S. F. Said

S. F. Said (born 1967) is a British children's writer.

S.F. Said
BornS. F. Said
1967
Beirut, Lebanon
OccupationWriter
NationalityBritish
Period2003–present
GenreChildren's fantasy, science fiction
Notable worksVarjak Paw
Website
sfsaid.com

His first novel was Varjak Paw (2003), illustrated by Dave McKean and published by David Fickling Books in January 2003; four months later in the U.S.[1] Varjak Paw won the 2003 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. The sequel The Outlaw Varjak Paw (2005) won the 2007 Blue Peter Book of the Year. Phoenix (2013) is a longer novel written for older children. It was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, and was selected to represent the U.K. on the IBBY Honour List for 2016.[2]

Biography

S. F. Said is a British Muslim author of Middle Eastern background, who was born in Beirut [3] and spent his first years in Jordan. He describes his origins as "Iraqi, Egyptian, Kurdish, and Circassian." [4] He grew up in London, moving there with his mother at the age of two. After graduating from the University of Cambridge, he worked as a press attaché and speech writer for the Crown Prince of Jordan's office in London for six years.[5] He began a Ph.D. in 1997 looking at the lives of young Muslims in Britain, but left academia to focus on film journalism for the Daily Telegraph – where he brought attention to much so-called world cinema, including contemporary Islamic cinema – and on writing for children. Said has also written a number of articles and reviews for The Guardian about children's books.[6]

Writing career

S. F. Said has published three novels for children thus far. Varjak Paw tells the story of a Mesopotamian Blue cat called Varjak who leaves his sheltered upbringing to explore the city and learn the "Seven Skills of the Way", taught to him in dreams by his ancestor Jalal. In his dreams, Varjak finds himself transported from his gritty urban surroundings to the deserts, rivers and mountains of Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq). With the Skills, he is able to fight the Gentleman. Varjak was staged as a play by Playbox Theatre,[7] and was performed as an opera by The Opera Group in 2008.[8] Said wrote 17 drafts of the book.[5]

In the sequel The Outlaw Varjak Paw (2005), the domineering "white cat with one eye", Sally Bones, is invading the territories of other cats and ruling them with torture and terror, and Varjak leads the other cats – and some dogs – in the fight against her. In 2020, Blue Peter asked the audience to vote for their all-time favourite Blue Peter Book Award-winner, and The Outlaw Varjak Paw was included in the top ten.[9]

Phoenix is not a Varjak-world novel. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database calls it young-adult science fiction rather than (animal) fantasy.[1] It made the shortlist of four books for the 2014 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, whose judges recommended it for ages 10 and up, and whose coverage by The Guardian called it a "space epic".[10][11]

Said has contributed an essay to The Gifts of Reading (2020), an anthology inspired by Robert Macfarlane's essay of the same name.[12] He also contributed a story to The Book of Hopes (2020), edited by Katherine Rundell, an anthology for young readers that raised money for NHS charities during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK.[13]

Additionally, Said has judged a number of major UK book prizes, including the Costa Book Awards, the Guardian Children Fiction Prize, the inaugural Amnesty/CILIP Honour,[14] and the BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award.[15]

Books
  • Varjak Paw, illustrated by Dave McKean (David Fickling Books, 2003)[1]
  • The Outlaw Varjak Paw, illus. Dave McKean (David Fickling, 2005)
  • Phoenix, illus. Dave McKean (David Fickling, 2013), 489 pp., OCLC 859389140

Awards

References
  1. S. F. Said at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved 2015-01-21. Select a title to see its linked publication history and general information. Select a particular edition (title) for more data at that level, such as a front cover image or linked contents.
  2. IBBY https://www.ibby.org.uk/ibby-honours-list-event-at-waterstones/. Retrieved 22 January 2021. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wanstead_woodford_news/11739739.Author_enlightens_pupils_with_book_visit/
  4. Said, S F. "The Big Questions". CBC. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  5. http://gulfnews.com/culture/people/s-f-said-just-tries-to-write-stories-he-loves-1.1488342
  6. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/profile/sf-said. Retrieved 22 January 2021. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. Theatre, Playbox. "Varjak Paw trailer". YouTube. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  8. Damamm, Guy. "Varjak Paw". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  9. Booktrust. "Harry Potter wins Blue Peter Book Awards 20th Anniversary prize". Booktrust. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  10. "The Guardian children's fiction prize longlist 2014 – in pictures". The Guardian. 28 June 2014. Retrieved 2015-01-21.
  11. "Guardian children's fiction award shortlist 2014". Emily Drabble. The Guardian. 4 October 2014. Retrieved 2015-01-21.
  12. Sibree, Bron. "Review | The Gifts of Reading: an inspiring celebration of the written word and human kindness". Post Magazine. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  13. O'Connell, Alex. "The Book of Hopes, edited by Katherine Rundell review — dip into these joyous gobbets". The Times. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  14. Said, SF. "Why children's books are important". Amnesty International. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  15. "David McKee wins BookTrust's Lifetime Achievement Award". SLA. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
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