Susan Cooper

Susan Mary Cooper, born May 23, 1935, in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, England, is an English author best known for her five-book children's fantasy series The Dark Is Rising (1965-1977), which incorporates Arthurian legends and Welsh mythology and earned her the Newbery Honor, Newbery Medal, and Margaret A. Edwards Award. After studying English at Somerville College, Oxford, she worked as a reporter for The Sunday Times before emigrating to the United States in 1963, becoming a full-time writer, and producing additional fantasy novels, picture books, screenplays, and biographies. In 2024, she was named the 40th Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.