Alice Kuipers Explained

Alice Kuipers
Birth Date:29 June 1979
Birth Place:London, United Kingdom
Occupation:Novelist
Alma Mater:University of Manchester
Citizenship:United Kingdom, Canada
Period:2007–present
Genres:Young adult, children's
Notableworks:Life on the Refrigerator Door, 40 Things I Want To Tell You, The Worst Thing She Ever Did (Lost For Words in the U.S.), The Death of Us, Me (and) Me
Partner:Yann Martel (2002–present)
Children:4

Alice Kuipers (born 29 June 1979) is a British author living in Saskatchewan, Canada who is best known for her young adult novels. Life on the Refrigerator Door won the Grand Prix de Viarmes, the Livrentête Prize, the Redbridge Teenage Book Award in 2008 and the Saskatchewan First Book Award in 2007, was narrated as an audio book by Amanda Seyfried and Dana Delany, and has been adapted for theater in England, France and Japan. 40 Things I Want To Tell You won a Saskatchewan Book Award for Young Adult Literature in 2013. The Worst Thing She Ever Did (Lost For Words in the U.S.) won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book in 2011.

Early life

Kuipers was born the first of three children in London, England[1] [2] [3] and is of Dutch and English descent. She attended the Westminster School in London, before receiving a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Manchester University. She later graduated with Distinction with a Master of Arts degree in Writing from Manchester Metropolitan University.[1] Her mother is Head of the Department of Psychology at King's College in London, England and a Professor of Clinical Psychology. Her father works as an advisor to local and central government on criminal and civil justice systems, and was previously a Chair of Governors and troubleshooting at OFSTED.

At eighteen, Kuipers travelled alone for a year with an itinerary that included the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Cambodia, Australia, Vietnam and the U.S.,[2] which she has stated had a significant influence on her work. In an interview with Chatelaine magazine, Kuipers said, "I could spend my whole life exploring it [the world] and never come close to seeing everything there is to see... I learned not to worry too much if I took a wrong step. Something would come of whichever route I chose."[4]

Kuipers moved to Saskatchewan, Canada and settled there in 2003. She lives in Saskatoon, with her husband, the writer Yann Martel, and their four young children.[1] [2] [3] [4]

Career

Kuipers' debut young adult novel in 2007, Life on the Refrigerator Door,[1] sold in twenty-eight countries and was the winner of the Saskatchewan First Book Award,[5] the Sheffield Libraries Choice Award and the Grand Prix de Viarmes.[3] It was long-listed for the Carnegie Medal.[6] The audio version of the novel was narrated by Amanda Seyfried and Dana Delany in 2007.[7] It was adapted for theatre and staged in London, England in 2014 and in Paris, France in 2016.[8] [9] Life on the Refrigerator Door is told through a series of notes and post-its written from a mother to her fifteen-year-old daughter before and during a family crisis.

Kuipers' second young adult novel in 2010, The Worst Thing She Ever Did (Lost For Words in the U.S.), sold in 9 territories and won the Arthur Ellis Award, Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book 2011 and the OLA White Pine Official Selection 2011.[3] [10] [11] [12] This novel deals with confronting past tragedy and is set in London, England.[13]

40 Things I Want To Tell You was published in 2012 and rights were sold in Germany, Greece, Denmark and Croatia.[14] It won a Saskatchewan Book Award for Young Adult Literature in 2013[15] [16] and was a 2013 Young Adult Honour Book for the Canadian Library Association.[17] [18] Kuipers' third novel is about a teenage writer of an on-line advice column for teenagers, who is unable to follow her own good advice.

In 2014, three books by Kuipers were published. The Death of Us, a young adult novel, is a coming of age story about two young girls involved in a deadly car accident.[19] [20] As well, The Best Ever Bookworm Book, by Violet and Victor Small, a book for children illustrated by Bethanie Murguia,[21] and Lost and Curious Things, an interactive ebook, were published.[22]

In 2015, Kuipers' short story, Ten Minutes, "the raw, beautiful story of a young woman's journey towards self-awareness and wellness" was released.[23] Two more books by Kuipers were published in 2016: Violet and Victor Write the Most Fabulous Fairytale, again with illustrator Bethanie Murguia,[24] [25] as well as Secrets of the Badlands, an interactive ebook.[26] In 2017, Kuipers released another young adult novel, Me (and) Me, about a rising rock star, forced to make a terrible choice "and in that moment her world splits into two distinct lives".[27] [28]

Kuipers' non-fiction has been published in Easy Living Magazine, the Sunday Telegraph and the Bristol Review of Books.[2] [3] She has also written for the children's market.[3] [13]

