Redwall Wiki | Brian Jacques and Redwall Information

Welcome to the Redwall Wiki, your communal Redwall and Brian Jacques information resource! Free registration eliminates the ads!

READ MORE

Redwall Wiki | Brian Jacques and Redwall Information
Register
Advertisement
Redwall Wiki | Brian Jacques and Redwall Information

Brian Jacques

James Brian Jacques (pronounced "jakes") (June 15, 1939 - February 5, 2011) was a Liverpool author, actor, comic, playwright, poet, entertainer, and musician.

Who wrote the Redwall series?

The son of Ellen and James Jacques, Brian Jacques was the author and writer of the Redwall saga of 22 fantasy books, as well as the Castaways of the Flying Dutchman trilogy. He also wrote two collections of short stories, The Ribbajack and Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales. Jacques' ancestry is French on the paternal side, and Irish on the maternal side; Jacques' grandmother came to Liverpool from Cork Country, Ireland, in 1895.

As a youth, the English author from Kirkdale, Liverpool, attended St. Johns Elementary School, an inner city Catholic school that had its playground on the roof. It was at this school where he served as an altar boy. While enrolled there, an experience at age 10 marked his potential as a writer. After being assigned to write an essay about the unusual characteristics of animals, Jacques wrote about a bird that cleaned the teeth of a crocodile, having been inspired by a Ripley's Believe it or Not newspaper column. The teacher refused to believe that a boy his age could write as well as he did. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned for lying. He had always loved to write, but it was only then that he realized that he had a talent for it.

Alan Durband

It was also at St. Johns that Brian met his English teacher, Alan Durband (who also taught two Beatles, Paul McCartney and George Harrison), who would bring about a major change in his life more than 30 years later. Durband co-founded Liverpool's Everyman Theatre in 1964, where Brian was later resident playwright, with Terry Hands.

As a boy, authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard, Rafael Sabatini, and Robert Louis Stephenson served as writers Jacques enjoyed, as well as books such as The Iliad, The Odyssey, King Solomon's Mines, The Lost World, Scaramouche, and Treasure Island. As an adult, Jacques has mentioned P. G. Wodehouse, Mario Puzo, Larry McMurtry, and Damon Runyon as favorites.

After Brian dropped out of school at the age of 15, he set out to find adventure as a Merchant Marine A.B. (Able Seaman). He traveled to many ports, including New York, Valparaiso, San Francisco, and Yokohama. Tiring of the lonely life of a sailor, he returned to his home town of Liverpool where he worked as a railway fireman, a longshoreman, a long-distance truck driver, a bus driver, a boxer, a bobby (Police Constable 216D), a postmaster, and a stand-up comic. For a while, Jacques wrote a column for the Catholic Pictorial in Liverpool.

Get Yer Wack

During the 1960s, Jacques was involved with a local Liverpudlian folk singing group composed of his friends and family members. Calling themselves "The Liverpool Fishermen", this act made rounds at local pubs and clubs, and released an LP called Swallow the Anchor in 1971. Jacques also provided backing for Liverpool trio The Scaffold, and had a lifetime membership to well-known Beatles stomping grounds, the Cavern Club. In the mid-1970s, Jacques also ran a weekly folk club on Bold St. in Liverpool, where he often performed monologues and hosted musicians.

Prior to Redwall, Jacques wrote various books of humorous poetry and short stories under the names "J. B. Jaques" and "J. Brian Jaques." These books were published almost exclusively by Anvil Press in Liverpool. The first one, Get Yer Wack: A Liverpool Anthology, was released in 1971. Over the coming years Jacques authored four more of these books, Yennoworrameanlike, Mersey Bible, Scouse with the Lid Off, and finally Jakestown in 1979.

From about 1980 onward, Jacques hosted "Jakestown", a comedy/opera/international music show on 95.8 FM BBC Radio Merseyside from 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. on Sunday afternoons. Jacques also hosted "Saturdays with Brian Jacques," also on Radio Merseyside. In October 2006, he permanently retired from the air waves.

