Kenneth Oppel

2025-10-27T04:27:58Z

2604:3D09:A18E:F900:886C:E510:A08F:AFF1:

{{Short description|Canadian children's writer}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox writer 
|image = Kenneth Oppel at International Literature Festival Berlin on September 9, 2016.jpg
|imagesize = 200px |
| name = Kenneth Oppel
| caption = Oppel (2016 at the [[Berlin International Literature Festival]])
| pseudonym =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|8|12}}
| birth_place = [[Port Alberni]], [[British Columbia]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Writer
| nationality = Canadian
| education = [[Trinity College, Toronto]]
| period = 1985–present
| genre =
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = {{plainlist|
* ''Matt Cruse'' series
* ''The Silverwing Saga''
}}
| spouse = Philippa Sheppard
| partner =
| children = 3
| relatives =

| awards = {{awards| [[Governor General's Award|Governor General's Literary Award]] |2004 |[[Airborn (novel)|Airborn]]}} {{awards |The Times Children's Novel |2005 |[[Skybreaker]]}}
| signature =
| website = {{URL|kennethoppel.ca}}
}}

'''Kenneth Oppel''' (born August 31, 1967) is a Canadian children's writer.

==Biography==
Oppel was born in [[Port Alberni]], and spent his childhood in [[Victoria, British Columbia]] and [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]]. He also lived in [[Newfoundland and Labrador]], England, and Ireland.

In 1985, Oppel wrote his first book ''Colin's Fantastic Video Adventure'',<ref name=LCC/> while at [[St. Michaels University School]]. He attended at the same time as actors [[Andrew Sabiston]] and [[Leslie Hope]], fellow writers John Burns and [[Bert Archer]], and just before the NBA's [[Steve Nash]] and [[Flickr]] founder [[Stewart Butterfield]]. Oppel forwarded the newly completed manuscript to a family friend who knew [[Roald Dahl]], who in turn recommended it to his agent. Oppel went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts degree in [[filmmaking|cinema studies]] and [[English studies|English]] at [[Trinity College, Toronto|Trinity College]] in the [[University of Toronto]], writing ''The Live-Forever Machine'' (1992) during his final year. Oppel moved to England and wrote a number of books during that period, gleaning several ideas while working at typing students' papers. From 1995 to 1996, Oppel worked as an editor at ''[[Quill & Quire]]'', the trade magazine of the Canadian publishing industry.

He wrote four books for the Silverwing novel series: ''[[Silverwing (novel)|Silverwing]]'', ''[[Sunwing (novel)|Sunwing]]'', ''[[Firewing]]'', and ''[[Darkwing (novel)|Darkwing]]''. He has also written the ''Matt Cruse'' saga, including ''[[Airborn (novel)|Airborn]]'' (2004), ''[[Skybreaker]]'' (2005), and ''[[Starclimber]]'' (2008) and the ''Overthrow'' series, including ''Bloom'' (2020), ''Hatch'' (2020), and ''Thrive'' (2021).

Oppel has won numerous literary awards, including the 2004 [[Governor General's Award|Governor General's Literary Award]] for English language children's literature, a [[Printz Honor Award]] from the American Library Association (both for ''Airborn'') and ''[[The Times]]'' Children's Novel of 2005 (for ''Skybreaker'', named a 2006 [[Best Book for Young Adults]] by the [[American Library Association]]).

Oppel is married to Philippa Sheppard, a Shakespeare scholar and instructor at the University of Toronto.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://curio.ca/en/catalog/ab7db55a-a06f-4bf6-8936-a0d996ea1ade |url-access=subscription |title=Shakespeare Selfie: An Introduction to Shakespeare with Kenneth Oppel and Philippa Sheppard |last=CBC/Radio-Canada 2014-2024 |language=en |access-date=2024-06-03 |via=curio.ca}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Kenneth Oppel '89 Answers The Trinity Questionnaire |magazine=Trinity Magazine |url=https://magazine.trinity.utoronto.ca/kenneth-oppel-89-the-trinity-questionnaire/ |access-date=2024-06-03 |language=en-CA}}</ref>

==Selected works==
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-break}}

===Young adult fiction===
*''Half Brother'' (2011)
*''The Boundless'' (2014)
*''The Nest'' (2015)
*''Every Hidden Thing'' (2016)
*''Ghostlight'' (2022)

====The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein====
*''This Dark Endeavor'' (2011)
*''Such Wicked Intent'' (2012)

====Silverwing series====
*''[[Silverwing (novel)|Silverwing]]'' (1997)
*''[[Sunwing (novel)|Sunwing]]'' (1999)
*''[[Firewing]]'' (2002)
*''[[Darkwing (novel)|Darkwing]]'' (2007); UK title, ''Dusk'' – prequel to the trilogy

The novel series was adapted into a TV series titled ''[[Silverwing (TV series)|Silverwing]]''.

