CV AND PUBLISHING HISTORY
Deborah Ellis is an award-winning author of 16 books for young people and adults, both fiction and non-fiction. Her books have been translated into 18 languages, and have been on bestseller lists in several countries.
Deborah’s work has taken her to many parts of the world, for research and as an invited speaker and workshop leader. She has gathered the stories of Afghans in refugee camps in Pakistan and Russia, of children caught up in the war in Israel and Palestine, of young people in Malawi and Zambia whose lives have been forever affected by AIDS, and of children in Bolivia caught up in the cocaine trade.
Her books are published in Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Greece, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, India, Korea, Portugal, China, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Croatia, England, Israel, Holland, Australia, the United States, New Zealand, Mexico, and Brazil, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, and South Africa.
Her awards include the Governor General’s Award (won in 2000, short listed in 2002), the Hackmatack Award, the Middle East Outreach Council Award, the Peter Pan Prize of Sweden, the BC Red Cedar Young Readers Choice Award, the Ruth Schwartz Award, and the Vickie Metcalf Award. She has been short listed for the Trillium Award, the Mr. Christie Award, the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction, the Silver Birch, and the Canadian Library Association’s Book of the Year.
In 2005, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Wilfred Laurier University, and in 2006 was named to the Order of Ontario.
JAKEMAN (2007, Fitzhenry and Whiteside)
Novel about children in the US whose mothers are in prison.
I AM A TAXI, (2006, Groundwood Books)
Novel about children involved in cocaine production in Bolivia
JACKAL IN THE GARDEN, (2006,WatsonGuptil)
Novel about medieval Persian painter Bihzad
KEELEY AND THE MOUNTAIN (2006, Penguin Books)
Novel for young readers about the Frank Slide in Alberta
OUR STORIES, OUR SONGS (2005, Fitzhenry and Whiteside)
Oral history of children affected by AIDS in Africa
KEELEY’S BIG STORY (2005, Penguin)
Novel for young readers about the Crowsnest Pass
THE HEAVEN SHOP (2004, Fitzhenry and Whiteside)
Novel for young adults about a child in Malawi affected by AIDS
THREE WISHES (2004, Groundwood Books)
Oral history of children in Israel and Palestine
THE GIRL FROM TURTLE MOUNTAIN (2004, Penguin)
Novel for young readers about the Crowsnest Pass
MUD CITY (2003, Groundwood Books)
Last book in the trilogy of novels about children in Afghanistan under the Taliban
A COMPANY OF FOOLS (2002, Fitzhenry and Whiteside)
Novel about children in France during the Bubonic Plague
PARVANA’S JOURNEY (2002, Groundwood Books)
Second book in trilogy about children in Afghanistan under the Taliban
THE BREADWINNER (2000, Groundwood Books)
First book in the trilogy about children in Afghanistan under the Taliban
WOMEN OF THE AFGHAN WAR (2000, Praeger Books)
Oral history of women’s experiences over 25 years of war in Afghanistan
LOOKING FOR X (1999, Groundwood Books)
Novel for young adults about children living in poverty in Toronto
HALEY AND SCOTIA (1995, Frog-in-the-Well Press)
Novel for adults
THE BREADWINNER (2004), written at the request of Glenn Close, when the novel was optioned by her company, Trillium Productions. The screenplay has been purchased by Touchstone/ABC TV
MAGAZINE ARTICLES
Three articles for Teen Magazine in l999, about girls in Moscow jails, Afghan teens in refugee camps, and girls in a boot camp prison in New York State
Several book reviews for the Globe and Mail,
BIFOCAL (Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Fall, 2007)
Young adult novel written with Eric Walters
SACRED LEAF (Groundwood Books, Fall, 2007)
Sequel to I Am A Taxi
Montpellier Book Festival, France, 2002
Edinburgh Writers Festival, 2003
Literature Festivals in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, 2003
Canadian Children’s Book Centre Tour, Nova Scotia, 2002
Delivered the Joan Pedersen Annual Distinguished Lecture, Western University, 2002
Gottenborg Book Festival, Sweden, 2003
Book tour in Italy, including events in Parma, Bologna, and Calimera, 2004
International Readers Association, Reno, 2004
Calgary Young Writers Conference, 2004
Winnipeg Writers Festival, 2004
Young Writers Camp, Brantford, 2004
Writing Workshops with Japanese Exchange Students, 2004 and 2005
Keynote speeches at Adult Literacy Conferences in Toronto, Hamilton, and Simcoe
Presentations and workshops in schools and libraries around North America and in England, including at the Secondary School for Journalism, Brooklyn, 2004
Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival, 2005
Educators and Activists Conference, Los Angeles, 2005
Workshop for children’s writers, Manila, 2005
Windsor Book Festival, 2005
Tour and Writing Workshops, Northwest Territories, the Maritimes, and BC, 2005
Taught week-long workshop for young adult writers, Nova Scotia, 2006
Writer in Residence, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, 2006
Workshops with writers in Indonesia, spring, 2007