John Alexander Wilson (born August 3, 1951, in Edinburgh, Scotland) is a Canadian author of historical fiction and non-fiction. He is the author of over 30 books, 300 articles and essays, and 30 poems.
Biography Wilson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on August 3, 1951, to James Annan and Evelyn Victoria Marguerite Wilson. He grew up on the Island of Skye, and in Paisley.
In 1975, Wilson received a Bachelor of Science with honours in geology from the University of St Andrews. After graduation, he worked as a geologist in Zimbabwe before moving to Canada. For nine years, he worked for the Alberta Geological Survey in Edmonton.
In 1991, Wilson began writing full-time.
Wilson now lives in Lantzville on Vancouver Island. He is married to Jenifer Mary Wilson and has three children: Sarah, Fiona, and Iain.
Awards and honours A Soldier's Sketchbook and Death on the River are Junior Library Guild selections.
In 2017, the Chicago Public Library named A Soldier's Sketchbook one of the best Informational Books for Older Readers of the year. +Awards for Wilson's writingYearTitleAwardResultRef.1998Across Frozen SeasGeoffrey Bilson AwardFinalistSheila A. Egoff Children's Literature PrizeFinalist2002Righting WrongsNorma Fleck AwardFinalist2004Discovering the ArcticNorma Fleck AwardFinalistDancing Elephants and Floating ContinentsSheila A. Egoff Children's Literature PrizeFinalist2005Flames of the TigerManitoba Young Readers' Choice AwardNominee2006Four Steps to DeathGeoffrey Bilson AwardFinalistSheila A. Egoff Children's Literature PrizeFinalist2007Governor General's Award for English-language children's literatureFinalistFour Steps to DeathManitoba Young Readers' Choice AwardNomineeRed GoodwinForest of Reading Red Maple AwardFinalistWhere Soldiers LieGeoffrey Bilson AwardFinalist2008Geoffrey Bilson AwardFinalistSheila A. Egoff Children's Literature PrizeFinalistWhere Soldiers LieForest of Reading Red Maple AwardFinalist2010CrusadeGeoffrey Bilson AwardFinalist2012Shot at DawnGeoffrey Bilson AwardFinalistWritten in BloodManitoba Young Readers' Choice AwardNominee2016Wings of WarManitoba Young Readers' Choice AwardNominee
Publications Fiction Across Frozen Seas (1997) Adrift in Time (2003) Dancing Elephants and Floating Continents: The Story of Canada Beneath Your Feet (2003) Ghosts of James Bay (2006) Red Goodwin (2006) The Alchemist's Dream (2007) Lost Cause (2012) The Ruined City (2018) The Third Act (2018)
Caught in Conflict collection
Lost in Spain (1999) And in the Morning... (2002) Flames of the Tiger (2003) The Flags of War (2004) Battle Scars (2005) Four Steps to Death (2005) Where Soldiers Lie (2007) Germania (2008) Death on the River (2009)
Desert Legends trilogy
Written in Blood (2010) Ghost Moon (2011) Victorio's War (2012)
Heretic's Secret trilogy
Crusade / Heretic (2009) Quest / Grail (2010) Rebirth (2013)
I Am Canada books
Shot at Dawn: World War I, Allan McBride, France, 1917 (2011) Graves of Ice (2014)
Steve series
The Missing Skull (2016) Lost Cause (2012) Broken Arrow (2014)
Stolen duo
Stolen (2013) Bones (2014)
Tales of War trilogy
Wings of War (2014) Dark Terror (2015) A Dangerous Game (2016)
Weet trilogy
Weet (1995) Weet's Quest (1997) Weet Alone (1999)
Non-fiction Norman Bethune: A Life of Passionate Conviction (1999) Righting Wrongs: The Story of Norman Bethune (2001) Discovering the Arctic: The Story of John Rae (2003) Desperate Glory: The Story of WWI (2008) Bitter Ashes: The Story of WWII (2009) Ghost Mountains and Vanished Oceans: North America from Birth to Middle Age (2009) Failed Hope: The Story of the Lost Peace (2012) The Final Alchemy: A Novel of Murder, Magic and the Search for the Northwest Passage (2012) John Franklin: Traveller on Undiscovered Seas Lands of Lost Content (2020) A Man Exact and Truthful: John Rae and the Northwest Passage (2022) The Journal of James Fitzjames (2022)
Poetry
Love, Death and Nonsense: A Diversity of Verse (2022)
References