Neil Gaiman, the renowned writer who keeps coming back to the Philippines, has won the Cilip Carnegie Medal for The Graveyard Book.The Carnegie Medal is awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding book for children. It was established by in 1936, in memory of the great Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919). Carnegie was a self-made industrialist who made his fortune in steel in the USA. His experience of using a library as a child led him to resolve that "if ever wealth came to me that it should be used to establish free libraries." First awarded to Arthur Ransome for ‘Pigeon Post’, the winner receives a golden medal and £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice.
Neil Gaiman is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, Anansi Boys, and Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett); the Sandman series of graphic novels; and the story collections Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things. He is the winner of numerous literary honors, including the Hugo, Bram Stoker, and World Fantasy Awards, and the Newbery Medal. Originally from England, he now lives in America.
Neil Gaiman first visited the Philippines in 2005 and has since been coming back. Asked why in an interview with a local magazine, he said, “So I came out here in 2005, oh my God! These are my people! I mean the level of enthusiasm with which I was greeted, the intelligence and also the sort of frustration they have.”
About The Graveyard Book:
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family. . . .Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, the graveyard book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.
More information here.
