Ursula Dubosarsky

photo by Gordon Flynn

Ursula Dubosarsky (born Ursula Coleman, Sydney, 1961) is an Australian writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults, whose work is characterised by a child's vision and voice of both clarity and ambiguity.^[1] She has won nine national literary prizes, including five New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, more than any other writer in the Awards' 30-year history.^[2]

She is the author of illustrated books and novels, and also three works of non-fiction about the English language, grammar and etymology for children, featuring a character known as "The Word Spy".^[3] These "Word Spy" books, illustrated by Tohby Riddle, have won the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, the Children's Book Council of Australia Junior Judges' Award and Book of the Year Award.^[4] In the United States and Canada "The Word Spy" is published under the title "The Word Snoop."^[5]

Her novel "The Red Shoe" is included in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up and is one of 200 significant works of Australian literature in the Copyright Agency's Reading Australia program.^[6]

Three of her books have been adapted for theatre - "The Red Shoe",^[7] "The Terrible Plop"^[8] and "Too Many Elephants In This House".^[9]

In 2014, the annual Christmas Windows of the department store David Jones were based on her story "Reindeer's Christmas Surprise."^[10][11]

She is the third child of Peter Coleman and Verna Susannah Coleman. Her name was suggested by the character of Ursula Brangwen in the 1915 novel The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence. She attended SCEGGS Darlinghurst and Sydney University and later Macquarie University. She is a Honorary Associate in the Department of English at Macquarie University^[12] and has taught courses in children's literature at Sydney University and the University of Technology, Sydney.^[13]

Awards

International

Hans Christian Andersen Award Nominee 2015^[14]

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominee 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017^[15]

Luchs (Lynx ) Award for Children's Literature July 2012 for The Golden Day (in German Nicht Jetz, niemals)^[16]

International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY^[17]) Honour Book List 2014 for The Golden Day

YALSA (Division of the American Library Association) Excellence in Non-fiction for Young Adults Nominee 2010 for Word Snoop^[18]

White Ravens International Catalogue 2007 for The Red Shoe^[19] and 1996 for The First Book of Samuel^[20]

Australian

• 2013 – Inducted into Speech Pathology Australia's Hall of Fame for her contribution to children's literature^[21]
• 2011 – Children's Book of the Year Award for The Return of the Word Spy with illustrator Tohby Riddle^[22]
• 2009 – New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, Patricia Wrightson Prize for Young People's Literature for The Word Spy with illustrator Tohby Riddle^[23]
• 2009 – Junior Judges Project, Children's Book Council of Australia, Winner for The Word Spy with illustrator Tohby Riddle
• 2009 – KOALA Kids Own Australian Literature Award, Picture Book Winner for Rex with illustrator David Mackintosh^[24]
• 2007 – New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature for The Red Shoe^[25]
• 2006 – Queensland Premier's Literary Award, Young Adult Book Award for The Red Shoe^[26]
• 2006 – New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature for Theodora's Gift^[27]
• 2006 – Victorian Premier's Literary Award, Prize for Young Adult Literature for Theodora's Gift^[28]
• 2001 – Adelaide Festival Literary Award, Award for Children's Literature for Abyssinia^[29]
• 1995 – New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, Ethnic Affairs Commission Award for The First Book of Samuel^[30]
• 1994 – New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, Ethel Turner Prize for Children's literature for The White Guinea Pig^[31]
• 1994 – Victorian Premier's Literary Award, Alan Garner Prize for Children's Literature for The White Guinea Pig^[32]

Theatrical productions

• Too Many Elephants In This House was staged by the NIDA, the National Institute of Dramatic Art.^[33]
• The Red Shoe was staged by the Jigsaw Theatre.^[34]
• Plop!,^[35] a musical version of The Terrible Plop was staged by the Windmill Theatre in Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra, Sydney, regional Victoria, Queensland and Darwin. Plop! had season in the United States in 2012, including three weeks at the New Victory Theater in New York.^[36]

