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HarperCollins has paid tribute to Diana Wynne Jones who passed away this weekend following a long illness.
Victoria Barnsley, HarperCollins publisher and c.e.o., said: “Diana was one of our truly wonderful and much cherished children’s authors. Her rich imagination inspired many thousands of children. She will be greatly missed by all of us. Our thoughts are with her family.”
Diana Wynne Jones was born in August 1934 in London, where she had an unsettled childhood against the background of the Second World War. The family moved around frequently, finally settling in rural Essex. As children, Diana and her two sisters were deprived of a good, steady supply of books so Diana decided to write them herself.
She was dyslexic but went on to study at St Anne’s College, Oxford where she attended lectures by C S Lewis and J R R Tolkien. Diana’s first children’s book, Wilkin’s Tooth, was published in 1973 and since then she has written more than 40 books including Howl’s Moving Castle, The Chrestomanci series and the Tough Guide to Fantasy Land.
Wynne Jones was recognised internationally as a major writer of fantasy and in 2007 she received a Life Achievement Award at the World Fantasy Association. She also won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award (twice) and the Guardian Award. Her books have been translated into more than 20 languages and have sold more than a million copies in the UK and 10m copies worldwide.