British author Aidan Chambers has died at the age of 90.
His young adult works were considered groundbreaking for their inclusion of gay and bisexual characters and sexually active teens.
His 1978 novel Breaktime was read by thousands of Western Australian teens as it was a part of the school syllabus in 1980s.
Born in County Durham in 1934 Chambers was considered to be “slow” by his teachers, and was a late developer at learning to read.
After spending time in the Royal Navy as part of his compulsory national service he trained as a teacher. After entering the teaching profession, he later joined an Anglican monastery. Is 1987 novel Now I Know, was inspired by his time as a monk.
He left the order in 1967 and became a freelance writer. He married, and alongside his wife Nancy they established Thimble Press, and ran a magazine that promoted literature for young adults.
Chambers works were noted for their use of different structures for storytelling, often including multiple columns of text depicting simultaneous throughs and actions, puzzles, poetry, collages of text and images.
During his career he wrote books for children and young adults. One of his best know works is Dance on My Grave which tells of the events that lead to a teenager dancing on the grave of a slightly older friend with whom he had a love affair with.
The book was the basis for the 2020 François Ozon film Summer of 85. Of Ozon’s adaptation of his work the author described himself as “delighted”.
“I’m delighted with the adaptation. It’s faithful to the book, while making the kind of changes necessary for a film.” he posted to his website.
“Ozon’s film is a moving story beautifully told with intelligence and just the right edge that lifts it up, though in the novel there was more humor,” Chambers said in another interview. “I understand how that might not have worked in the movie.”
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