Jacqueline Wilson
Dame Jacqueline Wilson (née Aitken; born 17 December 1945) is an English novelist known for her popular children's literature. Her novels have been notable for featuring controversial themes such as adoption and divorce without alienating her large readership. Since her debut novel in 1969, Wilson has written over 100 books. Early life. Jacqueline Aitken was born in Bath, Somerset, on 17 December 1945. Her father, Harry, was a civil servant and her mother, Biddy, was an antiques dealer. She particularly enjoyed books by Noel Streatfeild, as well as American classics like "Little Women" and "What Katy Did . At the age of nine, she wrote her first book", "Meet the Maggots", which was 21 pages long. Wilson was given the nickname Jacky Daydream at school, which she later used as the title of her autobiography, which tells of her life as a primary school-aged child. Wilson attended Coombe Girls' School in Surrey and Carshalton Technical College. After leaving school at age 16, she began training as a secretary but then applied to work with the Dundee-based publishing company DC Thomson on a new girls' magazine, "Jackie". Career. When Wilson began to focus on writing, she completed  several crime fiction novels before dedicating herself to children's books. At the age of 40, she took A-level English and earned a grade A. She had mixed success with about 40 books before the breakthrough to fame in 1991 with "The Story of Tracy Beaker", published by Doubleday. As her children's novels frequently feature themes of adoption, divorce and mental illness, they tend to attract controversy, yet are well loved by children and adults alike. University of Roehampton and charity work. In June 2013, Wilson was appointed a professorial fellow of the University of Roehampton, and a  Pro-Chancellor. In February 2014, it was announced that she would be appointed Chancellor of the university (its honorary figurehead) from August 2014. She was reappointed in 2017 for a further three years. She teaches modules in both the Children's Literature and Creative Writing master's degree (MA) programmes offered by the university. She concluded her term as Chancellor in August 2020. Wilson is patron of the charity Momentum in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, which helps Surrey children undergoing treatment for cancer (and their families), and she is also patron of The Friends of Richmond Park. Wilson is also  a patron of the Letterbox Club, a BookTrust initiative. Reception. In The Big Read, a 2003 poll conducted by the BBC, four of Wilson's books were ranked among the 100 most popular books in the UK: "Double Act", "Girls In Love", "Vicky Angel", and "The Story of Tracy Beaker". Fourteen books by Wilson ranked in the top 200. In 2002, she replaced Catherine Cookson as the most borrowed author in Britain's libraries, a position she retained until being overtaken by James Patterson in 2008. Accolades. For her work, Wilson has won many awards including the Smarties Prize and  the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. "The Illustrated Mum" (1999) won the annual Guardian Prize, a book award judged by a panel of British children's writers, and the annual British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year; it also made the 1999 Whitbread Awards shortlist. "The Story of Tracy Beaker" won the 2002 Blue Peter People's Choice Award, and "Girls in Tears" was the Children's Book of the Year at the 2003 British Book Awards. Two of her books were "Highly Commended" runners-up for the annual Carnegie Medal: "The Story of Tracy Beaker" (1991) and  Double Act (1995). In June 2002, Wilson was appointed an OBE for services to literacy in schools and from 2005 to 2007 she served as the fourth Children's Laureate. In that role, Wilson urged parents and carers to continue reading aloud to children long after they are able to read for themselves. She also campaigned to make more books available for blind people and campaigned against cutbacks in children's television drama. In October 2005, she received an honorary degree from the University of Winchester in recognition of her achievements in and on behalf of children's literature. In  July 2007, the University of Roehampton awarded her an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Letters) in recognition of her achievements in and on behalf of children's literature. She has also received honorary degrees from the University of Dundee, the University of Bath and Kingston University. In the 2008 New Year Honours, Wilson was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). In July 2012, Dame Jacqueline was also elected an honorary fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 2017, Wilson received the Special Award at the BAFTA Children's Awards. For her lifetime contribution as a children 's writer, Wilson was a UK nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2014. A lecture hall at Kingston University's Penrhyn Road campus has been named after her. Adaptations. A dramatisation of Wilson's "Double Act", written and directed by Vicky Ireland, was first performed at The Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, London from 30 January to 12 April 2003, and toured throughout the UK. The playscript was published by Collins Plays Plus. Ireland has also written dramatisations of "The Lottie Project" (performed at Polka Theatre and San Pol Theatre, Madrid), "Midnight", "Bad Girls" and "Secrets", which were  also commissioned by the Polka Theatre, and a dramatisation of "The Suitcase Kid" which was performed at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond and later toured throughout the UK. The scripts for these plays were published by Nick Hern Books. The following books by Wilson have been adapted for television: Personal life. In her teens, Jacqueline Aitken began a relationship with partner Millar Wilson, whom she married in 1965 when she was 19. Two years later, they had a daughter named Emma. Her husband later left her for another woman. They divorced in 2004. In April 2020, Wilson announced she was  in a same-sex relationship. She revealed that she had been living with her partner, Trish, for 18 years. Wilson's health issues have included heart failure, having an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, previously needing renal dialysis and now being the recipient of a kidney transplant.