Since 1999, Kuipers has led writing workshops in Hong Kong, the UK, Australia, Canada and the US, including a workshop in the Yukon in 2004.[2] [29] [30] She has been an invited lecturer and workshop leader at several festivals, including Montreal Blue Met Festival, Brisbane Festival of Literature, The Word on the Street Saskatoon, Wordfest Calgary, and The Vancouver Writers Fest, and was keynote presenter at the Saskatchewan Festival of Words in 2010.[6] [31]

In 2008, she won the Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor's Artists Award '30 Below' for young artists.[3] [32] In 2010, she spent a year as Saskatoon Public Library Writer in Residence,[3] [4] [33] working with community groups, individuals,[3] teaching workshops and visiting schools.[34]

Kuipers worked with software developer, Rich Lowenberg, to create the first Writing Tips App for iPhone, which went on to be the second bestselling app in the Educational Apps Listings in both the US and Canada in 2010.[4]

Published works

Awards

Theatrical adaptations

Life on the Refrigerator Door has been successfully adapted for stage in three languages. It was first adapted and directed by Amy Draper in 2014 at the Yard Theatre in Hackney Wick, London, England, starring Cassandra Bond and Angela Clerkin.[39] [40] [41] In March 2016, it was staged in Paris, France under the name Je T'ai Laisse Un Mot Sur Le Frigo at the Théâtre de Paris in the Salle Réjane. The play was adapted and directed by Marie-Pascale Osterrieth and starred Michèle Bernier and Charlotte Gaccio.[8] [9] [42] The building which houses the current Théâtre de Paris was first built in 1730, and later converted to the New Theater in 1891 where the works of playwrights such as Henrik Ibsen have been presented.[43]

The story was staged in Japan in June 2016 under the name Reizōko no Ue no Jinsei at the Sogetsu Hall Theater in Tokyo and at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture.[44] The adaptation was by Noriko Sanya and the play was directed by Shatama Sakae with music direction by Yasuhiro Kasamatsu.[45]

