Jacqueline Wilson


Dame Jacqueline Wilson is an English novelist known for her popular children's literature. As her children's novels frequently feature themes of adoption, divorce and mental illness, they tend to attract controversy, yet are well loved by children and adults alike. Four of her books appear in the BBC's The Big Read poll of the 100 most popular books in the UK, and for her lifetime contribution as a children's writer, Wilson was a UK nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2014. In 2010, it was revealed that Wilson is the most borrowed author in libraries across the UK.
Wilson is the author of many book series. Her Tracy Beaker series, inaugurated in 1991 with The Story of Tracy Beaker, includes three sequels and has been adapted into four CBBC television series: The Story of Tracy Beaker, Tracy Beaker Returns, The Dumping Ground, and The Tracy Beaker Survival Files''. Since her debut novel in 1969, Wilson has written over 100 books.

Early life

Jacqueline Aitken was born in Bath, Somerset, on 17 December 1945. Her father, Harry, was a civil servant; while her mother, Biddy, was a house maid She particularly enjoyed books by Noel Streatfeild, as well as American classics like Little Women and What Katy Did. At the age of nine, she wrote her first "book", "Meet the Maggots", which was 21 pages long. Wilson was given the nickname Jacky Daydream at school, which she later used as the title of her autobiography, which tells of her life as a primary school-aged child.
After leaving school at age 16, she began training as a secretary but then applied to work with the Dundee-based publishing company DC Thomson on a new girls' magazine, Jackie.

Career

When Wilson began to focus on writing, she completed several crime fiction novels before dedicating herself to children's books. At the age of 40, she took A-level English and earned a grade A. She had mixed success with about 40 books before the breakthrough to fame in 1991 with The Story of Tracy Beaker, published by Doubleday.

University of Roehampton and charity work

In June 2013, Wilson was appointed a professorial fellow of the University of Roehampton, and a Pro-Chancellor. In February 2014, it was announced that she would be appointed Chancellor of the university from August 2014. She was reappointed in 2017 for a further three years. She teaches modules in both the Children's Literature and Creative Writing master's degree programmes offered by the university.
Wilson is patron of the charity Momentum in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, which helps Surrey children undergoing treatment for cancer, and she is also patron of The Friends of Richmond Park. Wilson is also a patron of the Letterbox Club, a BookTrust initiative.

Reception

In The Big Read, a 2003 poll conducted by the BBC, four of Wilson's books were ranked among the 100 most popular books in the UK: Double Act, Girls In Love, Vicky Angel, and The Story of Tracy Beaker. Fourteen books by Wilson ranked in the top 200. In 2002, she replaced Catherine Cookson as the most borrowed author in Britain's libraries, a position she retained until being overtaken by James Patterson in 2008.

Accolades

For her work, Wilson has won many awards including the Smarties Prize and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. The Illustrated Mum won the annual Guardian Prize, a book award judged by a panel of British children's writers, and the annual British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year; it also made the 1999 Whitbread Awards shortlist. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People's Choice Award, and Girls in Tears was the Children's Book of the Year at the 2003 British Book Awards. Two of her books were "Highly Commended" runners-up for the annual Carnegie Medal: The Story of Tracy Beaker and Double Act.
In June 2002, Wilson was appointed an OBE for services to literacy in schools and from 2005 to 2007 she served as the fourth Children's Laureate. In that role, Wilson urged parents and carers to continue reading aloud to children long after they are able to read for themselves. She also campaigned to make more books available for blind people and campaigned against cutbacks in children's television drama.
In October 2005, she received an honorary degree from the University of Winchester in recognition of her achievements in and on behalf of children's literature. In July 2007, the University of Roehampton awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of her achievements in and on behalf of children's literature. She has also received honorary degrees from the University of Dundee, the University of Bath and Kingston University.
In the 2008 New Year Honours, Wilson was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In July 2012, Dame Jacqueline was also elected an honorary fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 2017, Wilson received the Special Award at the BAFTA Children's Awards.
A lecture hall at Kingston University's Penrhyn Road campus has been named after her.

Adaptations

A dramatisation of Wilson's Double Act, written and directed by Vicky Ireland, was first performed at The Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, London from 30 January to 12 April 2003, and toured throughout the UK. The playscript was published by Collins Plays Plus. Ireland has also written dramatisations of The Lottie Project, Midnight, Bad Girls and Secrets, which were also commissioned by the Polka Theatre, and a dramatisation of The Suitcase Kid which was performed at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond and later toured throughout the UK. The scripts for these plays were published by Nick Hern Books.
The following books by Wilson have been adapted for TV:
In her teens, Jacqueline Aitken began a relationship with printer Millar Wilson, who she married in 1965 when she was 19. Two years later, they had a daughter named Emma. They divorced in 2004.
In April 2020, Wilson publicly came out as gay. She revealed that she had been living with her female partner, Trish, for 18 years.

Biography