Annabelle Bowen Irwin
Annabelle Bowen Irwin was an American writer and educator born on October 8, 1915, in Peterson, Iowa. Growing up in a family where her father was a farmer and her mother a teacher, she developed a passion for literature and writing that continued throughout her education. After earning her bachelor's degree from Morningside College in 1937, Irwin taught high school English until 1967, during which time she co-authored updated history textbooks that were adopted by various schools in Iowa. In 1943, she married Keith C. Irwin and raised four children.
Irwin later pursued a master's degree at the University of Iowa and joined the faculty at Iowa State University as an associate professor of English. She collaborated with fellow professor Lee Hadley under the pen name Hadley Irwin, producing several novels that often tackled themes of prejudice, historical injustices, and contemporary social issues. Their notable works include *The Lilith Summer*, *Abby, My Love*, and *We Are Mesquakie, We Are One*, which received various awards acknowledging their contributions to literature for young readers. Irwin's writing is characterized by a sensitivity to complex issues, aimed at engaging and respecting the perspectives of young audiences.
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Annabelle Bowen Irwin
Writer
- Born: October 8, 1915
- Birthplace: Peterson, Iowa
- Died: September 13, 1998
Biography
Annabelle Bowen Irwin was born in Peterson, Iowa, on October 8, 1915, to Benjamin and Mary Bowen. Her father was a farmer and her mother a teacher. Books, stories, and make-believe were an integral part of Irwin’s formative years, and high school and college increased her love of writing and literature. She received her bachelor’s degree from Morningside College in 1937, and then taught high school English in Iowa until 1967. She married Keith C. Irwin on May 29, 1943; the couple had four children. As a high school teacher, she worked with a colleague to write updated history textbooks which were adopted by several Iowa school districts.
In 1967, Irwin received her M.A. from the University of Iowa, and she then taught English at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake and Midwestern College in Denison, Iowa. In 1970, she joined the faculty of Iowa State University, at Ames, as an associate professor of English. There she met fellow English professor Lee Hadley, and the two collaborated on books under the pen name Hadley Irwin until Hadley’s death in 1995.
Their first novel, The Lilith Summer, describes the summer the twelve-year-old narrator spends with a seventy-seven-year-old woman. The novel, which established a pattern for the two women to work as one writer—Hadley Irwin—was praised for its sensitivity and depth, encouraging Irwin and Hadley to continue collaborating. >Three of their subsequent novels were historical fiction, all dealing with prejudice or injustice. We Are Mesquakie, We Are One takes place in 1837, during the relocation of the Mesquakie Indians of Tama, Ohio. In Jim Dandy, Caleb flees when a horse he has raised is sold to U.S. Army officers led by General Custer. In I Be Somebody, Anson, a ten-year-old descendant of freed slaves, finds his people still attempting to flee from prejudice in turn-of-the-century Oklahoma. The writing team also focused on contemporary social issues, such as divorce, budding romance, and suicide. Abby, My Love, which was adapted for television as a CBS Schoolbreak Special in 1988, grew out of a letter from a reader and focuses on an outsider intervening in the volatile issue of sexual abuse within a family.
In 1981, We Are Mesquakie, We Are One earned the Honor Book Award from the Jane Addams Peace Association. Moon and Me received the Society of Midland Authors Award in1982. The writing team also received the Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies Award from a joint committee of the National Council on Social Studies and Children’s Book Council, and the Best Young Adult Book Award from American Library Association in 1982 for What about Grandma?, and in 1985 for Abby, My Love. The latter book also received the Children’s Choice Book Award from the joint committee of Children’s Book Council and International Reading Association in 1986. Kim/Kimi was selected for the Library of Congress Children’s Book of the Year list in 1987. Irwin and Hadley’s coauthored books focus on difficult themes, such as incest, prejudice, and divorce, with an honesty that shows respect for their young readers.