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{{Short description|Irish-Canadian writer (born 1952)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
'''O.R. Melling''', also known as '''G.V. Whelan''', is an author of several fantasy novels. Melling's novels are aimed at both adults and young adults and contain stories mostly written around Irish and [[Celt]]ic [[folklore]], [[Fairy|faeries]] in particular.
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| birth_name = Geraldine Valerie Whelan<ref name="ELC2002"/>
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| birth_place = [[Bray, County Wicklow]], Ireland<ref name="Bhroin 2021">{{cite book |last1=Ní Bhroin |first1=Ciara |title=Discourses of Home and Homeland in Irish Children's Fiction 1990-2012 |date=2022 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke |isbn=978-3-030-73397-1 |page=72 |chapter=Recovery of Origins: Myths of Homeland and Return in the Fantasy Fiction of O.R. Melling|doi=10.1007/978-3-030-73395-7_3|s2cid=236707691 |oclc=1328020005}}</ref>
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'''Geraldine Valerie Whelan''' (born 2 December 1952), known by the [[pen name]] '''O. R. Melling''', is a writer of [[fantasy literature|fantasy novels]], mostly for children and young adults. Melling's novels focus on Irish and [[Celt]]ic [[folklore]]. She writes reviews and film scripts as '''G. V. Whelan'''.<ref name="Indep_2006"/> She is sometimes published as '''Orla Melling'''.<ref name="BP_1992">{{cite news |title=World travels led on to writing children's books |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002342/19920612/252/0029 |access-date=3 July 2023 |work=Bray People |date=12 June 1992}}</ref>
Melling was born in Ireland and was brought up in [[Toronto]], Ontario with seven sisters and two brothers. She attended [[Loretto College School]]. When she was 18 years old she hitched-hiked across Canada and through California. Melling travelled extensively in her youth, straying as far from Toronto as [[Malaysia]] and northern [[Borneo]].


==Early life and education==
With a B.A. in philosophy and [[Celtic Studies]] from [[University of Trinity College|Trinity College]] in the [[University of Toronto]] and an M.A. in Mediaeval History, Melling has written film scripts, papers and become a literary critic under her real name, G.V. Whelan.
Melling was born in Ireland, but moved with her family to [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]] when she was four.<ref name="Bhroin 2021"/> Her father was a musician and she had nine brothers and sisters.<ref name="BP_1995_Whelan">{{cite news |last1=Whelan |first1=G. V. |title=Salute to a popular Bray jazz musician |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002342/19951019/199/0023 |access-date=3 July 2023 |work=Bray People |date=19 October 1995}}</ref>


Melling was educated at [[Loretto College School]] in Toronto.<ref name="Loretto">{{cite news |title=Alumna Spotlight, Geraldine Valerie Whelan, LCS 1970 |url=https://lorettoalumnae.ca/alumna-spotlight-geraldine-valerie-whelan-lcs-1970 |access-date=3 July 2023 |publisher=Loretto Alumnae Association |date=15 September 2020}}</ref> She studied philosophy, [[Celtic Studies]] and mediaeval history at [[University of Trinity College|Trinity College]], [[University of Toronto]].<ref name="Bhroin 2021"/>
Currently living in her hometown of [[Bray]], Co. [[Wicklow]], Melling is still writing and has a daughter, Findabhair.


==Career==
Many of Melling's books have been translated into German, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Slovenian and Czech.


Melling has said that she started writing after dropping out of studying law: "Writing gave me the excuse I needed to leave my law studies".<ref name="BP_1992"/>
== Books ==


Melling has been awarded the [[Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award]] for ''The Druid's Tale'', and the [[Ontario Arts Foundation|Ruth Schwartz Award for Children's Literature]].<ref name="Ketterer 1992 p. 65">{{cite book | last=Ketterer | first=D. | title=Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy | publisher=Indiana University Press | year=1992 | isbn=978-0-253-33122-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zvARp4yM1sUC&pg=PA65 | access-date=3 July 2023 | page=65}}</ref><ref name="Indep_2006"/> ''The Druid's Tale'' has been translated into Czech and Japanese.<ref name="BP_1998">{{cite news |last1=Savage |first1=Anne |title=Orla meets pupils of St. Pat's |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002342/19981029/072/0011 |access-date=3 July 2023 |work=Bray People |date=29 October 1998}}</ref>
* The Chronicles of Faerie series <!-- http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?22277 [[Chronicles of Faerie]] perhaps neither worth linking -->
:* ''[[The Hunter's Moon]]'' (1993)
:* ''[[The Summer King]]'' (Amulet Books, 2006)
:* ''[[The Light-Bearer's Daughter]]'' (Amulet, 2007)
:* ''The Book of Dreams'' (Amulet, 2009)
:* ''The Golden Book of Faerie'', 2004 omnibus edition (4 vols.); ''The Chronicles of Faerie'', 2002 omnibus edition (3 vols.)


