Meg Rosoff. Award Laureate 2016 1
In Rosoff’s books, the natural and supernatural o
verlap and merge. The boundaries between humans and animals can also blur. Innumerable dogs appear: imaginary, as in Just in Case, or real, as in her latest adult novel, Jonathan Unleashed (2016), in which a young adult protagonist finds meaning and purpose by caring for his brother’s dogs. Jonathan is clueless about adult life, but the dogs give him a push in the right direction. In other books, characters see the world through animal eyes, as when Justin, for one crucial moment, becomes a rabbit. Rosoff also pays tribute to the strong and loving bonds that can form between human and animal. Two dogs and a goat follow Daisy and her cousins. Pell loves and understands horses. Mila is named after a dog. The theme is taken to the extreme in Vamoose! (2010), later republished as Moose Baby (2013), a novella about a teen pregnancy in which Jess and Nick must not only cope with their unplanned parenthood but also come to terms with the fact that their new baby is a 10kilo moose calf. Rosoff writes with naked honesty about the search for meaning and identity in a world that is peculiar, full of contradictions, and sometimes frankly bizarre. She moves freely from one existential question, one gender, one age group to another. Breakdowns and psychoses are subtly portrayed. Each one of her books is unique, and all of her work speaks to both the emotions and the intellect. Her books combine passion, philosophical depth, and breakneck plotting to leave no reader unmoved. Meg Rosoff studied at Harvard University and at St. Martin’s School of Art and Design in London. Prior to her authorial debut at the age of 47, she worked in the publishing and advertising industries. She was born in Boston, United States in 1956, but has made her home in London for many years. Her books have been translated into more than 20 languages and she has received numerous awards. She became Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2014.