PAUL DOWSWELL
Paul started writing in his early 30s after a fascinating career as a researcher and editor for museums and publishers. He has written over 60 books – most of them non-fiction – on everything from Stone Age cookery to genetic engineering. One of his non-fiction books was shortlisted for the Times Educational Supplement Information Book Award, another two were shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award, and one of them won the Rhône-Poulenc Junior Prize for Science Books.
Paul started writing fiction when Charlie Viney took him under his wing in 2004, and so far he’s had four historical fiction stories published by Bloomsbury. Prison Ship – one of a trilogy featuring powder monkey Sam Witchall, was shortlisted for the Warwickshire Book Award. Auslander, published in 2009, has been shortlisted for the Red House Award, the Booktrust Teenage Prize, The Northern Ireland Book Award, the Catalyst Award and the Cheshire Schools Book Award. The Financial Times said ‘Ausländer ranks among the very best of wartime historical fiction.’ Paul’s latest novel, Cabinet of Curiosities, is set in 16th Century Prague and was published in July 2010.
When he’s not writing Paul likes being a Dad, playing music and travelling.
For more information visit www.pauldowswell.co.uk
LATEST BOOK: SEKTION 20
Alex lives in East Berlin. The cold war is raging and he and his family are forbidden to leave. But the longer he stays the more danger he is in. Alex is no longer pretending to be a model East German, and the Stasi has noticed. They are watching him.
Alex is told that further education will be blocked to him. His summer job is mysteriously cancelled, and friends begin avoiding him.
His parents start to realise that leaving the East may be the only option left to them, but getting across the Wall is practically impossible. And even if Alex and his family make it to the other side, will they be able to escape the reach of the Stasi?
This is a tense, page-turning thriller that builds towards a terrifying showdown as powerful forces from the East and West converge. One false move will change everything for Alex and his family, for ever.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sektion 20, Bloomsbury 2011; Cabinet of Curiosities, Bloomsbury
2010,
Ausländer, Bloomsbury, 2009, Battle Fleet, Bloomsbury, 2007, Prison Ship, Bloomsbury, 2006, Powder Monkey, Bloomsbury,
2005.
