Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Marie Collins (born August 10, 1962) is an American television writer and novelist, best known as the author of The New York Times best selling series The Underland Chronicles and The Hunger Games trilogy (which consists of The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay).



Contents
[hide]  *1 Early life  ==Early life[ edit] == Collins was born on August 10, 1962 in Hartford, Connecticut. She is the daughter of a U.S. Air Force officer who served in the Vietnam War. As the daughter of a military officer, she and her family were constantly moving. She spent her childhood in the eastern U.S.[2]  Collins graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham in 1980 as a Theater Arts major.[3]  She graduated from Indiana University in 1985 with a double major in theater and telecommunications.[4] [5] [6]  In 1989, Collins earned her M.F.A. in dramatic writing from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.[6] ==Career[ edit] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Collins' career began in 1991 as a writer for children's television shows.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-official_7-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7]  She worked on several television shows for Nickelodeon, including Clarissa Explains It All, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Little Bear, and Oswald.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-official_7-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7]  She was also the head writer for Scholastic Entertainment's Clifford's Puppy Days.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-official_7-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7]  She received a Writers Guild of America nomination in animation for co-writing the critically acclaimed Christmas special, Santa, Baby!<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-scholastic_8-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[8]
 * 2 Career
 * 3 Personal life
 * 4 Publications
 * 5 Awards
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">After meeting children's author James Proimos while working on the Kids' WB show ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_O! Generation O!], Collins was inspired to write children's books herself.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-official_7-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7] Her inspiration for Gregor the Overlander, the first book of The New York Times best selling series The Underland Chronicles, came from Alice in Wonderland, when she was thinking about how one was more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole, and would find something other than a tea party.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-official_7-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-scholastic_8-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[8]  Between 2003 and 2007 she wrote the five books of the Underland Chronicles: Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, and Gregor and the Code of Claw''. During that time, Collins also wrote a rhyming picture book, When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005), illustrated by Mike Lester.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-official_7-5" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">In September 2008, Scholastic Press released The Hunger Games, the first book of a trilogy by Collins.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]  The Hunger Games was partly inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Another inspiration was her father's career in the Air Force, which allowed her to have better understanding of poverty, starvation, and the effects of war.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-air_force_2-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[2]  The trilogy's second book, Catching Fire, was released in September 2009, and its third book, Mockingjay, was released on August 24, 2010.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10]  Within 14 months, 1.5 million copies of the first two Hunger Games books were printed in North America alone.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-collins_11-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[11]  The Hunger Games has been on The New York Times Best Seller list for more than 60 weeks in a row.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-collins_11-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[11]  Lions Gate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Hungry_12-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[12] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lionsgate_13-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]  Collins adapted the novel for film herself.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lionsgate_13-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]  Directed by Gary Ross, filming began in late spring 2011, with Jennifer Lawrence portraying main character Katniss Everdeen.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[14]  Josh Hutcherson played Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth played Gale Hawthorne.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HungerGamesFan.com_15-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[15]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">As a result of the significant popularity of The Hunger Games books, Collins was named one of Time magazine's most influential people of 2010.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-time_16-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[16]  In March 2012, Amazon announced that Collins had become the best-selling Kindle author of all time.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[17]  Amazon also revealed that Collins had written 29 of the 100 most highlighted passages in Kindle ebooks—and on a separate Amazon list of recently highlighted passages, Collins had written 17 of the top 20.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[18] ==Personal life<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Collins resides in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, within Newtown, Connecticut with her husband and their two children.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-official_7-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[19] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20]  She is a Roman Catholic.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[21] ==Publications<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Awards<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==
 * The Underland Chronicles
 * 1) Gregor the Overlander (2003)
 * 2) Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (2004)
 * 3) Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (2005)
 * 4) Gregor and the Marks of Secret (2006)
 * 5) Gregor and the Code of Claw (2007)
 * The Hunger Games trilogy
 * 1) The Hunger Games (2008)
 * 2) Catching Fire (2009)
 * 3) Mockingjay (2010)
 * Other books
 * Fire Proof: Shelby Woo #11 (1999)
 * When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005)
 * Year of the Jungle (2013)
 * 2011 - California Young Reader Medal<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[22]
 * 2010 - Georgia Peach Book Awards for Teen Readers<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2010_Georgia_Peach_Book_Award_for_Teen_Readers_Winner_Announced_23-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[23]
 * Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year: Children's Fiction<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[24]
 * An American Library Association Top 10 Best Books For Young Adult Selection<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[25]
 * An ALA Notable Children's Book<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[26]
 * 2008 CYBIL Award--Fantasy and Science Fiction<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[27]
 * KIRKUS Best Young Adult Book of 2008<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[28]
 * A Horn Book Fanfare<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[29]
 * School Library Journal Best Books of 2008<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[30]
 * A Book List Editor's Choice, 2008<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-31" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[31]
 * NY Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[32]
 * 2004 NAIBA Children's Novel Award<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-33" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[33]
 * 2006 ALSC Notable Children's Recording (audio version)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-34" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[34]