Her influences include [[Patricia Lynch]].<ref name="Bhroin 2021"/><ref name="BP_1998"/>
* ''[[The Singing Stone]]'' (1986)
* ''The Druid's Tune'' (1983)
*''My Blue Country'' (Toronto: Viking, 1996), {{OCLC|35936230}}
* ''Falling Out of Time'' (1989)
* ''People of the Great Journey: would you go if you were called?'', {{OCLC| 857524886}}


Melling has also worked as a teacher of [[Irish dance]] and been an officer in the [[Royal Canadian Navy]].<ref name="BP_1993">{{cite news |title=Author Orla found her inspiration in Bray |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002342/19931022/122/0017 |access-date=3 July 2023 |work=Bray People |date=22 October 1993}}</ref>
<!--
== References ==


==Critical response==
-->

{{BLP unsourced|date=August 2015}}
The critic [[Ciara Ní Bhroin]] has described Melling's novels as "weaving ... modern Canadian protagonists into ancient myth". She identifies a "nostalgic, regressive strain" in ''The Druid's Tale'', and writes that "Melling both confirms and denies traditional portrayals of Ireland and the feminine". Ní Bhroin positions Melling's work within [[Irish literature#The Anglo-Irish tradition (2)|Anglo-Irish literature]].<ref name="Bhroin 2021"/>

==Personal life==
Melling lives in [[Bray, County Wicklow]]. She has a daughter.<ref name="Indep_2006">{{cite news |title=Award-winning Orla writes about a world of fantasy |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/wicklow/bray-news/award-winning-orla-writes-about-a-world-of-fantasy/27617547.html |access-date=3 July 2023 |work=Irish Independent |date=13 July 2006}}</ref>

==Books==
*{{cite book |last1=Melling |first1=O.R. |title=The Druid's Tune |date=1983 |publisher=Amulet |isbn=9780143016748|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |last1=Melling |first1=O.R. |title=[[The Singing Stone]] |date=1986 |publisher=Amulet |isbn=9780143016670|author-mask=1|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |last1=Melling |first1=O.R. |title=Falling Out of Time |date=1989 |publisher=Viking, Markham |location=Ontario |isbn=9780670814213|author-mask=1|ref=none}}
* ''[[The Chronicles of Faerie]]'' series (1993–2003)<!-- http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?22277 [[Chronicles of Faerie]] perhaps neither worth linking -->
**{{cite book |last1=Melling |first1=O.R. |title=[[The Hunter's Moon (novel)|The Hunter's Moon]] |date=1993 |publisher=Amulet Books |isbn=9781435274303 |language=en|author-mask=1|ref=none}}
**{{cite book |last1=Melling |first1=O.R. |title=[[The Summer King (novel)|The Summer King]] |date=1999 |publisher=Amulet |isbn=978-0-616-14663-7|author-mask=1|ref=none}}
**{{cite book |last1=Melling |first1=O.R. |title=[[The Light-Bearer's Daughter]] |date=2001 |publisher=Amulet |isbn=9780141309927|author-mask=1|ref=none}}
**{{cite book |last1=Melling |first1=O.R. |title=[[The Book of Dreams (Melling novel)|The Book of Dreams]] |date=2003 |publisher=Amulet |isbn=9780810984189|author-mask=1|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |last1=Melling |first1=O.R. |title=My Blue Country |date=1996 |publisher=CNIB |location=Toronto |isbn=9780616753682|author-mask=1|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |last1=Melling |first1=O.R. |title=People of the Great Journey |date=2013 |publisher=Hay House |isbn=9781781802076|author-mask=1|ref=none}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{Portal |Children's literature |Mythology |Speculative fiction |Ireland }}
* {{official |ormelling.com}}
* {{official website |ormelling.com}}
* [http://www.mythicjourneys.org/guest_melling.html Biography] at Mythic Imagination Institute (mythicjourneys.org)
* [http://www.mythicjourneys.org/guest_melling.html Biography] at Mythic Imagination Institute (mythicjourneys.org)
* {{isfdb name|5223}}
* {{ISFDB name|5223}}
* {{LCAuth|n84127736|O. R. Melling|7|ue}}
* {{LCAuth|n84127736|O. R. Melling|7|ue}}
* [https://lorettoalumnae.ca/alumna-spotlight-geraldine-valerie-whelan-lcs-1970 Alumna Spotlight, Geraldine Valerie Whelan, LCS 1970]


