Clive King

Clive King

David Clive King (born 24 April 1924) is an English author best known for his children's book Stig of the Dump (1962). He served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in the last years of World War II and then worked for the British Council in a wide range of overseas postings, from which he later drew inspiration for his novels.

Clive King was born in Richmond, London, England in April 1924 and grew up in Ash, Kent. He was educated at The King's School, Rochester, Kent 1933–41 and then Downing College, Cambridge, where he obtained a B.A. in English. He served as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve 1943–46, which took him to the Arctic, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Malaysia and Japan, where he saw the then recent devastation of Hiroshima.

After the war, he began working as an Officer of the British Council and was posted to Amsterdam as an Administrative Officer (1948–50). Subsequent postings for the British Council included: Belfast as a Student Welfare Officer (1950–51); Aleppo, Syria as a Lecturer (1951–54); Damascus as a Visiting Professor to the University (1954–55); Beirut as Lecturer and Director of Studies (1960–66); Madras as an Education Officer (1971–73). He also served as a Warden for East Sussex Country Council from 1955–60. He attended the London School of Oriental and African Studies from 1966–7, then served as an Education Advisor for the East Pakistan Education Centre in Dhaka from 1967–71.

Clive King started writing as a child, stating that his first story was a script for a western film written in 1930. He had articles published in both his school and college magazines before his first book, Hamid of Aleppo, was published by Macmillan & Co, NY in 1958. He wrote three more novels for children, The Town That went South (1959), Stig of the Dump (1962) and The 22 Letters (1966) before deciding to become a full-time writer in 1973.

He went on to write twelve further novels between 1973 and 1995 but it is for Stig of the Dump, which was twice adapted for television and continues to be taught in British schools, for which he is best known.

As a popular children's author he was invited to Children's Literature Summer Camps for members of the Puffin Book Club, run by Colony Holidays (predecessor to ATE Superweeks) along with other popular children's authors such as Ian Serraillier and Joan Aiken.

Clive King has been married twice, has three children and lives in Norfolk.