In the Everyman Theatre's 18th season (1981-1982), Jacques was the resident playwright. His stage play Brown Bitter, Wet Nellies, and Scouse was performed there, where he was also an actor for a brief stint of time.

Why did Brian Jacques write Redwall?

Brian Jacques wrote Redwall after being dissatisfied with the available literature for adolescents, claiming it had too much angst. Wondering what had happened to the magic of classic tales, he wrote his own descriptive story, Redwall, for children attending the Royal School for the Blind in Wavertree, Liverpool when he was a truck driver in the mid-1980s.

Redwall was originally written on 800 sheets of recycled paper kept in a Safeway grocery bag. The story was inspired by Kirkdale's Stanley Park. Later, Alan Durband sent the book to publishers without telling Jacques, which led to a contract for the first five books of the Redwall saga. Jacques only received around $4,000 for that novel. The 22nd and final known novel, The Rogue Crew, was published in May 2011.

For many years, Jacques worked on Redwall books with close friend Patricia Lee Gauch, former Vice President and editor at Philomel Books, who first came to the company in 1985. She stepped down from Philomel in September 2009. Redwall was first read in the U.S. by Putnam editor Arthur Levine, who took the novel to the Philomel offices.

At book signings, Brian wore a brace due to chronic tendonitis, brought about from writing some of the earlier novels by hand.

Brian Jacques preferred to write his books on a typewriter. He had been known to use an Olivetti typewriter, as well as an Imperial typewriter.

Brian Jacques & the 21st Century

Brian Jacques portrait by Micheline Robinson

On September 11, 2000, at 7 p.m. EDT, Brian Jacques participated in a live webcast from London hosted by Penguin/Putnam and Yahoo!.

On August 19, 2001, Jacques had a stroke. Luckily, he recovered, however two and a half years later, on March 15, 2004, Jacques suffered a mild heart attack and recovered yet again.

In the fall of 2005, Brian Jacques was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Liverpool.

In spring 2007, Brian Jacques was honored as one of the top 10 Greatest Merseysiders in Liverpool, and was celebrated with a portrait painted by artist Micheline Robinson. His name was also inscribed into a wall of fame located outside the Liverpool Echo Arena.

On July 23rd 2008, Brian Jacques was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University.

How did Brian Jacques die?

BrianJacquesGrave

Brian Jacques' grave

Brian Jacques died of a heart attack. On the evening of February 5, 2011, Brian Jacques was given emergency surgery at Royal Liverpool hospital for an aortic aneurism. Attempts to save him were unsuccessful, and he passed away at age 71.

Jacques is survived by his wife Maureen, and his 2 adult sons, Marc and David. Mariel of Redwall was written for his granddaughter, Jade.

Brian Jacques is buried with his parents in Anfield Cemetery in Liverpool.

Awards

Brian Jacques
  • Shortlisted for 1977 Imperial Tobacco Awards for Radio - First Heard
  • National Local Radio Award for best light entertainment program, 1980 - Jakestown
  • Rediffusion Award for Best Light Entertainment Program (Local BBC), 1982 - Jakestown
  • ALA's Best Books for Young Adults for 1987 for Redwall
  • Lancashire Libraries Children’s Book of the Year Award for Redwall, 1988
  • Lancashire Libraries Children’s Book of the Year Award for Mattimeo, 1991
  • Lancashire Libraries Children’s Book of the Year Award for Salamandastron, 1993
  • Western Australian Young Readers Award for Redwall
  • Western Australian Young Readers Award for Mossflower, 1990
  • Western Australian Young Readers Award for Mattimeo
  • Shortlisted Carnegie Medal for Redwall
  • Shortlisted Carnegie Medal for Mossflower
  • Shortlisted Carnegie Medal for Salamandastron
  • Shortlisted Carnegie Medal for Mattimeo
  • Scouseology Award for Culture/Special Achievement
  • 1998 Audie Award for Best Children's Title (Redwall)
  • 44th Greatest Merseysider Ever, Liverpool Echo/Radio Merseyside (2003)
  • Top 10 Greatest Merseysiders (2007)
  • 83rd Greatest Merseysider of All Time, Liverpool Echo (2014)

Legacy

LiteraryLiverpool

Literary Liverpool panel, Liverpool Central Library

Brian Jacques' name is featured on the Literary Liverpool panel at the Liverpool Central Library.

