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Philip Ardagh

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Philip Ardagh
OccupationWriter
NationalityUK
GenreChildren's literature
Notable worksEddie Dickens series of books
Website
http://www.philipardagh.com/

Philip Ardagh (born 11 September 1961, London) is an English children's author, primarily known for the Eddie Dickens series of books. He has written more than 70 books including adult fiction and children's non-fiction.

In 2004 to 2005, he collaborated with rock legend Sir Paul McCartney and illustrator-animator Geoff Dunbar to create Sir Paul's first children's book 'High In the Clouds'. Published simultaneously in the UK and US and other countries around the world in October 2005, there was an initial print run of half-a-million copies in the United States.

Early life and career

Philip Ardagh was born in 1961, in Kent, England, where he grew up with one brother. Ardagh was educated privately at five different schools including The King's School. He did not apply to go to university but got a place on what was then Britain's only advertising copywriting course at Watford College of Art.

He was christened at St Paul's Cathedral in London by the Canon Residentiary, Chancellor and Chapter Treasurer, Frederick Hood, who co-wrote, with poet laureate John Betjeman, the introduction to the book Folly Farm by philosopher Cyril Joad.[citation needed]

After a placement at the London advertising agency, Darcy McManus & Masius, he found full-time employment at the McCann-Erickson advertising agency, located beneath what is now known as BT Tower. There he first met children's author Anthony Horowitz, who joined the agency just as he was leaving. He later became a library assistant for the London Borough of Lewisham Leisure Services (Downham Library).

Books

Eddie Dickens

After years of working seven days a week writing non-fiction titles and retelling myths and legends (often for 'fixed-fee' non-royalty payments), Philip Ardagh became an overnight success with Awful End (published in 2000), originally written as letters sent to his nephew Ben.

Ardagh has achieved both critical and popular acclaim for his work. Set in Victorian England, his Eddie Dickens books have been described as "A cross between Dickens and Monty Python" (The Guardian) and he himself as "a national treasure" (The Independent). [citation needed]

Popular in Germany, he has won both the Luchs (Lynx) Prize and the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis. Although some American critics accused Ardagh of ‘jumping on the Lemony Snicket bandwagon’, Ardagh wrote the book as letters to his nephew Ben long before the first Snicket book was published. Ardagh once described the Snicket books as being more an homage to Edgar Allan Poe, while his own Eddie Dickens books were an homage to Charles Dickens. Although his book's title The Rise of the House of McNally is derived from Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. [citation needed]

The movie rights to the Eddie Dickens books were optioned by Circle of Confusion's Jason Lust for Warner Bros, with director Francis Lawrence slated in to direct.[citation needed] The option was renewed and Lawrence was replaced by young Canadian director Brad Peyton. Lust has since become a key player in Henson's movie division, but remained a producer on the Eddie Dickens project until Warner Brothers' second option ran out at the end of 2006. A number of producers are currently interested in developing the project. [citation needed]

As well as writing novels, Ardagh also writes for BBC radio. His children’s dramas have included BBC radio’s first truly interactive radio drama, the nightly 'Arthur Storey and the Department of Historical Correction' (in which he also appeared as the announcer), and (for BBC Radio 4’s GO4IT!) the six-week radio serial 'Secret Undercover Vets On Ice' he played himself and also 'pigeon on a ledge'. His adult work has included stories for BBC Radio 3, Radio 4 and Radio 7. [citation needed]

Ardagh has appeared as an uncredited extra (background artist) in If Money Be the Food Of Love, Play On, an episode of the cult British TV series Minder, first broadcast in 1984. [citation needed]

Philip Ardagh is of Irish extraction.[citation needed] He is married and has one son.

Unlikely Exploits

Ardagh embarked on Unlikely Exploits, a three-book series about the fall and rise of the downtrodden McNally family. In the first paragraph of the first chapter of the first book, The Fall of Fergal, young Fergal McNally falls to his death from a hotel window. It was serialized BBC Radio 4.

