Suzanne Collins

• Born: August 10, 1962
• Place of Birth: Hartford, Connecticut

Biography

Suzanne Collins is the author of the popular Hunger Games trilogy, which began in 2008 with the publication of The Hunger Games and concluded with the publication of Mockingjay in 2010. The novels were adapted into films between 2012 and 2015. In addition to the Hunger Games novels, Collins has written a series of middle-grade novels known as the Underland Chronicles (2003–7) and several books for younger readers.

Suzanne Marie Collins was born on August 10, 1962, in Hartford, Connecticut. She was the youngest of four children born to Jane and Michael Collins. Her father was an officer in the US Air Force, and as a result, Collins and her family moved frequently. The family settled in Indiana in the late 1960s, but her father was soon sent to serve in the Vietnam War. After his return, the family moved several times, living in various states on the East Coast and later in Belgium.

Collins began high school in Belgium and later attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts, graduating in 1980. After high school, she enrolled in Indiana University, where she double-majored in telecommunications and theater and drama. She completed her bachelor's degree in 1985 and two years later moved to New York City to pursue graduate studies in dramatic writing at New York University. She earned her master's degree in 1989. Collins later found work as a television writer, writing for series such as Clarissa Explains It All (1991–94) and Generation O! (2000–1). Although she largely stopped working as a television writer after beginning her career as a novelist, she wrote a number of episodes of the educational children's series Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! (2006–10) in 2008 and 2009.

In 1999 Collins published her first book, Fire Proof, a tie-in to the Nickelodeon series The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo (1996–98), for which she wrote several episodes between 1997 and 1998. Her first book based on an original concept, Gregor the Overlander, was published in 2003. The novel is a work of fantasy about a preteen boy who discovers an underground realm populated by strange humans and sentient animals. Gregor the Overlander ultimately became the first installment in the five-part Underland Chronicles series, which concluded in 2007 with the publication of Gregor and the Code of Claw.

Collins published her first young adult book, The Hunger Games, in 2008. The dystopian novel follows teenager Katniss as she fights for her life in a brutal death match organized by her country's corrupt government. The Hunger Games proved incredibly popular among readers, and Collins followed the novel with two sequels, Catching Fire (2009), and Mockingjay (2010). The Hunger Games was named as one of the best children's fiction books of 2008 by Publishers Weekly, and won the 2008 Cybil Award for Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction. The series was soon adapted for the screen, with the film version of The Hunger Games premiering in 2012. Drawing from her experience as a television writer, Collins cowrote the screenplay for that first film. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was released in 2013, while the final installment, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, was split into two parts and released in 2014 and 2015. The films received accolades and were generally well-received by audiences, critics, and box office sales worldwide.

Collins continued the series after the movies. She released The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in 2020. The novel is a prequel to the Hunger Games, taking place sixty-four years before the events in the first book. Eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is mentoring a tribute to participate in the Hunger Games. His family has been disgraced, and he is hoping to restore their name by teaching his tribute to win. However, the odds are not in his favor. His tribute is a female from District 12, the smallest and poorest district in Panem. In 2024, Collins released a deluxe illustrated edition of the Hunger Games. Internationally famous artist Nico Delort created the art.

Collins penned the sixth book in the Hunger Game series, Sunrise on the Reaping, which was scheduled for release in March 2025. The novel takes place in Panem twenty-four years before the Hunger Games, the first book in the series, on the morning of the reaping during the fiftieth Hunger Games.

In addition to the Underland Chronicles and the Hunger Games trilogy, Collins is the author of the children's books When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005) and Year of the Jungle (2013). The latter, an autobiographical work, is based on her experiences while her father was deployed in Vietnam.

Collins and her husband, Cap Pryor, have two children. They live in Connecticut.

Major Works

Collins was an avid reader as a child and young adult, and her early interest in the fantasy and science-fiction genres has had a significant influence on her work. She has noted in interviews that she was particularly inspired by Greek mythology and has likened the protagonist of the Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss, to the legendary hero Theseus, who is said to have killed the monstrous Minotaur to end the sacrifice of Athenian youth. Greek mythological references are also prominent in the Underland Chronicles. In addition to its literary influences, the Hunger Games series was also inspired by several facets of Collins's personal life, including her father's experiences during the Vietnam War and her observations of the strange juxtaposition between television coverage of the then-ongoing Iraq War and reality programming.

As overwhelmingly popular dystopian novels, the Hunger Games books signaled a trend toward dystopian fiction in young adult literature. Although young adult bookshelves had previously been filled with paranormal fiction, which remained common thanks to the enduring popularity of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series (2005–8) about vampires, the number of dystopian young adult novels increased significantly during the height of Collins's popularity. The success of the film adaptations of the Hunger Games novels likewise prompted the adaptation of other successful dystopian novels, among them the books in Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy (2011–13).

Bibliography

“Biography.” Suzanne Collins. Collins, n.d. Web. 8 June 2015. <>. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.

Cunningham, John M. “Suzanne Collins.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 20 Nov. 2014. Web. 8 June 2015. <>. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.

Dominus, Susan. “Suzanne Collins's War Stories for Kids.” New York Times Magazine. New York Times, 8 Apr. 2011. Web. 8 June 2015. <>. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.

Collins, Suzanne. Interview with James Blasingame. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 52.8 (May 2009): 726–27. Print.

Collins, Suzanne. “A Killer Story: An Interview with Suzanne Collins, Author of ‘The Hunger Games.’” Interview with Rick Margolis. School Library Journal. School Library Journal, 1 Sept. 2008. Web. 8 June 2015. <>. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.

Dominus, Susan. “Suzanne Collins's War Stories for Kids.” New York Times Magazine. New York Times, 8 Apr. 2011. Web. 8 June 2015. <>. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.

Evans, Greg. "New 'Hunger Games' Novel from Suzanne Collins Coming in 2025." Deadline, 6 June 2024, deadline.com/2024/06/hunger-games-sunrise-on-the-reaping-1235960622/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.

Henthorne, Tom. Approaching the Hunger Games Trilogy: A Literary and Cultural Analysis. Jefferson: McFarland, 2012. Print.

“‘Hunger Games’ Author Suzanne Collins Graduated from IU.” IU News Room. Indiana U, 22 Mar. 2012. Web. 8 June 2015. <>. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.

Walker, Tim. "Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games Trilogy Speaks to a Generation of Teenage Readers Like No Other Literary Creation—But What's the Big Message?" Independent, 22 Nov. 2013, www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/suzanne-collins-hunger-games-trilogy-speaks-to-a-generation-of-teenage-readers-like-no-other-8958113.html. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024.