POSY SIMMONDS

Posy Simmonds was born and brought up near Cookham, Berkshire. She studied French in Paris before attending the Central School of Art & Design. As a student she worked as dog-walker, a cleaner and a French governess in Greece, and sold Pyrex in Harrods.

She is best known for the weekly comic strips and serialised graphic novels that have appeared in the Guardian since 1977, and the books that derive from them:  Mrs Weber’s Diary (1979), True Love (1981), Pick of Posy (1982), Very Posy (1985), Pure Posy (1987); Literary Life (2003); Gemma Bovery (1999); and Tamara Drewe (2005-6).

Gemma Bovery and Tamara Drewe have been translated into eight languages. Tamara Drewe won the Grand Prix des Critiques in 2009 and was short-listed for an Eisner Award the same year. Both books have been made into feature films: Tamara Drewe (2010) was directed by Stephen Frears, and Gemma Bovery (20140) by Anne Fontaine.

Posy Simmonds is also the author of several books for children, among them Lulu and the Flying Babies, Baker Cat and Fred, the film version of which was nominated for an Oscar in 1998.