Roald Dahl (1916–1990) was a British author and scriptwriter,[1] and "the most popular writer of children's books since Enid Blyton", according to Philip Howard, the literary editor of The Times.[2]
 Bookshelf with stacks of books by Roald Dahl | |
| Novels↙ | 19 |
|---|---|
| Collections↙ | 13 |
| Poems↙ | 3 |
| Scripts↙ | 12 |
| Books edited↙ | 1 |
| Non-fiction↙ | 9 |
| References and footnotes | |
Dahl wrote his first story for children, The Gremlins, in 1943; the story was also written for Walt Disney, who was interested in turning it into a film that was ultimately never made.[3] This was Roald Dahl's first children's book published, though it was originally not written as such.[4] Dahl continued to write short stories, although these were all aimed at the adult market. Dahl worked for periodicals as a short story contributor. Other stories were sold to magazines and newspapers, and were later compiled into collections, the first of which was published in 1946.[5] Dahl began to make up bedtime stories for the children, and these formed the basis of several of his stories.[6][7] His first novel intentionally written for children, James and the Giant Peach, was published in 1961,[8] which was followed, along with others, by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), Fantastic Mr Fox (1970), Danny, the Champion of the World (1975), The BFG (1982) and Matilda in 1988.[9]
Dahl's first script was for a stage work, The Honeys, which appeared on Broadway in 1955. He followed this with a television script, "Lamb to the Slaughter", for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents series. He co-wrote screenplays for film, including for You Only Live Twice (1967) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968).[10][11] In 1982 Dahl published the first of three editions of poems aimed at children. The following year he edited a book of ghost stories.[12] He wrote several works of non-fiction, including three autobiographies, a cookery book, a safety leaflet for the British railways and a book on measles, which was about the death of his daughter Olivia from measles encephalitis.[12][13]
As at 2019, Dahl's works have been translated into 63 languages and have sold more than 200 million books worldwide.[14][15] Dahl was known as “The World’s No. 1 Story-teller” due to how his books celebrate nonsense, imagination, and creativity. It is because of this that his books are still popular with children.[16] His awards for contribution to literature include the 1983 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the British Book Awards' Children's Author of the Year in 1990. In 2008 The Times placed Dahl 16th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".[17] He has been referred to by The Independent as "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century".[18] On his death in 1990, Howard considered him "one of the most widely read and influential writers of our generation".[2]
Novels
editShort story collections
edit| Title[12][20][21][23] | Year of first publication | First edition publisher | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying | 1946 | Reynal & Hitchcock, New York | Adult |
| Someone Like You | 1953 | Alfred A. Knopf, New York | Adult |
| Kiss Kiss | 1960 | Alfred A. Knopf, New York | Adult |
| Twenty-Nine Kisses from Roald Dahl[b] | 1969 | Michael Joseph, London | Adult |
| Switch Bitch | 1974 | Alfred A. Knopf, New York | Adult |
| The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More | 1977 | Jonathan Cape, London | Children |
| The Best of Roald Dahl | 1978 | Vintage Books, New York | Adult |
| Tales of the Unexpected | 1979 | Michael Joseph, London | Adult |
| More Tales of the Unexpected | 1980 | Michael Joseph, London | Adult |
| A Roald Dahl Selection: Nine Short Stories | 1980 | Longmans, London | Adult |
| Two Fables | 1986 | Viking Press, London | Adult |
| Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life: The Country Stories of Roald Dahl | 1989 | Michael Joseph, London | Adult |
| The Roald Dahl Treasury | 1997 | Jonathan Cape, London | Children |
| Madness: Tales of Fear and Unreason | 2016 | Penguin Books, London | Adult |
| Lust: Tales of Craving and Desire | 2016 | Penguin Books, London | Adult |
| Cruelty: Tales of Malice and Greed | 2016 | Penguin Books, London | Adult |
| Deception: Tales of Intrigue and Lies | 2016 | Penguin Books, London | Adult |
| Trickery: Tales of Deceit and Cunning | 2017 | Penguin Books, London | Adult |
| War: Tales of Conflict and Strife | 2017 | Penguin Books, London | Adult |
| Fear: Tales of Terror and Suspense | 2017 | Penguin Books, London | Adult |
| Innocence: Tales of Youth and Guile | 2017 | Penguin Books, London | Adult |
Scripts
editMany of Dahl's works were used as the basis for films or television programmes. The following are where he is credited as the writer of the performed script.[7][25]
| Title[7][10][11][25] | Year of first publication or production |
First edition publisher, where relevant |
Media | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Honeys | 1955 | – | Stage work | Produced at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway. |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "Lamb to the Slaughter" | 1958 | – | Television script | |
| Way Out: "William and Mary" | 1961 | – | Television script | Also introduced by Dahl on CBS |
| You Only Live Twice | 1967 | – | Film script | With Jack Bloom |
| Chitty Chitty Bang Bang | 1968 | – | Film script | With Ken Hughes |
| Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory | 1971 | – | Film script | |
