Candy Gourlay

Biography Gourlay was born and raised in the Philippines.

Career

Journalist From 1984 to 1989, she worked as a journalist in the Philippines, notably as a staff writer and later associate editor of the weekly opposition tabloid Mr & Ms Special Edition, which played a significant role in the overthrow of the 21 year regime of Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Her other positions include: 1984, staff writer, Mr & Ms Special Edition (Manila) 1985, associate editor, Mr & Ms Special Edition (Manila) 1986, desk editor, Philippine Daily Inquirer (Manila) 1987, correspondent, Asia Magazine (Manila) 1989, staff writer, Marketing Magazine (London) 1990, London correspondent, Inter Press Service (London) 2005, presenter and writer, Motherless Nation, BBC Radio 4 documentary on the social impact of Philippine migration

Author Her debut novel Tall Story (2010) won the National Children's Book Award of the Philippines in 2012 and the Crystal Kite Award for the British Isles in 2011. Tall Story was shortlisted for 13 prizes, notably: the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, the Branford Boase Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the UKLA Children's Book Prize. It was nominated for the Carnegie Medal.

Her second novel Shine (2013) was longlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and won the Crystal Kite Award for the British Isles in 2014.

Bone Talk (2018) was shortlisted for the Costa Book Award and the CILIP Carnegie Medal.

Published books Hinabing Gunita (Woven Memories): Filipinos in the United Kingdom (London: Centre for Filipinos, 2004) Animal Tricksters (Oxford University Press, 2010) – . Tall Story (Oxford: David Fickling Books, 2010) Shine (David Fickling, 2013) Bone Talk (David Fickling, 2018) Wild Song (David Fickling, 2023)