Charity

Donations in Jacques' memory can be made to:

Brian Jacques Quotes

Brian Jacques
  • "It really gets up my nose when publicists call my books 'Another Lord of the Rings.' I say, 'It's not another Lord of the Rings, it's my bloody book! It's my creation. I wrote it. And another thing, I didn't have to plunder Norse and European mythology to do it!'" Locus (November 1995)
  • "I'm a writer of 'good yarns', like my dad would say - romantic adventure and escapism, not sword and sorcery." Publishing News (August 1996)
  • "I don't use any kind of computer or word processor. I really hate them. I hate the thought of my books, my children, my deathless words, coming up on a little gray screen with green letters, with a Pacman eating the mistakes." Universal Press Syndicate (1997)
  • "When I'm in the big library in the sky, some little kid will pick that [Redwall Book] up and he will appreciate it. Talk about leaving your footprint." Wall Street Journal (April 1998)
  • "I have no empty heroes. My goodies are good, and my baddies are bad. There are no schizophrenic goodies or sympathetic baddies. And children like it that way; it's not confusing. And they want the goodies to defeat the bads." Knoxville News-Sentinel (January 29, 1999)
  • "Everybody doesn't live happily ever after in my books; there is life and death in them. But as in life, if you have a friend that you loved and that friend dies, then he or she will always live in your memory." Biography Today: Profiles of People of Interest to Young Readers. Author Series, Volume 5 (1999)
  • "Harry Potter's picked up readers from me! I was there 10 years before Harry Potter." Seattle Post-Intelligencer (February 5, 2000)
  • "I suppose there's a child inside me who wants to get out...A little baldy child with a beard. Ha!” CNN (March 16, 2001)
  • "Any time I go into anything like this, I make sure, before I ever put pen to paper, that I've got the say...If you don't, it's like putting your kid in an orphanage." CNN (March 16, 2001)
  • "I still pinch meself when I wake up of a morning...Who ever thought I'd be a children's author -- let alone a best-selling children's author? I feel I should still be driving a truck, or (working as) a longshoreman." CNN (March 16, 2001)
  • "People ask me at literary conferences about writer's block. Writer's block? If I had that then I wouldn't be an author, I'd be a checkout clerk. Proper authors can't afford to have blocks and all that nonsense—it's your job, and you do it to the best of your ability. When people tell me I'm lucky I say to them, 'Yes, and the harder I work the luckier I get!'" Publisher's Weekly (March 26, 2001)
  • "American reporters ask me 'What do you think about Harry Potter?' and I say 'I don't know, what's he written?'. I was around 10 years before J. K. Rowling, but if she writes good books for kids, I hope she makes a sqwillion dollars." Ottawa Citizen (2002)
  • "It used to drive me completely bonkers when I would read in some story or book 'and the King gave a great feast for all his people.' And I would think 'Hang on now! What did the King serve? Was there enough for everybody? What did they eat? What did they drink? And just what is "mead" anyway? Were there tons of pastries for everyone? Was there music and singing? Did they all have a great time?' So when I wrote my stories, I made sure that I described, in minute detail, the feasts at Redwall Abbey." Authors by Request: An Inside Look at Your Favorite Writers (2002)
  • "In my books, life and death happens, and it's not like Disney." The Oklahoman (April 7, 2003)
  • "What I'm doing is telling a story. People who try to dissect my words are sadly disillusioned." The Gazette (Colorado Springs, CO) (September 21, 2006)
  • "I do not like the term 'fantasy'. It smacks of swords and sorcery and dungeons and dragons, and this is not at all the feeling of my books. I like to think of my books as old fashioned adventures that happened 'Once upon a time, long ago and far away...'; in fact, good yarns is how I describe them." (Undated Random House interview)
  • "Mice are my heroes because, like children, mice are little and have to learn to be courageous and use their wits." (Undated Scholastic students interview.)
  • "There is no time in my stories. There is no set date. All of it happens long ago, and far away. And that's all that matters. There are no techno-myths, no digital enemies, no 'superior technology.' Just life, peace and a world that people can go to. A world that people can believe in even if they stop believing in everything else." - Redwall - Season 2 DVD back
  • "I use animals native to Great Britain...The animals have human traits, like the mole is a tiny, furry wonderful creature with big digging claws. I think about how he would talk. He's not a baddie; he's a goodie."

