British childrens author Michelle Magorian - author of the celebrated Goodnight, Mr. Tom (1981), which won The Guardian Childrens Fiction Prize - was born in Southsea, Portsmouth, in 1947. She trained to be an actress, studying at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, and at Marcel Marceaus Lécole Internationale de Mime in Paris. While pursuing an acting career, Magorian became interested in childrens books, writing her first novel for young readers (Goodnight, Mr. Tom) over the course of four and a half years.Read Less