BAIRD, Alison 1963-

PERSONAL: Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; daughter of Donal (a fire-fighting consultant) and Violet (a nurse; maiden name, Morgan) Baird. Education: University of Toronto, B.A. (with honors), 1986, M.A., 1990. Hobbies and other interests: Watercolor painting, amateur theater, travel.

ADDRESSES: Home—Ontario, Canada. Agent—Sternig & Byrne Literary Agency, 3209 South 55th St., Milwaukee, WI 53219.

CAREER: Writer.

MEMBER: Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators, and Performers.

AWARDS, HONORS: Regional winner, Silver Birch Award, 1996, for The Dragon's Egg; Canadian Children's Book Centre choice, c. 1999, for The Hidden World and White as the Waves: A Novel of Moby Dick; Best of 2001 selections, Resource Links, for The Wolves of Woden; IODE Book Award nomination, Violet Downey National Chapter, for White as the Waves.

WRITINGS:

The Dragon's Egg, illustrated by Frances Tyrrell, Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 1994.

White as the Waves: A Novel of Moby Dick, Tuckamore Books (St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada), 1999.

The Hidden World, Puffin Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

The Wolves of Woden, Puffin Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

The Witches of Willowmere (first novel in "Chronicles of Willowmere"), Penguin Books Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

Work represented in anthologies, including What If . . . ? Amazing Stories, selected by Monica Hughes, Tundra Books, 1998; and Wonder Zone: Stardust, Trifolium, 2001. Contributor of short stories to magazines, including On Spec.

ADAPTATIONS: Baird's short story "Moon Maiden" was recorded on compact disk, Prentice-Hall.

WORK IN PROGRESS: An epic adult fantasy series for Warner Books.

SIDELIGHTS: Canadian writer Alison Baird's novels reflect her fascination with fantasy, drawing as they do upon the author's knowledge of myth and folklore from around the world. She creates imaginary worlds that blend elements of disparate legends and tales into a single world of her own design, one that reviewers have found to be solid and believable. Sometimes Baird creates a parallel contemporary world, equally realistic, and sends her protagonists back and forth from one realm to the other in their quest for solutions to epic dilemmas. In the 2002 work The Witches of Willowmere, Baird combines history, magic, and the supernatural in a story about a modern teen forced to confront her own destiny against a malevolent power. Reviewing the novel in Resource Links, K. V. Johansen praised Baird's teen protagonist as "a believably strong and resilient, yet unhappy and troubled young woman," and the novel's storyline "briskly-paced." Dubbing The Witches of Willowmere a "metaphysical mystery" Hamilton Spectator critic added of this first series installment: "And, of course, Baird's writing is as excellently crafted as ever."

In Baird's 1999 novel The Hidden World, Maeve O'Connor's real world is the rugged Avalon peninsula in southeastern Newfoundland, Canada, where the unhappy teenager has been sent to visit relatives. No happier there than in her native Toronto, Maeve immerses herself in a book written by her grandmother about a modern girl who mysteriously finds herself in the mythical Avalon of King Arthur. When Maeve experiences a similar supernatural transportation her first response to the eery event is denial, followed by resistance. Eventually she is drawn into a medieval land replete with fairies, strange mythical creatures, and, of course, an adventurous quest. Quill & Quire reviewer Philippa Sheppard noted with favor the vivid splendor of Baird's fantasy world and her realistic depiction of contemporary Newfoundland, a landscape unfamiliar to many American—and even Canadian—readers.

