Kevin Crossley-Holland author page

Kevin Crossley-Holland biography

Kevin Crossley-Holland is an English author and poet, known for his works in children’s literature and retellings of myths and legends. He studied at Oxford University and began his literary career as a poet, publishing his first collection, The Rain-Giver, in 1965.

Crossley-Holland is widely recognised for his retellings of traditional stories, including The Penguin Book of Norse Myths (1980) and British Folk Tales (1987). He has also translated and adapted medieval texts, such as Beowulf (1999).

His most acclaimed work is the Arthur trilogy, beginning with The Seeing Stone (2000), followed by At the Crossing-Places (2001) and King of the Middle March (2003). The Seeing Stone won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and the Tir na n-Og Award, and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children’s Book Award and the Carnegie Medal.

Crossley-Holland has written libretti for operas and collaborated with composers, including Nicola LeFanu. He has served as a Fellow of St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and as President of the School Library Association. In 2012, he received the Eleanor Farjeon Award for outstanding contribution to children’s books.

His later works include Bracelet of Bones (2011) and Storm (1985), the latter of which won the Carnegie Medal. Crossley-Holland’s writing has been translated into several languages and published internationally.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2001.