Mary Hoffman

Mary Lassiter Hoffman (born 1945) is a British writer and critic. She has had over 90 books published whose audiences range from children to adults. One of her best known works is the children's book Amazing Grace, which was a New York Times best-seller at 1.5 million copies and a finalist for the 1991 Kate Greenaway Medal.^[1] From 2002 to 2012, she wrote the teen fiction series Stravaganza.

Born in Hampshire, England in 1945, Mary Hoffman was the youngest of three daughters. From a young age, she enjoyed going underground to visit the office of her father who worked for the railway.^[2] Hoffman won a scholarship to James Allen's Girls' School in Dulwich. From there she went to the University of Cambridge to study English at Newnham College and then spent two years studying Linguistics at University College London.

In 1998, she was made an Honorary Fellow of the Library Association for her work with children and schools.^[3] She worked at the Open University for nearly five years, contributing to courses for teachers on reading, language and children's literature. For eighteen years she was Reading Consultant to BBC Schools TV's Look and Read series and wrote the teaching scripts. She has been a freelance, self-employed professional writer and journalist since the mid-90s. She has argued for the role of British Children's Laureate to encompass active lobbying against cutbacks to libraries and was a nominee for the 2011–2013 post.^[4][5]

Hoffman lives with her husband Stephen Barber, whom she married in 1972. She moved from London to West Oxfordshire in 2001. They have three daughters, including the writer Rhiannon Lassiter.^[6] Hoffman frequently works in Italy and speaks Italian. She has also lectured in Latin and Anglo-Saxon.^[7] Hoffman is a contributing blogger to Book Maven and The History Girls. In 2016, Hoffman and Barber founded The Greystones Press, an independent book publishing company.^[8]

El primer libro de Mary Hoffman fue White Magic en 1975. Por sugerencia de Richard Adams , lo publicó Rex Collings después de que varias otras editoriales lo rechazaran. ^{[ 7 ]} Hoffman ha escrito 24 libros ilustrados, incluyendo la serie Amazing Grace . Cuando se publicó, recibió un premio de Waldenbooks . ^{[ 7 ]} Amazing Grace fue adaptado al teatro por Shay Youngblood y clasificado como uno de los 50 mejores libros infantiles culturalmente diversos por Seven Stories . ^{[ 9 ]} La edición de aniversario de 2015 incluye un epílogo de LeVar Burton . La ilustradora, Caroline Binch , contrató a miembros de una familia en Gambia como modelos para Grace y otros personajes. Hoffman ha descrito el viaje para visitarlos como su primer viaje a África. ^{[ 9 ]}

Hoffman comenzó a centrarse más en la ficción juvenil en los años posteriores, haciéndose conocido por la serie Stravaganza y la novela histórica El nudo del halconero , que ganó el premio francés Prix Polar Jeunesse y fue finalista del premio The Guardian Children's Book Award y del North East Teenage Book Award. ^{[ 10 ]}

Hoffman ha escrito varias reinterpretaciones de mitos, leyendas, cuentos de hadas, historias infantiles e historias bíblicas. Entre ellas se encuentra Women of Camelot , que narra las historias del rey Arturo desde la perspectiva de los personajes femeninos. También ha editado colecciones de relatos, como Lines in the Sand (2003), una respuesta a la invasión aliada de Irak, cuyos fondos recaudados se donaron a UNICEF en Irak. Fue nominada al Premio Conmemorativo Astrid Lindgren en 2011. ^{[ 9 ]} Sus obras para adultos se publican bajo diversos seudónimos, como Amy Lovell, Suzy Cavendish y Mary Lassiter. ^{[ 11 ]}

• Sitio web oficial
• La prensa de Greystones
• Mary Hoffman en la base de datos de ficción especulativa de Internet
• Mary Hoffman en la Biblioteca del Congreso , con 73 registros de catálogo de biblioteca.
• Mary Lassiter en LC Authoritys, con 1 registro