Atkinson and Donaldson awarded MBEs

The Bookseller - 13.06.11 | Charlotte Williams

Authors Kate Atkinson (left) and Julia Donaldson have been awarded MBEs in this year's Birthday Honours List.

Transworld author Atkinson and newly-appointed children's laureate Donaldson were both recognised by the Queen, with the list of those honoured released on Saturday.
Atkinson's first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year award. Her other works include Human Croquet, Emotionally Weird and story collection Not The End of The World. Atkinson's detective character Jackson Brodie features in four books, including One Good Turn and Started Early, Took My Dog. An adaptation of the Brodie novels "Case Histories", is currently being shown on BBC1 as a six-part drama.
Transworld m.d. Larry Finlay said: "We are absolutely delighted that Kate Atkinson has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. It's a fitting tribute to a wonderful writer who has contributed so richly to the landscape of British literature. We are enormously proud to be her publisher."

Meanwhile, Donaldson, recognised as an "author and playwright" on the Honours list, has just been appointed children's laureate for 2011 to 2013, and is the author of bestselling titles including The Gruffalo. Donaldson is published by Pan Macmillan in the UK.
Footnote:
UK authors fared rather better than NZ authors in the NZ Queen's Birthday Honours !