| The Night Digger | – | Film script | ||
| The BFG: Plays for Children | 1976 | Puffin Books, London | Stage work | |
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: A Play | Puffin Books, London | Stage work | ||
| James and the Giant Peach: A Play | 1982 | Puffin Books, London | Stage work | |
| Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator: A Play | 1984 | Allen & Unwin, London | Stage work | |
| Fantastic Mr Fox: A Play | 1987 | Puffin Books, London | Stage work |
Poems
edit| Title[10][26] | Year of first publication |
First edition publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Revolting Rhymes | 1982 | Jonathan Cape, (London) |
| Dirty Beasts | 1983 | Jonathan Cape, (London) |
| Rhyme Stew | 1989 | Jonathan Cape, (London) |
| Songs and Verse | 2005 | Jonathan Cape, (London) |
| Vile Verses | 2005 | Viking Juvenile, (New York) |
Books edited
edit| Title[12] | Year of first publication |
First edition publisher | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories | 1983 | Jonathan Cape, London | Adult; short story collection | Editor only |
Non-fiction
edit| Title[12][13][7] | Year of first publication |
First edition publisher | Scope | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boy: Tales of Childhood | 1984 | Jonathan Cape, London | Autobiography | |
| Going Solo | 1986 | Jonathan Cape, London | Autobiography | |
| Measles, a Dangerous Illness | 1988 | Sandwell Health Authority | Medical/Autobiographical | About the death of his daughter Olivia from measles encephalitis |
| Memories with Food at Gipsy House | 1991 | Viking Press, London | Cook book | With Felicity Dahl; reissued in softcover in 1996 as Roald Dahl's Cookbook |
| Roald Dahl's Guide to Railway Safety | 1991 | British Railways Board, London | Safety booklet | |
| The Dahl Diary 1992 | 1991 | Puffin Books, London | Diary | |
| My Year | 1993 | Jonathan Cape, London | Autobiography | |
| The Roald Dahl Diary 1997 | 1996 | Puffin Books, London | Diary | |
| The Mildenhall Treasure | 1999 | Jonathan Cape, London | History | First published in book form in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More before release in 1999 as a single title edition |
Notes and references
editExplanatory notes
editCitations
edit- ^ "Obituary: Roald Dahl". The Times. 24 November 1990. p. 14.
- ^ a b Howard, Philip (24 November 1990). "Death silences Pied Piper of the macabre". The Times. p. 1.
- ^ Royer, Sharon E. (1 September 1998). "Roald Dahl and Sociology 101". The ALAN Review. 26 (1). doi:10.21061/alan.v26i1.a.6.
- ^ "The Gremlins: Background". Roald Dahl.
- ^ Walker 2004, pp. 40–41.
- ^ Sturrock 2010, pp. 350–51.
- ^ a b c d "Roald Dahl". Contemporary Authors. Gale. Retrieved 5 February 2016. (subscription required)
- ^ Walker 2002, p. 12.
- ^ Book and Magazine Collector 2005, pp. 20–27.
- ^ a b c Walker 2002, p. 22–23.
- ^ a b "Roald Dahl". American Film Institute. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f "Roald Dahl, Published works" (PDF). Roald Dahl Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 August 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
- ^ a b c Sturrock 2010, pp. 627–28.
- ^ "Roald Dahl centenary: 'Tremendous things' promised for 2016". BBC. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- ^ "Oxford University Press to capture Roald Dahl's naughtiest language for the first time: World Book Day!". Cardiff Times. 7 March 2019.
- ^ Spivey, Madeline (2020). "Roald Dahl and the Construction of Childhood: Writing the Child as Other". The Oswald Review.
- ^ "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". The Times. 5 January 2008. p. 11 (Section 3).
- ^ "Once upon a time, there was a man who liked to make up stories ..." The Independent. 12 December 2010.
- ^ Book and Magazine Collector 2005, pp. 17–30.
- ^ a b Grigsby 1994, p. 40.
- ^ a b Carrick 2002, pp. 37–38.
- ^ Book and Magazine Collector 2005, p. 18.
- ^ Dalby 1994, p. 15.
- ^ Book and Magazine Collector 2005, p. 22.
- ^ a b "Roald Dahl". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 8 October 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- ^ Walker, Richard (2020). "Roald Dahl – A Guide To Collecting his First Editions". Richard's Left Bank. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
[Blog entry written in 2020, which updates material originally compiled by Walker in 2017.]
General and cited sources
edit- "Collecting Roald Dahl". The Book and Magazine Collector. No. 259. September 2005.
- Carrick, Robert (2002). "Roald Dahl". In Harris-Fain, Darren (ed.). Dictionary of Literary Biography: British Fantast and Science-Fiction Writers, 1918–1960. Detroit: Gale Research. ISBN 978-0-7876-5249-4.
- Conant, Jennet (2008). The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington. London: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-9458-4.
- Dalby, Richard (April 1994). "The Adult Fiction of Roald Dahl". The Book and Magazine Collector. No. 121.
- Grigsby, John L (1994). "Roald Dahl". In Baldwin, Dean (ed.). Dictionary of Literary Biography: British Short-Fiction Writers, 1945–1980. Detroit: Gale Research. ISBN 978-0-8103-5398-5.
- Howard, Philip (2011). "Dahl, Roald". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39827.
- Sturrock, Donald (2010). Storyteller: The Life of Roald Dahl. London: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-00-739706-8.
- Walker, Richard (April 2002). "Roald Dahl: A Collector's Guide to his First Editions". The Book and Magazine Collector. No. 217.
- Walker, Richard (March 2004). "The Magazine Stories of Roald Dahl". The Book and Magazine Collector. No. 240.