Wynne-Jones, Tim (1948-…), is a British-Canadian author of picture books and novels for children, as well as novels for young adults and adults. He won Governor General’s Literary Awards for English language children’s literature for the young adult short story collection Some of the Kinder Planets (1993) and for the novel The Maestro (1995). The Maestro tells the story of a 14-year-old boy who runs away from home to escape an abusive father. Wandering through the Canadian wilderness, the boy stumbles upon the cabin of a reclusive musician who reluctantly offers the boy shelter and slowly forms a bond with him that changes the boy’s life. The Governor General’s Literary Award is the highest national prize awarded for works published in Canada. The Starlight Claim (2019) is a sequel to The Maestro.
Timothy Wynne-Jones was born on Aug. 12, 1948, in Bromborough, Cheshire, in the United Kingdom, and grew up in British Columbia and Ontario, Canada. He studied architecture at the University of Waterloo, but dropped out and performed in a rock band. He earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Waterloo in 1974 and a master’s degree in visual arts from York University in 1979. His first book, Madeline & Ermadillo, a children’s picture book illustrated by Lindsey Hallam, was published in 1977. Wynne-Jones worked as a book designer and a graphic designer before his first novel, Odd’s End, an adult psychological thriller, was published in 1980. From 1984 to 1985, he co-wrote a number of songs for the Canadian children’s television show “Fraggle Rock” (1983-1987), created by the American puppeteer Jim Henson.
Wynne-Jones gained notice for the “Zoom” children’s picture book trilogy, which follows the adventures of a seafaring cat named Zoom. All three books—Zoom at Sea (1983), Zoom Away (1985), and Zoom Upstream (1992)—were illustrated by Eric Beddows, pseudonym for Ken Nutt. Wynne-Jones’s other picture books include Mischief City (illustrated by Victor Gad, 1986); Ned Mouse Breaks Away (illustrated by Dusan Petricic, 2003); and Secret Agent Man Goes Shopping for Shoes (illustrated by Brian Won, 2016).
Additional books by Wynne-Jones for middle grade readers include The Book of Changes (1995); Lord of the Fries and Other Stories (1999); Rex Zero and the End of the World (2006) as well as its sequels, Rex Zero, King of Nothing (2007) and Rex Zero, The Great Pretender (2008); and War at the Snow White Motel and Other Stories (2020). Wynne-Jones’s other young adult fiction books include Stephen Fair (1998); The Boy in the Burning House (2000); A Thief in the House of Memory (2004);The Uninvited (2009); Blink and Caution (2011); and The Ruinous Sweep (2018). His other adult fiction includes The Knot (1982) and Fastyngange (1988).
Wynne-Jones also wrote the libretto (text) for the children’s opera A Midwinter Night’s Dream (1998), which was commissioned by the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus. Since 2002, Wynne-Jones has been a faculty member at Vermont College’s Master of Fine Arts program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. In 2012, he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions to Canadian children’s literature. Appointment to the order is one of Canada’s highest civilian honors.
