Melvin Burgess

Melvin Burgess (born 25 April 1954) is a British author of children's fiction. His first book, The Cry of the Wolf, was published in 1990. He gained a certain amount of notoriety in 1996 with the publication of Junk, which was published in the shadow of the film of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, and dealt with the trendy and controversial idea of heroin-addicted teenagers. Junk soon became, at least in Britain, one of the best-known young adult books of the decade.

Burgess again courted predictable controversy in 2003, with the publication of Doing It, which dealt with underage sex. America created a show based on the book, Life as We Know It. In his other books, such as Bloodtide and The Ghost Behind the Wall, Burgess has dealt with less realist and sometimes fantastic themes. In 2001 Burgess wrote the novelisation of the film Billy Elliot, based on Lee Hall's screenplay. Polyphony is a narrative technique used in many of his most famous novels.

Bibliography

• 1990 — The Cry of the Wolf — Andersen Press
• 1992 — An Angel for May – Andersen Press
• 1992 – Burning Issy – Andersen Press
• 1993 – The Baby and Fly Pie – Andersen Press
• 1995 – Loving April – Andersen Press
• 1995 – The Earth Giant – Andersen Press
• 1996 – Junk – Andersen Press
• 1996 – Tiger, Tiger – Andersen Press
• 1997 – Kite – Andersen Press
• 1998 – The Copper Treasure – A & C Black
• 1999 – Bloodtide – Andersen Press
• 1999 – Оld Bag – Barrington Stoke
• 1999 – Smack – Avon Books, Inc
• 2000 – The Birdman – Andersen Press
• 2000 – The Ghost Behind the Wall – Andersen Press
• 2001 – Billy Elliot (novelisation) – Chicken House
• 2001 – Lady: My Life as a Bitch – Andersen Press
• 2003 – Doing It – Andersen Press
• 2003 – Robbers on the Road – A & C Black
• 2005 – Bloodtide – Andersen Press
• 2006 – Sara's Face – Andersen Press
• 2007 – Bloodsong – Penguin
• 2009 – Nicholas Dane

Television work

• Autumn 2009 – The Well – BBC Switch/Lime Pictures

External links

• Burgess's homepage
• Melvin Burgess at Andersen Press
• Melvin Burgess at Contemporary Writers – includes bibliography
• Melvin Burgess at the Internet Book List
• Interview with Burgess about 'Doing It': click link in left hand column
• Whose Face Do You See? a short story by Melvin Burgess on Scottish Book Trust website

Persondata
Name	Burgess, Melvin
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Date of birth	25 April 1954
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