Terence Blacker


Terence Blacker is an English songwriter, author and columnist.

Early life and education

Blacker was born near Hadleigh, Suffolk. He is the son of General Sir Cecil Blacker, and the brother of sculptor and former jockey Philip Blacker.
He grew up on the family farm in Suffolk. He attended Hawtreys preparatory school and Wellington College, before reading English at Trinity College, Cambridge, whence he graduated in 1969.

Life and work

Blacker began his working life in horse-racing and as an amateur jockey. Subsequently, he worked in publishing for 10 years during the 1970s and 1980s, where he was responsible for overseeing the publication of works by Jerzy Kosinski.
Blacker became a full-time writer in 1983 and has written children's books and mysteries for adults. His first children's book, If I Could Work, was published in 1987 and his first adult novel, FIXX, won critical acclaim and was described by The Guardian as a "tour de force". He is an active member of English PEN, and is also an EAW member.
He writes the "Endpaper" for The Author. For many years, he wrote the "Harvey Porlock" column in The Sunday Times, as well as a column about the book business for Publishing News.
His regular writing for The Independent, newspaper, usually consisting of twice-weekly columns, came to an end in December 2013 after nearly 16 years.
Blacker was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2017.

Personal life

In 1975 he married Caroline Soper, youngest daughter of the radical Methodist minister Donald Soper. They have two children, Xan and Alice. Blacker's partner is now Angela Sykes.

Publications

  • Adult books
  • *Fixx,
  • *The Fame Hotel,
  • *Revenance,
  • *Kill Your Darlings,
  • *You Cannot Live as I Have Lived and Not End Up Like This: The Thoroughly Disgraceful Life and Times of Willie Donaldson,
  • Children's books
  • * Girl Power by Blacker
  • *Neil's Book of the Dead by Blacker, Nigel Planer,
  • *Henry and the Frights,
  • *Houdini, the Disappearing Hamster,
  • *Herbie Hamster, Where Are You? by Blacker, Pippa Unwin,
  • *The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen,
  • *If I Could Work,
  • *Homebird, ;
  • *Nasty Neighbours / Nice Neighbours,
  • *The Transfer,
  • *The Angel Factory,
  • *You Have Ghost Mail,
  • *Boy2girl,
  • *Tinseltown,
  • *Parentswap,
  • *Missing, Believed Crazy,
  • Ms Wiz series
  • *Ms Wiz Spells Trouble, ;,
  • *In Stitches with Ms Wiz, ;
  • *You're Nicked, Ms Wiz, ;
  • *In Control, Ms Wiz?, ;
  • *Ms Wiz Goes Live,
  • *Ms Wiz Banned!, ;
  • *Time Flies for Ms Wiz, ;
  • *Power-crazy Ms Wiz, ;
  • *Ms Wiz Loves Dracula, ;
  • *You're Kidding Me, Ms Wiz,
  • *Ms Wiz Supermodel,
  • *Ms Wiz Smells a Rat,
  • *Ms Wiz and the Sister of Doom,
  • *Ms Wiz Goes to Hollywood,
  • *Ms Wiz: Millionaire,
  • *The Secret Life of Ms Wiz,
  • *The Crazy World of Ms Wiz,
  • *Ms Wiz Superstar,
  • *Ms Wiz Mayhem,
  • *Totally Spaced, Ms Wiz,
  • *Fangtastic, Ms Wiz Mayhem,
  • *Out of Control, Ms Wiz,