William Terence Deary
, b. 1946
Terry Deary is a bestselling British children’s author. He is also a professional actor and singer, and has written for the stage, television, radio and film. He was born in Sunderland, England, UK. His father was a butcher and he worked in the shop as a boy. He attended Monkwearmouth Grammar School, which he hated. In his mid-twenties, he worked as head of drama in a comprehensive school, an experience that shaped his way to engage with children: ‘I wrote my own curriculum – I was able to tell my students things that were relevant to them. I was able to explore their thoughts, their feelings and way of communicating, and I learnt a hell of a lot from them’ (Preston 2013). Now he is a prolific British author, also known as an actor and a writer of popular non-fiction and TV, theatre, radio, audio and new media scripts. Terry Deary is the creator of the hugely popular Horrible Histories book series, which includes Groovy Greeks and Rotten Romans. In 2009 CBBC Television launched a Horrible Histories TV series. A set of Horrible Histories theatre plays have also been created in collaboration with Birmingham Stage Company, and a film is planned. Terry Deary's other fiction incudes the The Fire Thief trilogy, a comedic retelling of the myth of Prometheus, and True Time Tales; both have been adapted and will be televised – True Time Tales as a children's animation created by Canada's Eggplant Media. His 2010 novel Put Out the Light (published by A&C Black) won the 2012 Sheffield Children’s Books Award. Deary has published over 300 books, spanning the genres of fiction and non-fiction and both child and adult audiences. His books have sold over 30 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 40 languages, and in 2012 he was listed as the tenth most borrowed author in British children’s libraries.
Terry Deary's Best Ever Greek Legends develops the concept in his Greek Legends (Twisted Tales series, 2004), and Best Greek Legends Ever (2009).
Sources:
Preston, Richard, “Horrible Histories: 20 years of entertaining children”, The Telegraph (February 21, 2013), available at telegraph.co.uk. (accessed: August 15, 2019).
Official website (accessed: August 15, 2019).
Sample of relevant interviews:
telegraph.co.uk (accessed: August 15, 2019)
theguardian.com (accessed: August 15, 2019)
timeoutdubai.com (accessed: August 15, 2019)
Bio prepared by Sonya Nevin, University of Roehampton, sonya.nevin@roehampton.ac.uk and Giacomo Savani, University College Dublin, giacomo.savani@gmail.com and Miriam Riverlea, University of New England, mriverlea@gmail.com
Records in database:
