Han Nolan

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Han Nolan (* 1956 in Birmingham , Alabama ) is an American author.

Life

Han Nolan was born as Helen Harris Nolan in 1956 in Birmingham , Alabama. When she was nine months old, her parents moved her to New York , where she spent her childhood and teenage years. As a toddler, she couldn't pronounce her first name correctly and always called herself Hannah. Over the years, the nickname Han , which she was to use as an author's name, developed from this in her family and friends .

She describes herself as an avid story reader during childhood, but also as a reluctant student who had to repeat a school year after moving to Kentucky due to stomach problems.

She discovered her love for writing while attending a creative writing school course . However, this was soon covered by that for dance. She pursued this career in a focused manner until her studies. In 1979 she received her bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina , and in 1981 her master's degree from Ohio State University . In her senior year, however, she married her current husband, a PhD in Classical Languages, and discovered that due to the overlapping work and training schedule as a dance teacher at Hollins University , Roanoke , Virginia, a proper married life would be almost impossible.

So she decided to quit dancing and rediscovered her love for writing. A little later , the couple adopted three children, which made it easier for them to do this job.

She received the National Book Award for her novel dancing on the edge . Born Blue is her only book that has been translated into German so far.

In her romantic youth novels, she takes up political or ethical issues several times , which she claims was triggered when she discovered that the Ku Klux Klan had become active in her neighboring town: in A Summer of Kings she describes the love of the 14 year old Esther Young to a black teenager charged with murder in 1962 during the segregation and struggle of Martin Luther King . In her debut novel, If I Should Die Before I Wake describing the girl's radical internal transformation Hilary , a Jew-hating neo-Nazi - Gang member who because of a life-threatening injury now than Ghana , a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust . Blue Born describes the struggle for survival of the Leshaya , who is on the threshold of adulthood , who is a survivor in various ways. Child of a heroin- addicted mother, raised in children's homes , physical abuse and unwanted pregnancy .

Works

in German translation
  • Born blue. Translated by Salah Naoura. Carlsen-Verlag, Hamburg 2005., ISBN 3-551-58118-5 .

Awards

  • National Book Award Winner
  • School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
  • Booklist Editor's Choice
  • New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
  • A YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, American Library Association
  • New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
  • Parent's Choice Book Award
  • Alabama Library Association Author Award

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 1994, review of If I Should Die before I Wake. P. 308.
  2. ^ Booklist, March 15, 1996, Ilene Cooper, Review of Send Me down a Miracle. P. 1263.
  3. ^ English Journal, Review of Dancing on the Edge. P. 124.
  4. ^ Booklist, Nov. 1, 1999, Frances Bradburn, Review of A Face in Every Window. P. 525.
  5. ^ Publishers Weekly , Review of Born blue. October 8, 2001, p. 66.
  6. ^ Horn Book, January / February 2004, Lauren Adams, review of When We Were Saints. P. 87.
  7. ↑ Angela Gutzeit: Collective discussion with the title: Danger of ingratiation. Adults write books for young people about pop music. , Deutschlandfunk , August 27, 2005, at which Han Nolan's novel was well received.
personal data
SURNAME Nolan, Han
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nolan, Helen Harris
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American author
DATE OF BIRTH 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Birmingham, Alabama