bliss
- Jill Paton Walsh was born on April 29, 1937 in London, England, UK. She was a writer, known for The Torch (1992), Jackanory (1965) and The Book Programme (1973). She was married to John Rowe Townsend and Anthony Paton Walsh. She died on October 18, 2020 in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England, UK.
- SpousesJohn Rowe Townsend(2004 - March 24, 2014) (his death)Anthony Paton Walsh(1961 - ?) (separated, 3 children)
- Author of novels, detective fiction, and children's books. She was educated at St. Michael's Convent, North Finchley, and at St. Anne's College, Oxford. From 1959 to 1962 she taught English at Enfield Girls' Grammar School. Winner of the Book World Festival Award, 1970, for Fireweed; the Whitbread Prize, 1974 (for a Children's novel) for The Emperor's Winding Sheet; The Boston Globe-Horn Book Award 1976 for Unleaving; The Universe Prize, 1984 for A Parcel of Patterns; and the Smarties Grand Prix, 1984, for Gaffer Samson's Luck. In 1994, her novel Knowledge of Angels was short-listed for the Booker Prize. She has contributed articles and reviews to many journals and is 'adjunct British board member' of Childrens' Literature New England.
- After living for many years in Richmond, Surrey, she is now settled in Cambridge, where in partnership with John Rowe Townsend she runs a small specialist imprint, Green Bay Publications.
- In 1996 she received the CBE for services to literature, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
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