The second book, Heir of Mystery, saw the introduction of Mr Maggs, a man with a head the shape of a pumpkin and with a shark's-tooth smile. Mr Maggs's Manifesto of Change is an example of Ardagh’s quirky trademark style, with such suggested changes as moving the letter Q further down the alphabet, nearer to X, Y and Z, “where it rightfully belongs” and banning the word "cruet" as the collective term for salt and pepper.

The third and final Unlikely Exploit is The Rise of the House of McNally. The McNallys’ powers are finally revealed and the three books are tied together.

Unlikely Exploits was illustrated by David Roberts, who also illustrated the Eddie Dickens series.

Grubtown Tales

Just before the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2008, it was announced that Ardagh had signed a deal with his publisher Faber & Faber to write three Grubtown Tales: books for young children set in the fictitious (and rather grubby) town of Grubtown. All three were set to be published in 2009. [citation needed]

Other

Ardagh has written two humorous books for adults: The Not-So-Very-Nice Goings-On At Victoria Lodge: Without Illustrations By The Author and The Silly Side of Sherlock Holmes: A Brand New Adventure Using A Bunch of Old Pictures. [citation needed]

The first uses pictures taken from the 19th-century Girls' Own Paper and the second uses illustrations of the original Sherlock Holmes stories taken from The Strand Magazine. A third, The Scandalous Life of the Lawless Sisters: Criminally Illustrated With What Was To Hand uses pictures from Punch from the year 1880 and is due for publication in late 2008. He is also a regular reviewer of children's books for The Guardian and has been a judge for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. [citation needed]

List of books

Children's Fiction:

  • Awful End (US: A House Called Awful End) [The Eddie Dickens Trilogy] (2000)
  • Dreadful Acts [The Eddie Dickens Trilogy] (2001)
  • Terrible Times [The Eddie Dickens Trilogy] (2002)
  • Dubious Deeds [The Further Adventures of Eddie Dickens]
  • Horrendous Habits [The Further Adventures of Eddie Dickens]
  • Final Curtain [The Further Adventures of Eddie Dickens]
  • The Fall of Fergal [Unlikely Exploits]
  • Heir of Mystery [Unlikely Exploits]
  • The Rise of the House of McNally [Unlikely Exploits]
  • Stinking Rich and Just Plain Stinky [Grubtown Tales]
  • The Far From Great Escape [Grubtown Tales]
  • The Year That It Rained Cows [Grubtown Tales]
  • High In the Clouds (with Sir Paul McCartney & Geoff Dunbar)

Adult Fiction:

  • The Not-So-Very-Nice Goings-On At Victoria Lodge, Without Illustrations by the Author
  • The Silly Side of Sherlock Holmes, A Brand New Adventure Using A Bunch of Old Pictures

Non-fiction:

  • The Hieroglyphs Handbook, Teach Yourself Ancient Egyptian
  • The Archaeologist's Handbook, An Insider's Guide to Digging Up The Past
  • WOW! Ideas that Changed the World
  • WOW! Events that Changed the World
  • WOW! Inventions that Changed the World
  • WOW! Discoveries that Changed the World
  • The Truth About Christmas
  • The Truth About Love
  • The Truth About Fairies
  • Why Are Castles Castle-Shaped?
  • Did Dinosaurs Snore?
  • The History Detectives series (with Colin King)
  • The Get A Life series
  • Philip Ardagh's book of absolutely useless lists for absolutely every day of the year

Awards

  • Luchs (Lynx) Prize (Awarded by Die Zeit newspaper in Germany)
  • Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German youth literature prize)
  • Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2009 (category seven-to-14 years)[1]

References

  • Hahn, Daniel (15 November 2009). "King of tall tales: Why children's author Philip Ardagh's is literature's biggest joker". Retrieved 15 November 2009.
  1. ^ Adams, Stephen (10 November 2009). "Veteran author wins Roald Dahl Funny Prize". Telegraph. Retrieved 15 November 2009.
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