Talk:Joan Aiken

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(old)[edit]

can anybody tell me her major works out of the books listed?

I'd say the books currently listed are probably her most famous books. She wrote many more books that are not listed. "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" and "Nightbirds on Nantucket" are two of her best known novels for young readers. I haven't read them in a while, but I believe Dido Twite is a recurring character, and Dido also figures in several of her other books such as "The Cuckoo Tree". I've not read "The Whispering Mountain" or "Night Fall" but I think Dido is in both of those, too. "A Harp of Fishbones" is a collection of short stories; Aiken wrote SUPER, creepy, mysterious, bittersweet short stories and there are several published collections of her stories, "A Harp of Fishbones" is probably the most famous of them (and my personal favorite). --Woggly 21:29, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)

UNIC[edit]

I have removed the link to UNIC, since that can't be right. Of the possibilities, the most likely seems to be the United Nations Information Centre, presumably in London. Robina Fox (talk) 12:12, 8 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The "Source" newly reported below includes these lines: "in 1943 she moved to the reference department of the London office of the United Nations, where she collected information about resistance movements. She worked for the UN until 1949, all the while continuing to write stories." --P64 (talk) 22:54, 1 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I found this strange too, as the United Nations as we know them, was established in 1945. But this might refer to the former United Nations, as used here Declaration by United Nations: the allies of USA and UK. --Orland (talk) 08:55, 18 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

English novelist, yes but American?[edit]

She is seen as an English writer, but why? Her father was American, her mother Canadian.--Radh (talk) 19:32, 21 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Presumably because she was born in England and lived there essentially her whole life (though she did travel back and forth between England and the United States while she was married to her second husband). Similarly, William Carlos Williams is considered an American poet—an aggressively American poet, one might even say—even though his father was English and his mother was Puerto Rican. Deor (talk) 19:51, 21 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Sources[edit]

--At a glance I see this includes some more information.

--Whispering Mountain was also a commended runner up for the annual Carnegie Medal. This is the formal reference I have used elsewhere.

--P64 (talk) 22:54, 1 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Midnight is a Place and the Wolves Chronicles[edit]

I note my linking of Midnight is a Place to the Wolves Chronicles has been reverted. Given that Blastburn (an entirely fictional location) appears in several of the Wolves Chronicles and is the main setting of Midnight is a Place, why should the two not be linked? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.25.109.196 (talk) 11:18, 28 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Because it's original research to do so unless you can find a published source that says Midnight and the Wolves books are set in the same fictional world. Deor (talk) 12:16, 28 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Fair enough. Does Amazon count as a published source? It places Midnight as part of the Wolves Chronicles (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Midnight-Is-Place-Wolves-Chronicles/dp/0618196250). The official Joan Aiken website doesn't, so I suggest leaving the layout as is and putting a comment that some sources link the two with a reference to the Amazon page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.25.109.196 (talk) 08:50, 29 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
No, I don't think Amazon is a reliable source. I happen to own that edition of Midnight, and nowhere in or on the book is it said that it is part of the Wolves series. Deor (talk) 09:33, 29 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
OK. I'll check my edition next time I have access (it's at my parents' house) and see if it says anything there. If not we'll leave it at that. Cheers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.25.109.196 (talk) 13:43, 29 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Addition of "The Fortune Hunters"[edit]

I've just recently signed up as an editor, and as such, I've yet to become familiar with the formatting options available and conventions used. As I apologize for the string of seemingly redundant edits, Many were an effort to refine the hyperlink and formatting. There may, in fact, be yet more books for this author on the reference site and not mentioned in this Wiki-article.

Regarding "The Fortune Hunters", I have a copy of this book in my possession, and can therefore prove it's existence beyond the link I've presented for reference.

Hay Jr (talk) 21:28, 13 December 2012 (UTC)Hay Jr[reply]

PS...I intend to make one more edit to date the link-reference to Today's date, 12/13/2012, approximately 4:30 EST (I believe it's -5 GMT/UTC)

I'm not saying that the book doesn't exist; I'm saying that it was originally published in 1965, not in 1973. I moved the entry to its proper chronological position in the "Other books" subsection. Note also that the section is titled "Selected works"; it isn't intended to be a complete listing of every book Aiken published. Deor (talk) 21:40, 13 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

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Date inaccuracy[edit]

It says "Aiken worked for the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in London between 1943 and 1949. In September 1945 she married Ronald George Brown, a journalist who was also working at UNIC." UNIC was established in 1946, so it's unlikely Aiken worked for it in 1943 or 1945, since it didn't yet exist (not did the United Nations organisation itself). 2.31.162.62 (talk) 19:27, 5 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]