C. Walter Hodges

Cyril Walter Hodges (18 March 1909 – 26 November 2004) was an English artist and writer best known for illustrating children's books and for helping recreate Elizabethan theatre. He won the annual Greenaway Medal for British children's book illustration in 1964.

Cyril Walter Hodges was born in Beckenham, Kent, the son of Cyril Hodges, "a leading figure in advertising and copyrighting". He was educated at Dulwich College, which he recalled as "a wretched imprisonment", and at Goldsmiths' College of Art. Hodges fell in love with Greta Becker, a hopeful ballet dancer, and they married in 1936. She provided "complete domestic support" until she died in 1999.

Hodges spent most of his career as a freelance illustrator. For many years he did line drawings for the Radio Times. Among the writers for children with whom he collaborated as an illustrator were Ian Serraillier, Rosemary Sutcliff (The Eagle of the Ninth), Rhoda Power (Redcap Runs Away), and Elizabeth Goudge (The Little White Horse).

During a year spent in New York he was encouraged to write, as well as illustrate, Columbus Sails (1939), a work of historical fiction for children. It proved popular on both sides of the Atlantic. Its success eventually led to several others including The Namesake: A Story Of King Alfred and its sequel The Marsh King; Magna Carta; The Norman Conquest; and The Spanish Armada (1964 to 1967).The Namesake was a commended runner up for the annual Carnegie Medal, which recognises the author of the year's best British children's book.

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