The Wolves of Woden is another novel of parallel worlds, set in the Avalon peninsula prior to the events of The Hidden World. In the midst of the anxiety created by World War II, teenager Jean MacDougall finds herself unexpectedly in the exotic other-world of Annwn. There she finds ancient ancestors of twentieth-century Newfoundlanders engaged in a war of their own. It is a fierce battle indeed, pitting primitive Celts against Viking invaders, and druids and fairy folk against the evil witch Morgana and even the mythical god Woden himself. Jean embarks on a quest for the legendary Spear of Lugh, which she believes has the power to save both worlds. In this ambitious epic, Baird displays her knowledge of many myths. She weaves strands of real and imaginary, contemporary and ancient, history and fantasy, gods and men to build a story that "actually improves upon its predecessor [The Hidden World]," according to Laurie McNeill in Quill & Quire, "creating an exciting and often truly magical narrative." Baird fills her story with people who are, in the opinion of a Hamilton Spectator reviewer, "wonderful, fully believable characters in both worlds." Resource Links contributor Krista Johansen recommended The Wolves of Woden: "The action is gripping, the blending of Celtic and Norse mythology, the Arthurian legends, and fairy lore deftly handled, and the conflicts complex."

Baird's novel The Dragon's Egg takes place in contemporary Toronto and features an imaginative nine-year-old protagonist. Ai Lien is different: her name and ethnicity mark her as an outsider at her new school. She is ridiculed for her superior intelligence and subjected to the taunts of bullies who are all older than she is. Ai Lien needs a friend who can accept her as she is. She finds him in a special stone that becomes her "dragon's egg." When the egg hatches, Ai Lien's invisible friend becomes her companion and ally against the world. In Quill & Quire Ken Setterington recommended The Dragon's Egg to fans of dragon stories, noting especially "the magic and majesty of Chinese dragons" as Baird depicts them.

Baird is also the author of White as the Waves: A Novel of Moby Dick, an adaptation of Herman Melville's classic as seen through the eyes of the whale. She tells the story of the whale—named White as the Waves—from birth, surrounding him at times with friends, accompanying him on his more solitary travels through the seas, experiencing with him the assaults of the whalers who repeatedly threaten his life. To accomplish this narrative, Baird creates a complex undersea world, paying careful attention to every detail of its landscape, culture, and inhabitants. Quill & Quirereviewer Teresa Toten noted a disruptive amount of explanation in this long novel, to the detriment of the story itself, but she cited the story of White as the Waves and his relentless pursuit of Captain Ahab as an "original" and "intriguing adventure."

Baird once told CA: "I am one of those people who always intended to be writers from an early age. I was given my first library card when I was four years old, commencing a lifelong love affair with books. Nathaniel Hawthorne's A Wonder Book, a retelling of classical Greek myths, was one of my favorites; I also devoured the works of E. Nesbit, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien. With the passing years the longing to be a writer myself took hold. At the age of twelve I wrote a collection of poems, four of which were ultimately published in various magazines and anthologies. With this encouragement, I continued to write through high school and university. My first short stories were published in 1993, my first book the year after.

"Of all genres, I am most drawn to fantasy fiction, enjoying the absolute free rein it grants to the imagination. Children's fiction is also attractive to me because, despite the label's implied exclusivity, it is in fact ageless. A well-written 'children's' book can be a source of delight for the adult reader as much as for the child: like a myth or folk tale it transcends age boundaries. This is the kind of book which, as a child and as an adult, I always longed to write."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Canadian Book Review Annual, 1999, review of White as the Waves: A Novel of Moby Dick, pp. 481-482.

Canadian Children's Literature, summer, 1997, review of The Dragon's Egg, p. 54.

Hamilton Spectator (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada), July 14, 2001, review of The Wolves of Woden September 14, 2002, review of The Witches of Willowmere.

Quill & Quire, October, 1994, Ken Setterington, review of The Dragon's Egg, p. 43; March, 1999, Philippa Sheppard, review of The Hidden World, p. 70; May, 1999, Teresa Toten, review of White as the Waves, p. 37; August, 2001, Laurie McNeill, review of The Wolves of Woden, p. 32.

Resource Links, October, 2001, Krista Johansen, review of The Wolves of Woden, p. 36; October, 1999, Connie Hall, review of White as the Waves, p. 24; winter, 2002, K. V. Johansen, review of The Witches of Willomere, p. 24.