Doherty, Berlie (1943– )

English novelist. She has written a wide variety of books in various genres for children and adults. Her published works include picture books, short stories, poetry, and the screenplay of her novel White Peak Farm, for which she was awarded the New York Film and TV Award. Her adult fantasy novels include Children of Winter (1985), in which children drawn back to the time of the Black Death must learn to survive.

Born in Liverpool, Doherty has worked in theatre, radio, television. Novels with contemporary themes include Granny was a Buffer Girl (1986; Carnegie Medal), which explores the links between the generations of a family set against the history of their home city of Sheffield, Dear Nobody (1992; Carnegie Medal and Writers Guild Award), which deals with teenage pregnancy, and Snake Stone (1996), which centres on adoption and a teenager's search for connections with his past.