Influences

In various interviews and Q and A sessions, Kuipers has named Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Emily Brontë, Elizabeth Strout, Valerie Martin, Dr. Seuss, Mo Willems and Louisa May Alcott as having positively influenced her work.[3] In an interview with Novel Matters, Kuipers said the novel she "most loved is called The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse" and that she admired Tennessee Williams' ability to write dialogue.[3]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.panmacmillan.com/author/alicekuipers Panmacmillan website, Author Profile: Alice Kuipers
  2. http://www.harpercollins.com/author/microsite/About.aspx?authorid=32799 Harper Collins website, Author Profile: Alice Kuipers
  3. Grove, Bonnie (26 March 2012). Novel Matters, Interview with Alice Kuipers. Novel Matters. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  4. Black, Grant (27 May 2011). Alice Kuipers: "A Woman of Style and Substance". Chatelaine Magazine, Canada. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  5. http://www.bookawards.sk.ca/awards-by-year.php#div_year_2007 Saskatchewan First Book Award 2007
  6. http://www.thewordonthestreet.ca/wots/saskatoon/author/alice-kuipers The Word on the Street, Author Alice Kuipers
  7. https://www.amazon.com/Life-on-the-Refrigerator-Door/dp/B000VKCIWM Amazon
  8. http://www.theatredeparis.com/spectacle/frigo Schedule for the Théâtre de Paris, Paris France, 2016
  9. http://www.offi.fr/theatre/theatre-de-paris-3269/je-tai-laisse-un-mot-sur-le-frigo-60121.html L'Officiel des Spectacles, Paris France, 2016
  10. Medley, Mark (3 June 2011). Winners of Arthur Ellis Awards . National Post, Canada. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  11. [Arthur Ellis Awards#Best Juvenile or Young Adult Crime Book|Arthur Ellis Awards, Best Juvenile or Young Adult Crime Book 2011]
  12. http://crimewriterscanada.com/awards/arthur-ellis-awards/past-winners/665-winners-2011 Crime Writers Canada Awards, Arthur Eliis Awards, Past Winners 2011
  13. Bell, Meghan (Spring 2013). Interview with Alice Kuipers: On Style, Crime Writing, and the Expansion of Genre. Room Magazine, Canada. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  14. http://www.harpercollins.ca/books/40-Things-I-Want-to-Tell-You-Alice-Kuipers?isbn=9781443405874&HCHP=TB_40+Things+I+Want+to+Tell+You Harper Collins Canada page, 40 Things I Want To Tell You
  15. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/writers-honoured-at-saskatchewan-book-awards-1.1302360 Writers Honoured at Saskatchewan Book Awards
  16. http://www.bookawards.sk.ca/index.php Saskatchewan Book Awards Official website, 20th Anniversary Book Awards Winners
  17. http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=13937 Shortlist, Young Adult Book Awards
  18. http://canlitforlittlecanadiansawards.blogspot.ca/2013/04/2013-canadian-library-association-book.html%20 Canada Library Association, Canadian Literature for Little Canadians Awards 2013
  19. Doerksen, Karen (31 July 2014). Children's Book Review: The Death of Us. National Reading Campaign. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  20. Duggan, Charlotte (17 October 2014). Book Review: The Death of Us. The Manitoba Library Association. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  21. http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/alice-kuipers/violet-and-victor-write-the-best-ever-bookworm-book/9780316212007/ Hachette Book Group: The Best Ever Bookworm Book
  22. http://www.schools.fictionexpress.co.uk/attachments/31_104_attachment_L&C_chap1_sample.pdf Fiction Express: Alice Kuipers
  23. http://fierceinkpress.com/authors/alice-kuipers/ Fierce Ink Press: Alice Kuipers
  24. http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/alice-kuipers/violet-and-victor-write-the-most-fabulous-fairy-tale/9780316212021/#desc Hachette Book Group: Author Entry
  25. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/alice-kuipers/violet-and-victor-write-the-most-fabulous-fairy-ta/ Kirkus Reviews: Violet and Victor Write the Most Fabulous Fairytale
  26. http://schools.fictionexpress.co.uk/en/catalogue/secretsofthebadlands/ Fiction Express: Secrets of the Badlands
  27. http://www.harpercollins.ca/9781443448833/me-and-me Harper Collins Canada: Alice Kuipers
  28. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/alice-kuipers-me-and-me-book-saskatchewan-1.4062549 Regret, indecision explored in Saskatoon author's upcoming novel
  29. http://www.writerscoop.org/writers-coop-classes-2009-2010.html Saskatchewan Writers Coop, Workshops 2009-2010
  30. http://www.sagehillwriting.ca/alumni/list#searchtop Sage Hill Writing, Canada: Alumni Teen Writing Experience 2008, 2010
  31. http://www.wordfest.com/?s=kuipers Wordfest Calgary, Alice Kuipers
  32. http://www.artsboard.sk.ca/showcase/awards-and-honours/lieutenant-governors-arts-awards/1683-2008-lieutenant-governors-arts-awards Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governors Arts Awards
  33. http://www.saskatoonlibrary.ca/node/480 Saskatoon Library, Historical List, Writers in Residence
  34. http://www.saskatoonlibrary.ca/alicekuipers Saskatoon Library Writer in Residence Profile, Alice Kuipers
  35. http://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/bta_2008-rev.pdf New York Public Library, Book for the Teen Age 2008
  36. http://www2.redbridge.gov.uk/cms/leisure_and_libraries/libraries/schools_library_service/childrens_book_award/current_and_previous_winners.aspx Redbridge Teenage Book Award 2008
  37. http://sweynepark.com/html/learning/library/past.html Sweyne Park School Past Events
  38. http://www.bookawards.sk.ca/awards/awards-nominees/2015-awards-and-nominees/category/saskenergy-young-adult-literature-award-2 Nominees for the 2015 SaskEnergy Young Adult Literature Award
  39. http://www.amydraper.co.uk/life-on-the-refrigerator-door/ Amy Draper Directs Life on the Refrigerator Door, London, UK, 2016
  40. http://www.theyardtheatre.co.uk/event-archive/n-o-w-14-week-9/ The Yard Theatre Event Archive: Life on the Refrigerator Door, London, UK, 2016
  41. http://www.offwestend.com/index.php/plays/view/11131 offwestend.com Event Archive: Life on the Refrigerator Door, London, UK, 2016
  42. http://www.non-stop-people.com/actu/cinema/michele-bernier-ses-tendres-confessions-sur-son-role-de-maman-98978 Michèle Bernier: Ses Tendres Confessions Sur Son Rôle de Maman, NonStop People, Paris France, 2016
  43. http://www.theatredeparis.com/le-theatre/histoire-du-lieu A History of the Théâtre de Paris, Paris France, 2016
  44. http://www1.gcenter-hyogo.jp/sysfile/center/news/2016/201602/0225_reizoko.html Hyogo Centre News: Life on the Refrigerator Door, June, 2016
  45. http://www.life-on-refrigerator.com/ Official Site: Life on the Refrigerator Door

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