On Warriors

  • "To me, a warrior is somebody you always can trust, somebody who will defend the weak and who's not a bully. A warrior is somebody all of us can look up to and say 'You can go anywhere with that person. You can trust that person's word.' They're very good to the family, and always true to their friends. I always say to a kid, 'Now that's what a warrior is, and you ought to be a proper warrior, if you want to be a warrior.'" Waldenbooks Hailing Frequencies (March-April 1995)
  • "A warrior does not have to be Arnold Schwarzenegger or have a black belt. It's someone who is not a bully, someone who would try to help weaker creatures, who is trusted by friends." TES Newspaper (May 9, 1997)
  • "A warrior is not a bully but someone who would help you against the bully, who would stand up for somebody weaker than themselves." Knoxville News-Sentinel (Jan 29, 1999)
  • "[A great warrior] could be someone of a child's age who others look to for help because there's something in them that's honest and tells the truth and is not a bully." Current (March 26, 2001)
  • "My values are not based on violence. My values are based on courage, which you see time and time again in my books. A warrior isn't somebody like Bruce Willis or Arnold Schwarzenegger. A warrior can be any age. A warrior is a person people look up to." New York Times (April 2, 2001)
  • "The point of 'Redwall' is to be a warrior. A warrior isn't Arnold Schwarzenegger, or some idiot with black belts who can kill you with a belch from 40 yards off." The Gazette (Colorado Springs, CO) (Sept 21, 2006)

Trivia

According to a poster distributed by the Redwall Readers Club:

  • Favorite Food: Spaghetti
  • Favorite Smells: Cinnamon, Dolly Mixtures
  • Worst Subject in School: Math
  • Best Subject in School: English
  • Favorite Book When Young: King Solomon's Mines
  • Favorite Character From His Own Books: Gonff the Mousethief
  • Worst Habit: Putting things off until the last minute
  • If He Wasn't a Writer, Brian Would Most Like To Be: A film director or tenor

Brian Jacques Literary Award

Brian Jacques

The Brian Jacques Literary Award was an annual Liverpool competition founded in 2000 designed to promote education and writing. Young writers submit original stories limited to 250 words for judging by a panel. Jacques designed the award "to put something back, to nurture new talent." The competition is for Merseyside Primary School children in years 5 and 6.

Prizes in previous years included £1000-worth of books for the winner's school library, a Redwall figurine, £25 worth of book tokens, and the latest Jacques novel. Second runner-ups received £500 for their school, and 5 special awards which included a certificate and full Redwall collection signed were also given out.

Winners:

  • Lucy Basnett (2001)

Tours

See the Tour page for a historical record of Brian Jacques book signing tours.


Bj6

Brian Jacques at a book signing

What does Brian Jacques' autograph look like?

If you're curious if you own an item that has been signed by Brian Jacques, you can compare it to this autograph below.

Brian Jacques signature

Brian Jacques Bibliography

Redwall

Tribes of Redwall Series

Castaways of the Flying Dutchman Series

Other

Delayed/Shelved Projects

Brian Jacques Filmography

Brian Jacques Discography

Swallowtheanchor

Swallow the Anchor

See Also

Advertisement