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Persondata
| NAME = Melling, O. R.
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Canadian writer
| DATE OF BIRTH =
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melling, O. R.}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melling, O. R.}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:Canadian fantasy writers]]
[[Category:Canadian fantasy writers]]
[[Category:Canadian women novelists]]
[[Category:Canadian women novelists]]
[[Category:Trinity College (Canada) alumni]]
[[Category:Trinity College (Canada) alumni]]
[[Category:University of Toronto alumni]]
[[Category:University of Toronto alumni]]
[[Category:People from Bray]]
[[Category:People from Bray, County Wicklow]]
[[Category:Women science fiction and fantasy writers]]
[[Category:Women science fiction and fantasy writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Writers from County Wicklow]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]




{{Canada-writer-stub}}
{{Canada-writer-stub}}
{{fantasy-stub}}
{{Ireland-writer-stub}}

Latest revision as of 18:11, 10 November 2023

O. R. Melling
BornGeraldine Valerie Whelan[1]
(1952-12-02) 2 December 1952 (age 71)[1]
Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland[2]
OccupationNovelist
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
GenreFantasy literature
Notable awards
Children1
Website
ormelling.com

Geraldine Valerie Whelan (born 2 December 1952), known by the pen name O. R. Melling, is a writer of fantasy novels, mostly for children and young adults. Melling's novels focus on Irish and Celtic folklore. She writes reviews and film scripts as G. V. Whelan.[3] She is sometimes published as Orla Melling.[4]

Early life and education

[edit]

Melling was born in Ireland, but moved with her family to Toronto, Ontario when she was four.[2] Her father was a musician and she had nine brothers and sisters.[5]

Melling was educated at Loretto College School in Toronto.[6] She studied philosophy, Celtic Studies and mediaeval history at Trinity College, University of Toronto.[2]

Career

[edit]

Melling has said that she started writing after dropping out of studying law: "Writing gave me the excuse I needed to leave my law studies".[4]

Melling has been awarded the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award for The Druid's Tale, and the Ruth Schwartz Award for Children's Literature.[7][3] The Druid's Tale has been translated into Czech and Japanese.[8]

Her influences include Patricia Lynch.[2][8]

Melling has also worked as a teacher of Irish dance and been an officer in the Royal Canadian Navy.[9]

Critical response

[edit]

The critic Ciara Ní Bhroin has described Melling's novels as "weaving ... modern Canadian protagonists into ancient myth". She identifies a "nostalgic, regressive strain" in The Druid's Tale, and writes that "Melling both confirms and denies traditional portrayals of Ireland and the feminine". Ní Bhroin positions Melling's work within Anglo-Irish literature.[2]

Personal life

[edit]

Melling lives in Bray, County Wicklow. She has a daughter.[3]

Books

[edit]
  • Melling, O.R. (1983). The Druid's Tune. Amulet. ISBN 9780143016748.
  • — (1986). The Singing Stone. Amulet. ISBN 9780143016670.
  • — (1989). Falling Out of Time. Ontario: Viking, Markham. ISBN 9780670814213.
  • The Chronicles of Faerie series (1993–2003)
  • — (1996). My Blue Country. Toronto: CNIB. ISBN 9780616753682.
  • — (2013). People of the Great Journey. Hay House. ISBN 9781781802076.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Melling, O.R.". Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. University of Toronto Press. 2002. p. 736 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ a b c d e Ní Bhroin, Ciara (2022). "Recovery of Origins: Myths of Homeland and Return in the Fantasy Fiction of O.R. Melling". Discourses of Home and Homeland in Irish Children's Fiction 1990-2012. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 72. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-73395-7_3. ISBN 978-3-030-73397-1. OCLC 1328020005. S2CID 236707691.
  3. ^ a b c "Award-winning Orla writes about a world of fantasy". Irish Independent. 13 July 2006. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  4. ^ a b "World travels led on to writing children's books". Bray People. 12 June 1992. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  5. ^ Whelan, G. V. (19 October 1995). "Salute to a popular Bray jazz musician". Bray People. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Alumna Spotlight, Geraldine Valerie Whelan, LCS 1970". Loretto Alumnae Association. 15 September 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  7. ^ Ketterer, D. (1992). Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy. Indiana University Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-253-33122-9. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  8. ^ a b Savage, Anne (29 October 1998). "Orla meets pupils of St. Pat's". Bray People. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Author Orla found her inspiration in Bray". Bray People. 22 October 1993. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
[edit]


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