June Oldham

June Oldham attended her mother's village school, a grammar school in
Lincoln, then took an honours degree in English and a diploma in education at Manchester University. After some years' teaching she had children then began to write.

Most of her books are for young adults but one of those for adults,
FLAMES, received the Yorkshire Arts & Virago Press Fiction Award. Shorter fiction has appeared in anthologies, Panurge and Stand.
Among her young adult novels are sophisticated comedies such as ENTER TOM; FOUNDLING, a survival story in a dystopian future; THE RAVEN WAITS, a treatment of Beowulf; ESCAPE, an exploration of incest; UNDERCURRENTS and SMOKE TRAIL have protagonists finding their moral strengths. In FLAMES, images of the seasons and blindness texture the tragic course of a fragile relationship.

The occasional use of a theatrical background owes much to June Oldham's marriage to an actor and many books reflect the influence of the Yorkshire dales where she has lived for the last thirty years.

June Oldham has held fellowships in creative writing, tutored for the
Arvon Foundation, has directed the Ilkley Literature Festival, encouraged creative writing in a gaol. She gives talks to both adult and children's groups as well as leading workshops.

The power of Oldham's language and imagery will remain indelibly in readers' memories

TES
SMOKE TRAIL:
'Oldham weaves a gripping narrative with evocative, lyrical prose'