====Airborn series====
*''[[Airborn (novel)|Airborn]]'' (2004)
*''[[Skybreaker]]'' (2005)
*''[[Starclimber]]'' (2008)

====Overthrow series====
*''Bloom'' (2020)
*''Hatch'' (2020)<ref name=cbcBookListFall2020/>
*''Thrive'' (2021)

====Other====
*''The Live-Forever Machine'' (1990)
*''Dead Water Zone'' (1992)
{{Col-break}}

===Children's fiction===

====Barnes and the Brains====
*''A Bad Case of Ghosts'' (1993)
*''A Strange Case of Magic'' (1994), or ''A Bad Case of Magic''
*''A Crazy Case of Robots'' (1994), or ''A Bad Case of Robots''
*''An Incredible Case of Dinosaurs'' (1994), or ''A Bad Case of Dinosaurs''
*''A Weird Case of Super-Goo'' (1997), or ''A Bad Case of Super-Goo''
*''A Creepy Case of Vampires'' (2002)

====Other====
* ''Colin's Fantastic Video Adventure'' ([[E. P. Dutton]], 1985)<ref name=LCC>[https://lccn.loc.gov/84025911 "Colin's fantastic video adventure"]. Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 2014-02-13.</ref>
*''Cosimo Cat'' (1990)
*''Follow That Star'' (1992)
*''Cosmic Snapshots'' (1993)
*''Galactic Snapshots'' (1993)
*''Emma's Emu'' (1995)
*''Peg and the Whale'' (2000)
*''Peg and the Yeti'' (2004)
*''The King's Taster'' (2009)
*''Inkling'' (2018)

===Adult fiction===
*''The Devil's Cure'' (2000)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1096530.The_Devil_s_Cure|title=The Devil's Cure|website=[[Goodreads]]|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref>
{{col-end}}

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=cbcBookListFall2020>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-most-exciting-books-coming-out-in-fall-2020-1.5753872
| title = The most exciting books coming out in fall 2020
| work = [[CBC Books]]
| date = 2020-10-08
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201028104430/https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-most-exciting-books-coming-out-in-fall-2020-1.5753872
| archive-date = 2020-10-28
| access-date = 2020-10-29
| url-status = live
| quote = Kenneth Oppel has written numerous acclaimed novels for middle grade and young adult readers. His Silverwing trilogy has sold over a million copies worldwide.
}}
</ref>
}}
;Other sources 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050204090831/http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/profiles/oppel.html ''CM'' magazine profile of Oppel], incorporating material from a 1996 interview
*[https://www.achuka.co.uk/special/oppel.htm Interview by ACHUKA's Canadian Correspondent, Andrea Deakin] (2000)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101017184334/http://www.canscaip.org/bios/oppelk.html Kenneth Oppel] at CANSCAIP Members (archived 2010-10-17), with short autobiography
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041206141651/http://redcedar.swifty.com/1999/Author_Bios/kenneth.htm Red Cedar Awards Profile]

==External links==
* {{official website |kennethoppel.ca }}
* {{ISFDB name|7699}}
* {{LCAuth|n84132329|Kenneth Oppel|23|}}

{{Governor General's English children's literature|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oppel, Kenneth}}
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian children's writers]]
[[Category:Canadian fantasy writers]]
[[Category:Canadian male novelists]]
[[Category:Canadian science fiction writers]]
[[Category:Governor General's Award–winning children's writers]]
[[Category:Steampunk writers]]
[[Category:People from Port Alberni]]
[[Category:Trinity College (Canada) alumni]]
[[Category:University of Toronto alumni]]
[[Category:Forest of Reading Award winners]]
[[Category:St. Michaels University School alumni]]
[[Category:Novelists from British Columbia]]

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Kenneth Oppel