Alan Garner is one of the United Kingdom's best known writers for children, and since 1996 has become a successful adult novelist as well. His fiction is characterized by an interest in the interactions of history, myth, and landscape, and is largely set in rural communities, notably in the Alderley Edge area of Cheshire, where Garner has lived almost all his life. After the publication of his first book,

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen

, in 1960, he became the pre-eminent figure in a movement within British children's fantasy that drew on mythological material, often Celtic in origin, and used it in contemporary settings (other writers in this tradition include William Mayne, Susan Cooper, Penelope Farmer, and latterly Jenny Nimmo and Catherine Fisher). Garner's output, over a long…

2360 words

Citation: Butler, Catherine . "Alan Garner". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 August 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5851, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5851 Alan Garner 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.