KATE THOMPSON
Agent: Sophie Hicks
Kate was born in Yorkshire and after school she worked with racehorses for several years, then spent time in India, studying and volunteering. Kate settled in Ireland in the 1980s where she brought up her family. Her first publication, There is Something, was a collection of poetry, but she soon turned to writing speculative fiction for children and adults. Her book The New Policeman, published in 2005, won multiple awards, including the Whitbread (Costa) Children's Book Award and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. The book is set in modern Kinvara, where she now lives.
Her other awards include the Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year Award four times, for The Beguilers, The Alchemist's Apprentice, Annan Water and The New Policeman. Kate has also been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for her book Creature of the Night, which was also shortlisted for the 2008 Booktrust Teenage Prize. Alongside her literary interests, Kate is a keen rider and fiddler-player.