Lloyd Alexander

Lloyd Chudley Alexander was an American writer whose long career ran from the years after World War II into the early twenty-first century. Born in Philadelphia on January 30, 1924, he grew up in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, during the Great Depression, after his father, a stockbroker, went bankrupt in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. He became a reader early, teaching himself around age four, skipping grades, and reading Shakespeare, Dickens, Mark Twain, myths, and especially King Arthur. By high school he was writing romantic poetry and narrative short stories, though publishers showed no interest.

Alexander is best known for writing fantasy novels for children and young adults. Over seven decades, he wrote 48 books, and his work was translated into 20 languages. His most famous work, The Chronicles of Prydain, is a five-book high fantasy series shaped by his interest in Welsh mythology. Its final volume, The High King, received the 1969 Newbery Medal for excellence in American children’s literature. He also won the 1971 National Book Award for Children’s Books for The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian and the 1982 National Book Award for Westmark.

His route to writing was not a straight one. He attended West Chester State Teachers College for only one term, deciding that the curriculum was not demanding enough, and then worked in the mailroom of the Atlantic Refining Company. During World War II, he enlisted in the United States Army, where he was not suited to artillery or medical work, briefly played cymbals in a marching band, and then served as a chaplain’s assistant. The army sent him to study French language, politics, customs, and geography at Lafayette College, and later to Camp Ritchie, Maryland, for intelligence training. He rose to staff sergeant in intelligence and counter-intelligence.

War and France shaped him deeply. Alexander was stationed briefly in Wales and England, then served with the 7th Army in eastern France, translating radio messages. Later he worked in the Paris office of the Counter Intelligence Corps as a translator and interpreter until the end of 1945. After the war he studied French literature at the University of Paris, became fascinated by the poetry of Paul Éluard, and was named by Éluard as his sole English translator. In Paris he also met Janine Denni, whom he married on January 8, 1946, before returning with her and her daughter Madeleine to Philadelphia.

For many years, Alexander struggled to earn a living by writing. He translated, wrote fiction and nonfiction for adults, worked as a potter’s apprentice, wrote advertising copy, and kept producing novels that publishers rejected. His first autobiographical novel, And Let the Credit Go, appeared in 1955 and drew on his teenage work as a bank messenger. From that long apprenticeship came books known for imagination, humor, and the weight of lived experience. Alexander was nominated twice for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award and received three lifetime achievement awards before his death on May 17, 2007. At Brigham Young University’s Harold B. Lee Library, a permanent Lloyd Alexander exhibit holds items from his home office, including his desk, typewriter, manuscripts, and editions of his books.