Kate Cann

Kate Cann (born 1954) is an English author of fiction.

Biography

Cann wrote stories and diaries in her youth. She received a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Kent in 1977, then a Master of Arts in American Literature from the same university in 1978.

In the 1980s, Cann began work as a copy-editor for the publishing house, Time Life Books. When working on a piece of young adult fiction, she decided she could write a better work. Later in life, she recalled, "got bitten by the 'I can do better than this' bug, and started writing... it took me over".

A secondary, but almost equally important theme in her work is the struggle against the (often subtly) controlling figure. This may be a boyfriend who is 'a control freak. Scared to let us have differences'; a "Best Friend" for imitation - 'I flattered her, I...mirrored her and buoyed her up'; or a parent like the heroine's mother in Hard Cash: 'A real living breathing human vampire. She's feeding off you...turning on the emotional blackmail at full power'. Alternatively, the controlling force - "denying the separateness of the other" - may be a group cult, whether a formal one (Speeding) or an informal subculture, like the hero's 'bond to the team...their triumphant, tribal energy' in Leader of the Pack.

Such controlling powers may be seen as externalisations of the adolescent's quest for identity achievement, in the face of both inner and outer obstacles. Cann's protagonists, under both social and sexual pressures, regularly face the alternative peril of identity diffusion: 'You're not you any longer, you're what he wants you to be. A shadow person, a non-person, no centre, no wholeness. Just a limp hotchpotch of what someone else once wanted you to be'.

Despite such dangers, Cann's own predilection remains nonetheless firmly for engagement with life, or "diving in". Even when her heroes do temporarily trade in their own identities for an externally formulated one, whether "a dream of money" or a social group, "the team and everything," the books typically conclude with phrases such as, "Well, I don't wish it hadn't happened," or "I'm glad I was part of it. It's part of me now... and I'm glad about that too".

Awards and honours

Publications

Young adult fiction

Caught in the Act (1997) Too Hot to Handle (1997) Breaking Up (2001) Shop Dead (2001) Text Game (2004) Leaving Poppy (2006) Leader of the Pack (2008) Witch Crag (2012)

Art & Coll series

Diving In (1996) In the Deep End (1997) Sink or Swim (2001) Art History (2009)

Beach series

Grecian Holiday: Or, How I Turned Down the Best Possible Thing Only to Have the Time of My Life (1999) Spanish Holiday: Or, How I Transformed the Worst Vacation Ever into the Best Summer of My Life (2001) California Holiday: Or, How the World's Worst Summer Job Gave Me a Great New Life (2003) Mediterranean Holiday: Or, How I Moved to a Tiny Island and Found the Love of My Life (2007)

Crow Girl series

Crow Girl (2005) Crow Girl Returns (2006) Crow Girl Rises (2012)

Hard Cash trilogy

Hard Cash (2001) Shacked Up (2001) Speeding (2004)

Rayne books

Possessed (2008) Consumed (2009)

Young adult non-fiction Living in the World, illustrated by Derek Matthews (1996)