Catherine (Cathy) Forde
Email:
cathyforde@btinternet.comWebsite:
www.catherineforde.co.ukBRAW network:
yesLL funded:
yesBiography:
I have written a number of contemporary, dialogue-driven novels, all with teenagers as central characters and most with Glaswegian settings. I have recently gravitated to writing drama. In 2010 I had work produced by the National Theatre of Scotland and Glasgow’s Play, Pie Pint at Oran Mor. I am on commission to the National Theatre of Scotland. In a previous life I taught English in secondary schools and colleges and edited dictionaries. About writer's work:
I like to explore the relationship between teenagers and the adults in their lives, and my writing is colloquial and dialogue-driven. Although my novels are published as ‘Young Adult’ titles they are never written specifically for children. Recurring themes in my novels are the influence and impact of music on the individual, fitting in and fractured relationships, although I only realise I have ‘themes’ when someone else identifies them. I have won the Grampian Book Award and Scottish Arts Council award and been shortlisted for major prizes including the Booktrust Teenage Prize, the Manchester Book Award and the Calderdale Teenage Book Award.
About writer's events and projects:
I am available to do readings in schools, libraries and festivals . Keen to foster creative writing in young people, I run many creative writing workshops where my focus is on finding inspiration in the familiar and the ordinary. In 2009-10 I was the Scottish Booktrust Virtual Writer in Residence.
Language:
EnglishAge groups:
Teens, AdultsBooks written
Forget romance, Jane tells the story of how she made sure that her sister’s wedding was a truly bad wedding. From the bridesmaid dress through the hen night to the actual wedding itself, Jane ...
Alan's not pleased about his mum moving in with her boyfriend. So he claims the best room in the new house: the loft. But it contains an unwelcome guest - who has a message he needs to listen to.
"Here’s to Col’s numpty maw and paw for leaving him home alone and expecting everything to stay the way it was. Suckas!"
When you’re only sixteen, could the events of one night really shape ...
Meet Dec's family: there's his brother Gabe, a devoted Goth obsessed with dark music, studded dog collars and dying his hair purple, their pet snake Oz who lives on baby mice, and their mum, who ...
Jimmy Kelly is obese, and bullied mercilessly for it at school. He hides a secret he's sure would make them laugh still more
Fat Jimmy is bullied for his size and inability to perform at sport. But he has inner strengths. One is his secret gift for cooking and the other he discovers when he learns to swim. He is not just a ...
Fourteen-year-old Jimmy Kelly is Fat Boy Fat, the largest kid in his Scottish community, who’s made to feel useless at everything. Only his family knows he’s a whiz in the kitchen, and Jimmy is ...
From award-winning author, Catherine Forde, comes "Fat Boy Swim", a story that will make you realise that anything is possible.Jimmy Kelly is fat. Lardy. Ginormous. Clinically obese. ...
Jimmy Kelly is obese, and bullied mercilessly for it at school. He hides a secret he's sure would make them laugh still more
Me and Dad? Well, we're on opposite sides of a gaping fault-line - No, actually we're on different planets. Rory's dad is a struggling singer-songwriter and is obsessed by one rock'n'roll hero. ...
When Reece - strange, blue-haired, fire-obsessed Reece - moves in next door, Keith is worried. Not least because Annie, his three-year-old sister, really likes him. Funny Boy, she calls him. Reece is ...
When Reece - strange, blue-haired, fire-obsessed Reece - moves in next door, Keith is worried. Reece is clearly trouble but the problem is, Keith feels sorry for him. Keith knows he should ignore ...
Two strangers. Two VIP passes. One hell of a weekend. Sally Mack is fed up
16 year old John Blue likes music and girls, in that order. He dislikes 'The Two Cheeses', 'Danish Blue' and 'Dairy Lee'. 'The Two Cheeses', Dane and Lee like 'Star Wars' and making John's life a ...
Grampa Dan has just died. Danny notices the smell of his bedroom and the banging of his stick have gone, but gradually notices what else is missing. It was his forgotten Richard who uncovered Grampa ...
Granpa Dan has just died. But, apart from the smell from his room and the banging of his stick, Danny has noticed that something else is missing too. It is only then that Danny realizes that he is ...
When Cloddy witnesses a horrific attack outside her dad's shop, neither the victim nor the attackers see her. Afraid for her life, she decides not to tell anyone. And why should she, when she's ...
You're the least popular girl in school, and the glossy friends who were briefly interested are bored. And you'll do anything to keep them. Nicky finds picking on the new girl is easy: everyone ...
You're the least popular girl at school, and the glossy friends who were briefly interested are bored. And you'll do anything to keep them. Nicky finds picking on the new girl easy: everyone thinks ...
Sometimes Roddy Fisher doesn't understand his mum. Not only is she refusing to let him watch telly, but she's also expecting him to read some musty old books from a jumble sale. But one of them is no ...
A supernatural mystery based on the Clydebank Blitz and written for 9 - 12 year old readers. Pete's whole family has suddenly and unexpectedly moved from London to Scotland and in their new house he ...
This is a gripping, powerful, and heart-warming story about one girl's choices. In 2012, The Emergency begins as terrorist bombs shatter cities around the UK and wreak havoc on normal life. Molly's ...
