Suzanne Collins

Early life and education

Collins was born on August 10, 1962, in Hartford, Connecticut, to Jane Brady Collins (born 1931) and Lieutenant Colonel Michael John Collins (1931–2003), a U.S. Air Force officer who served in the Korean and the Vietnam War. Her grandfather and numerous uncles fought in both World Wars. She is the youngest of four children, her older siblings being Kathryn (born 1957), Andrew (born 1958), and Joan (born 1960). As the daughter of a military officer, she moved with her family very often, mostly living in Europe (specifically Brussels, Belgium) and the eastern part of America. As a young girl, Collins enjoyed reading, gymnastics, and exploring the woods with her friends.

Collins graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham in 1980 as a Theater Arts major. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University Bloomington in 1985 with a double major in theater and telecommunications. In 1989, Collins earned her Master of Fine Arts in dramatic writing from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Career

Collins began her career in 1991 as a writer for children's television shows. She worked on several shows for Nickelodeon, including Clarissa Explains It All, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Little Bear, Oswald and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!. She was also the head writer for the PBS spin-off Clifford's Puppy Days. She received a Writers Guild of America nomination in animation for co-writing the critically acclaimed 2001 Christmas special, Santa, Baby! After meeting children's author James Proimos while working on the Kids' WB show Generation O!, Collins felt inspired to write children's books herself.

Her inspiration for Gregor the Overlander, the first book of The New York Times best-selling series The Underland Chronicles, came from Alice in Wonderland, when she was thinking about how one was more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole, and would find something other than a tea party. Between 2003 and 2007, she wrote the five books of the Underland Chronicles: Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, and Gregor and the Code of Claw. During that time, Collins also wrote a rhyming picture book, When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005), illustrated by Mike Lester.

In September 2008, Scholastic Press released The Hunger Games, the first book of a series by Collins. The Hunger Games was partly inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Another inspiration was her father's career in the Air Force, which gave her insight to poverty, starvation, and the effects of war. The trilogy's second book, Catching Fire, was released in September 2009, and its third book, Mockingjay, was released on August 24, 2010. Within 14 months, 1.5 million copies of the first two Hunger Games books were printed in North America alone. The Hunger Games was on The New York Times Best Seller list for more than 60 weeks in a row. Lions Gate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company. Collins adapted the novel for film herself. Directed by Gary Ross, filming began in late spring 2011, with Jennifer Lawrence portraying main character Katniss Everdeen. as well as Josh Hutcherson who played Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth who played Gale Hawthorne. The subsequent two novels were adapted into films as well, with the latter book split into two cinematic installments, for a total of four films representing the three books. As a result of the popularity of The Hunger Games books, Collins was named one of Time magazine's most influential people of 2010. In March 2012, Amazon announced that she had become the best-selling Kindle author of all time. Amazon also revealed that Collins had written 29 of the 100 most highlighted passages in Kindle ebooks—and on a separate Amazon list of recently highlighted passages, she had written 17 of the top 20.

Collins released a Hunger Games prequel titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in May 2020. It is based on the life of future President Coriolanus Snow, 64 years before the events of The Hunger Games trilogy. A film adaptation, starring Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird, was released on November 17, 2023. In March 2025, it was followed by Sunrise on the Reaping, which explores the 50th Hunger Games won by Haymitch Abernathy. Lionsgate procured the rights to adapt the novel into a film, which is set to release on November 20, 2026.

Personal life

Collins moved to New York City in 1987 and lived there until 2003.

In 1991, Collins met Charles "Cap" Pryor at Indiana University and they married in 1992. Pryor has been supportive of Collins's career, reading and critiquing the earliest drafts of The Hunger Games. They live in the Sandy Hook area of Newtown, Connecticut, with their two children, Charlie and Isabel. Though Collins's IMDb profile claims she and Pryor divorced in 2015, this has never been confirmed.

In 2013, Forbes reported that Collins has a net worth of $55 million, making her No. 3 on Forbes's Top-Earning Authors List.

Awards

; Other awards

• ALSC Notable Children's Recording (audio version)
• 2009: Publishers Weeklys Best Books of the Year: Children's Fiction for Catching Fire
• An American Library Association Top 10 Best Books For Young Adult Selection
• An ALA Notable Children's Book
• A Horn Book Fanfare
• NY Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
• 2016: Authors Guild Award for Distinguished Service to the Literary Community (first time awarded to an author of young adult fiction)

Bibliography

''[[The Underland Chronicles]]''

1. Gregor the Overlander (2003)
2. Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (2004)
3. Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (2005)
4. Gregor and the Marks of Secret (2006)
5. Gregor and the Code of Claw (2007)

[[The Hunger Games|''The Hunger Games'' series]]

Original series

1. The Hunger Games (September 14, 2008)
2. Catching Fire (September 1, 2009)
3. Mockingjay (August 24, 2010)

Prequels

1. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (May 19, 2020)
2. Sunrise on the Reaping (March 18, 2025)

Other books

• Fire Proof (The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, #11) (1999)
• When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005)
• Year of the Jungle (2013)

References

References

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47. Polkowska, Margarita. (2025-10-24). "2025 Book of the Year Finalists".
48. "2005 Beehive Book Award".
49. "Book of the Year Awards from NAIBA, the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association".
50. Rubins, Jennifer. (2023-06-20). "Explore Audiobooks on the NEW PenguinRandomHouseLibrary.com!".
51. (November 2, 2009). "Best Children's Books of 2009".
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55. (2013-07-03). "GREGOR THE OVERLANDER - Suzanne Collins".
56. (May 27, 2016). "Authors Guild Benefit Honors Suzanne Collins, Celebrates Books for Young Readers". [[Authors Guild]].
57. (6 June 2024). "Suzanne Collins is releasing a new 'Hunger Games' novel, 'Sunrise on the Reaping,' next year".
58. Collins, Suzanne. (1999). "Fireproof". Simon & Schuster.