Katherine Paterson | |
|---|---|
 Paterson in 2011 | |
| Born | Katherine Womeldorf[1] (1932-10-31)October 31, 1932 (age 93) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | |
| Period | 1973–present |
| Genre | Children's andyoung-adult novels |
| Notable works |
|
| Notable awards |
|
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, includingDavid L. Paterson |
| Website | |
| www | |
Katherine Paterson (néeWomeldorf; born October 31, 1932)[1] is an American writer best known forchildren's novels, includingBridge to Terabithia (1977), which won theNewbery Medal in 1978. For four different books published 1975–1980, she won twoNewbery Medals and twoNational Book Awards. She is one of four people to win the two major international awards; for "lasting contribution to children's literature" she won the biennialHans Christian Andersen Award for Writing in 1998[2][3] and for her career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense" she won theAstrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council in 2006, the biggest monetary prize in children's literature.[4] Also for her body of work she was awarded theNSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature in 2007[5] and theChildren's Literature Legacy Award from theAmerican Library Association in 2013.[6][7] She was the second USNational Ambassador for Young People's Literature, serving 2010 and 2011.[8]
Katherine Womeldorf was born inHuai'an,Republic of China (nowChina)[9] to Presbyterian missionaries G. (George) Raymond and Mary Womeldorf.[10] Her father supported her family by preaching and heading Sutton 690, a boys' school. The Womeldorf family lived in a Chinese neighborhood and immersed themselves in Chinese culture. She attendedShanghai American School where her family briefly lived in the school dormitories.[11] When Katherine was five years old, the family fled China during theJapanese invasion of 1937. Her family returned to the United States at the onset ofWorld War II.[12]
Paterson said during World War II, her parents and four siblings lived in Virginia and North Carolina, and when her family's return to China was indefinitely postponed, they moved to various towns in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, before her parents settled in Winchester, Virginia.[9] The Womeldorf family moved 15 times over 13 years.[13]
Paterson's first language was Chinese, and she initially experienced difficulty reading and writing English. She overcame these challenges and, in 1954, graduatedsumma cum laude with a degree in English fromKing College inBristol, Tennessee. She then spent a year teaching at a rural elementary school inVirginia before going to graduate school.[14] She received a master's degree from thePresbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia, where she studied Bible and Christian education.[15] Paterson had hoped to become a missionary in China, but its borders were closed to western citizens. A Japanese friend pushed her to go to Japan instead, where she worked as a missionary and Christian education assistant. While in Japan, Paterson studied both Japanese and Chinese culture, which influenced much of her subsequent writing.
Paterson began her professional career in thePresbyterian Church in 1964 by writing curriculum materials for fifth and sixth graders.[16]
In 1966, she wrote the religious education bookWho Am I?. While continuing to write, she was unable to get any of her novels published. After being persuaded, Paterson took an adult education course in creative writing during which her first novel was published. Her first children's novel,The Sign of the Chrysanthemum, was published in 1973. It is a work of historical fiction, set in the Japanese medieval period; it is based on Paterson's studies in Japan.Bridge to Terabithia, her most widely read work, was published in 1977.Terabithia was highly controversial due to some of the difficult themes, but is the most popular book she has written.[17]
Some of her other books also feature difficult themes such as the death of a loved one. In her 2007 NSK Prize Lecture at theUniversity of Oklahoma, Paterson said she has spent the last "more than forty years" of her life as a writer, and her books seem "to be filled with heroes of the most unlikely sort."[18]
Paterson lives inBarre, Vermont. Her husband John Barstow Paterson, a retired Presbyterian pastor, died in 2013.[19] She has four children and seven grandchildren.[20]
On April 28, 2005, Paterson dedicated a tree in memory ofLisa Hill (her son David's childhood friend who became the inspiration forBridge to Terabithia) to Takoma Park Elementary School. In 2006, she releasedBread and Roses, Too. She was inspired to write this book after seeing a photograph of 35 children taken on the steps of the Old Socialist Labor Hall in Barre captioned, "Children of Lawrence Massachusetts,Bread and Roses Strike come to Barre".
She has written a play version of the story byBeatrix Potter,The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck. It was performed at a conference of the Beatrix Potter Society inFresno, California in April 2009.
In January 2010, Paterson replacedJon Scieszka as the Library of CongressNational Ambassador for Young People's Literature, a two-year position created to raise national awareness of the importance of lifelong literacy and education.[8][21][22]
In 2011, Paterson gave the Annual Buechner Lecture atThe Buechner Institute at her alma mater,King University.[23]
In January 2013, Paterson received theChildren's Literature Legacy Award from the American Library Association, which recognizes a living author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made "a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children". CitingBridge to Terabithia in particular, the committee noted that "Paterson's unflinching yet redemptive treatment of tragedy and loss helped pave the way for ever more realistic writing for young people."[6][7]
As of 2022, Katherine Paterson is a vice-president of theNational Children's Book and Literacy Alliance, a non-profit organization that advocates for literacy, literature, and libraries.[24]
In Paterson's novels, her youthful protagonists face crises by which they learn to triumph through self-sacrifice. Paterson, unlike many other authors of young adult novels, tackles themes often considered to be adult, such as death and jealousy.[22] Although her characters face dire situations, Paterson writes with compassion and empathy. Amidst her writing of misery and strife, Paterson interlaces her writing with wry wit and understated humor. After facing tumultuous events, her characters prevail in triumph and redeem themselves and their ambitions. Paterson's protagonists are usually orphaned or estranged children with only a few friends who must face difficult situations largely on their own. Paterson's plots may reflect her own childhood in which she felt estranged and lonely.[22]
The Hans Christian Andersen and Astrid Lindgren Awards are the two major international awards recognizing career contributions to children's literature.[2][3][4]The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award is the highest honor from US professional librarians for contributions to American children's literature.[6][7]
Paterson has also won many annual awards for new books, including theNational Book Award (The Master Puppeteer, 1977;The Great Gilly Hopkins, 1979);[25][26]theEdgar Allan Poe Special Award (Master Puppeteer, 1977); theNewbery Medal (Bridge to Terabithia, 1977;Jacob Have I Loved, 1981);[27] theScott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction (Jip, His Story, 1996).[8] Twenty years after its publication,Of Nightingales That Weep won the 1994Phoenix Award as the best children's book that did not win a major contemporary award.[28]
Bridge to Terabithia has been adapted into film twice, the1985 PBS version and the2007 Walden Media production version. One of the producers and screenwriters for the later version was Paterson's sonDavid L. Paterson, whose name appears on the dedication page of the novel.
Paterson's 1980 novel,Jacob Have I Loved, was adapted into a 1989made-for-television film by thePublic Broadcasting Service as part of their children's anthology seriesWonderWorks .
Her short story "Poor Little Innocent Lamb" was adapted into the 2002 television filmMiss Lettie and Me.[30]
Another of her novels,The Great Gilly Hopkins, was adapted into afilm, written by David L. Paterson, in 2015. Her fantasy-novel releaseThe Flint Heart has been optioned by Bedrock Films.[31]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Library of Congress. January 10, 2010. Archived 2011-10-25. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
