Irene Hunt Biography

Born in Newton, Illinois, on May 18, 1907, Irene Hunt received a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois in 1939 and a master's degree from the University of Minnesota in 1946. She taught French and English in the Oak Park, Illinois, public schools for fifteen years. She then taught at the University of South Dakota for four years before returning to Illinois to work as a teacher and as a consultant in the language arts in Cicero.

Hunt has garnered several awards for her books for young adults, including the Charles W. Follett in 1964 and the American Notable Book Award in 1965, both for Across Five Aprils, which was also the single runner-up for the Newbery Medal in 1965. Up a Road Slowly won that medal in 1967.

Irene Hunt was born on May 18, 1907, in Newton, Illinois, the daughter of Franklin P. and Sarah Land Hunt. Educated in southern Illinois schools, she later obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois in 1939 and a master's degree from the University of Minnesota in 1946. From 1930 to 1945 Hunt taught French and English in the public schools of Oak Park, Illinois. After receiving her master's degree, she became an instructor in psychology at the University of South Dakota (1946-1950), and later served as a teacher (1950-1965) and then director of language arts (1965-1969) in the public schools of Cicero, Illinois. Since the mid-1960s, she has worked as a writer.

Hunt's writing career began with a much-praised historical novel about the Civil War period, Across Five Aprils. Her interest in historical fiction has continued in Trail of Apple Blossoms, a story of the American pioneer days, and in No Promises in the Wind, which details the times of the...