Bibliography

• Maisie and the pinny gig (1989) illustrated by Roberta Landers
• High Hopes (1990)
• Zizzy Zing (1991)
• The Last Week in December (1993)
• The White Guinea-Pig (1994)
• The First Book of Samuel (1995)
• Bruno and Crumhorn (1996)
• Black Sails, White Sails (1997)
• The Strange Adventures of Isador Brown (1998) illustrated by Paty Marshall-Stace
• My Father Is Not a Comedian! (1999)
• Honey and Bear (1999) illustrated by Ron Brooks
• The Even Stranger Adventures of Isador Brown (2000) illustrated by Paty Marshall-Stace
• The Game of the Goose (2000) illustrated by John Winch
• The Two Gorillas (2000) illustrated by Mitch Vane
• Fairy Bread (2001) illustrated by Mitch Vane
• Abyssinia (2001)
• The Magic Wand (2002) illustrated by Mitch Vane
• Special Days with Honey and Bear (2002) illustrated by Ron Brooks
• Isador Brown's Strangest Adventures of All (2003) illustrated by Mitch Vane
• How To Be A Great Detective (2004)
• Rex (2005) illustrated by David Mackintosh
• Theodora's Gift (2005)
• The Puppet Show (2006) illustrated by Mitch Vane
• The Red Shoe (2006)
• The Word Spy (2008) illustrated by Tohby Riddle Published in the United States as The Word Snoop (2009)
• Jerry (2008) illustrated by Patricia Mullins
• Tibby's Leaf (2009) illustrated by Peter Bray
• The Terrible Plop (2009) illustrated by Andrew Joyner
• The Cubby House (2009) illustrated by Mitch Vane
• The Deep End (2010) illustrated by Mitch Vane
• The Return of the Word Spy (2010) illustrated by Tohby Riddle
• The Honey and Bear Stories (2010) illustrated by Ron Brooks
• Free: stories about Human Rights (2010) (contributor) Amnesty International/Walker Books UK
• The Golden Day (2011)
• The Carousel (2011) illustrated by Walter di Qual
• The Word Spy Activity Book (2012) illustrated by Tohby Riddle
• Too Many Elephants in This House (2012) illustrated by Andrew Joyner
• The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta:The Perplexing Pineapple (2013) illustrated by Terry Denton
• The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta:The Looming Lamplight (2013) illustrated by Terry Denton
• The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta:The Missing Mongoose (2013) illustrated by Terry Denton
• Violet Vanishes (2013) illustrated by Annie White
• Rory Rides (2013) illustrated by Annie White
• Ethan Eats (2013) illustrated by Annie White
• Ava Adds (2013) illustrated by Annie White
• Introduction to Lillypilly Hill (2013) Eleanor Spence Text Classics
• The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta:The Dismal Daffodil (2014) illustrated by Terry Denton
• The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta:The Quivering Quavers (2014) illustrated by Terry Denton
• The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta:The Talkative Tombstone(2014) illustrated by Terry Denton
• Two Tales of Twins from Ancient Greece and Rome (2014) illustrated by David Allan
• The Great War: stories inspired by objects from the First World War (2014) (contributor) Walker Books UK
• Tim and Ed (2014)^[37] illustrated by Andrew Joyner
• Reindeer's Christmas Surprise (2014) illustrated by Sue de Gennaro

Critical studies, reviews and biography

• Bond, Gwenda (Dec 2013). "Locus Looks at Books : Divers Hands". Locus (635): 22–23.  Review of The golden day.

References

• "The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English" (2001) edited by Victor Watson
• "The Oxford Companion to Australian Children's Literature" (1993) edited by Stella Lees and Pam Macintyre
• "1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up" (2009) edited by Julia Eccleshore Cassell Illustrated, London.

External links

• Official website
• Profile at publisher Penguin Books Australia
• "The Golden Day"
• Ursula Dubosarsky at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Ursula Dubosarsky at Library of Congress Authorities, with 18 catalogue records