Background

Catherine Fisher was born on October 28, 1957, in Newport, United Kingdom, and lives in an area of Wales called the Gwent Levels.

Education

Catherine Fisher attended Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic High School, Newport, and Gwent College of Higher Education, present University of Wales, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in English.

Career

Catherine Fisher is an author and teacher. Nevertheless, she worked as a primary school teacher, broadcaster, archeological digger, and lab technician. She is eager to share her experience, sometimes gives lectures, and also worked at the University of Glamorgan, currently the University of South Wales, Glamorgan, Wales, as an Instructor in writing for children.

Fisher is currently a full-time children's book author. Released to the United States readers as The Oracle Betrayed, Fisher's 2003 novel sets the pace for two other volumes in her "Oracle" trilogy, and also shows that her many other fantasy novels for teen readers are worth seeking out. Often featuring strong female protagonists, Fisher's stories are heavily influenced by Britain's past, for instance, her novel Corbenic retells the story of the Holy Grail as a modern-day teen named Cal is transported back to King Arthur's time while on his way to live with an uncle in Chepstow. In addition to writing fantasy novels, Fisher has also penned short fiction and has published several highly praised volumes of poetry.

Achievements

• Well known to middle-grade fantasy buffs in her native Great Britain, Welsh-born fiction writer and poet Catherine Fisher has become increasingly popular since novels such as her Whitbread Award-winning The Oracle have been published in the United States, Germany, Greece, and France. Besides a long list of published works of her, she is also a contributor to poetry anthologies, including Twentieth-Century Anglo-Welsh Poetry, Seren, The Forward Book of Poetry and others.

Works

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  • The Margrave

    (In this fourth and final volume of the Book of the Crow, ...)

    2001
  • Corbenic

    (Cal has struggled to cope with his mother's drinking and ...)

    2002
  • The Oracle

    (In the distant land of deserts and islands, the servants ...)

    2003
  • The Interrex

    (Having tapped into the Crow, the Order's legendary powerh...)

    2000
  • The Archon

    (The breathtaking sequel to The Oracle, the Archon must fa...)

    2004
  • The Speed of Darkness

    (The Speed of Darkness concludes the series which began wi...)

    2016
  • Incarceron

    (Incarceron - a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where...)

    2007
  • The Crystal Stair

    (Life in the Settlement is not as perfect as Caz and Will ...)

    2016
  • Sapphique

    (Finn has escaped from the terrible living Prison of Incar...)

    2008
  • The Lammas Field

    (Each year the Lammas Fair draws musicians and story-telle...)

    1999
  • Crown of Acorns

    (In an absorbing mystery thriller, a teenage girl with a p...)

    2010
  • Cat with Iron Claws

    (An interpretation of a medieval Welsh tale by Catherine F...)

    2012
  • The Ghost Box

    (Sarah finds herself responsible for freeing the soul of a...)

    2011
  • The Magic Thief

    (The story of Taliesin, the bard, the shapeshifter and sor...)

    2010
  • Darkhenge

    (Rob's sister Chloe lies in a coma after a riding accident...)

    2006
  • The Door in the Moon

    (It's Midsummer Night, it's hot, and everyone in Wintercom...)

    2015
  • The Obsidian Mirror

    (Jake's father disappears while working on mysterious expe...)

    2012
  • Flain's Coronet

    (Galen has spent the winter in Sarres, building a power-ba...)

    2001
  • Darkwater Hall

    (It is 1900, and Sarah Trevelyan, a pupil-teacher, is desp...)

    2000
  • The Relic Master

    (Raffi is apprenticed to the Relic Master, Galen, whose ta...)

    1999
  • The Box of Red Brocade

    (On a mission to recover his father lost in time, Jake fin...)

    2013
  • At the World's End

    (Dramatic dystopian adventure from the bestselling Incarce...)

    2015
  • The Clockwork Crow

    (A magical story of snow and stars by Catherine Fisher. Th...)

    2018
  • The Glass Tower

    (The Conjuror's Game should never have been started. Now L...)

    2004
  • The Scarab

    (The final story in the Oracle sequence. We are again in t...)

    2005
  • Weather Dress

    (A fantasy story about a special dress. The rainbow-colore...)

    2006
  • Belin's Hill

    (Huw is supposed to be the lucky one. He survived. But whe...)

    2005
  • Hare and Other Stories 2006
  • The Snow-Walker Trilogy 2003

Views

Quotations: "Read a lot of the sort of book you want to write. Then read behind those books, from the older layers of story they come from. Write what you want to write. Don't be put off by uninformed comment, but if someone knows what they're talking about and gives you advice, listen to them. Believe in yourself. We can all do a lot more than we know."

Membership

• 

  Catherine Fisher is a Fellow of the Welsh Academy.

  Welsh Academy , United Kingdom

Personality

Fisher lives in Wales, sharing a home with cats Jess and Tam. When not writing, she spends a great deal of time reading and has also taught the craft of writing for children. Although Catherine enjoys futuristic writing, she does not mix technology with her work as an author. Fisher does not own a computer and does her research the old-fashioned way - without the Internet.

Quotes from others about the person

• "A writer of rare talent." - Sunday Times
  
  "Catherine Fisher is an artist with words – a brilliant writer of fantasy." - Carousel
  
  "Catherine Fisher - one of today’s best fantasy writers." - The Independent

Interests

• Fencing, walking, exploring the ruined castles

• Writers

  Arthur Machen, John Keats, William Butler Yeats, David Jones, George Mackay Brown

References

• Contemporary Authors vol. 233