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Diana Wynne Jones Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

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Diana Wynne Jones

Diana Wynne Jones

Diana Wynne Jones Biography

In a career spanning four decades, award-winning author Diana Wynne Jones (1934–2011) wrote more than forty books of fantasy for young readers. Characterized by magic, multiple universes, witches, and wizards—and a charismatic nine-lived enchanter—her books are filled with unlimited imagination, dazzling plots, and an effervescent sense of humor that earned her legendary status in the world of fantasy. Her books, published to international acclaim, have earned a wide array of honors, including two Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Honors and the British Fantasy Society's Karl Edward Wagner Award for having made a significant impact on fantasy. Acclaimed director and animator Hayao Miyazaki adapted Howl's Moving Castle into a major motion picture, which was nominated for an Academy Award.

Diana Wynne Jones's website

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Interview

Diana Wynne Jones discusses her childhood, during which she was deprived of almost all books by her father - which caused her to start writing her own - despite the ridicule of her parents and her own battles with dyslexia.

When did you decide to be a writer?
I decided to be a writer at the age of eight, but I did not receive any encouragement in this ambition until thirty years later. I think this ambition was fired - or perhaps exacerbated is a better word - by early marginal contacts with the Great, when we were evacuated to the English Lakes during the war. The house we were in had belonged to Ruskin's secretary and had also been the home of the children in the books of Arthur Ransome. One day, finding I had no paper to draw on, I stole from the attic a stack of exquisite flower-drawings, almost certainly by Ruskin himself, and proceeded to rub them out. I was punished for this.

Soon after, we children offended Arthur Ransome by making a noise on the shore beside his houseboat. He complained. So likewise did Beatrix Potter, who lived nearby. It struck me then that the Great were remarkably touchy and unpleasant (even if, in Ruskin's case, it was posthumous), and I thought I would like to be the same, without the unpleasantness.

When did you start writing?
I started writing children's books when we moved to a village in Essex where there were almost no books. The main activities there were hand-weaving, hand-making ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Diana Wynne Jones at BookBrowse
Howl's Moving Castle jacket The Merlin Conspiracy jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Diana Wynne Jones but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Kate  J.  Armstrong

    Kate J. Armstrong

    Kate J. Armstrong has always had a fondness for adventure. After graduating college, she left her home state of Virginia and has never really looked back. She's explored many places and vocations, working as a high school ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Howl's Moving Castle

    Try:
    Nightbirds
    by Kate J. Armstrong

  • Susanna Clarke

    Susanna Clarke

    Susanna Clarke's debut novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was first published in more than 34 countries and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guardian First ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Howl's Moving Castle

    Try:
    Piranesi
    by Susanna Clarke

We recommend 9 similar authors

View all 9 Read-Alikes

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  • Book Jacket
    The Tapestry of Time
    by Kate Heartfield
    Love, war, and the supernatural collide in this dazzling historical fantasy by international bestselling author Kate Heartfield.

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    A great detective's young assistant yearns for glory, but first they have learn to get along in this delightful feel good mystery.

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