# Suzanne Collins

> A children's television writer for seventeen years, she turned to novels with a boy who falls into a world beneath New York City, then wrote The Hunger Games.

- Novelist and screenwriter · The Hunger Games · The Underland Chronicles
- Known for: The Hunger Games, a five-book series of three novels and two prequels, and the five-book Underland Chronicles; her books have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.[1]
- Born: Aug. 10, 1962
- Last updated: 2026-11-14
- Editorial review: approved 2026-11-15
- Web page: https://authorbackstories.com/authors/suzanne-collins/
- Reading list (PDF): https://authorbackstories.com/authors/suzanne-collins/reading-list.pdf

## Featured book: Film opens Nov. 20

*Sunrise on the Reaping* (2025). The second Hunger Games prequel follows Haymitch Abernathy of District 12 through the fiftieth Games, a Quarter Quell with extra tributes.[6] It sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide in its first week, the series' biggest opening.[8]

## At a glance

- Born: Aug. 10, 1962, in Hartford, Connecticut[3]
- Education: Indiana University, B.A. in theater and telecommunications (1985); New York University, M.F.A. in dramatic writing (1989)[3]
- Before novels: Children's television writer from 1991, including Nickelodeon's *Clarissa Explains It All* and *The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo*[1]
- Best known for: The Hunger Games, five novels published 2008–2025[3]
- Honours: TIME 100 (2010); Authors Guild Award for Distinguished Service to the Literary Community (2016)[1]

## Suzanne Collins's Backstory

### Early life

Suzanne Collins was born on August 10, 1962, in Hartford, Connecticut, the youngest of four children.[3] Her father was a career U.S. Air Force officer, and the family moved often, living for a time in Indiana and in Belgium; she finished high school in Birmingham, Alabama.[3] She has described her father as a historian and doctor of political science who taught his children history as a story, took them to battlefields and put moral dilemmas to them.[2] His deployment to Vietnam, when she was six, later became the subject of her picture book *Year of the Jungle*.[1]

She studied theater and telecommunications at Indiana University, graduating in 1985, and earned an M.F.A. in dramatic writing from New York University in 1989.[3]

### Children's television

Collins began writing for children's television in 1991 and worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, among them *Clarissa Explains It All* and *The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo*.[1] She wrote stories for the preschool series *Little Bear* and *Oswald*, was head writer of *Clifford's Puppy Days*, and co-wrote the Rankin/Bass special *Santa, Baby!* with Peter Bakalian, which was nominated for a Writers Guild Award.[1] She has said she spent seventeen years in children's television, and that she structures her novels in three acts of nine chapters each, as she learned to do for scripts.[2]

### The Underland Chronicles

While working on the Kids' WB show *Generation O!*, Collins met the author and illustrator James Proimos, who encouraged her to write children's books.[4] Thinking about *Alice in Wonderland*, she reasoned that a city child was more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole, and the idea became *Gregor the Overlander*, published in 2003.[4][3] Four more Underland books followed through 2007; the series became a New York Times bestseller.[3][1]

### The Hunger Games

Collins has said the idea for *The Hunger Games* came while she was channel surfing between reality-television programs and footage of the Iraq War, at a time when she was thinking about how to explain just war theory to young readers.[2] She drew on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, which she first met in Mary Renault's *The King Must Die*, and on a childhood fascination with gladiator films and the story of Spartacus.[2]

*The Hunger Games* was published in September 2008, followed by *Catching Fire* in 2009 and *Mockingjay* in 2010.[4][3] She returned to Panem with two prequels: *The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes* (2020) and *Sunrise on the Reaping* (2025).[3] The Associated Press reported that *Sunrise on the Reaping* had the biggest first week in the series' history.[8]

### Films and stage

Collins wrote much of the screenplay for the 2012 film of *The Hunger Games*, and the second and third books were adapted in 2013, 2014 and 2015, with *Mockingjay* in two parts.[3] She has been an executive producer on all of the films; the franchise has grossed more than $3.3 billion worldwide.[1] A stage adaptation by Conor McPherson opened in London in 2025.[10]

## Fun facts

- The idea for *The Hunger Games* came to her while channel surfing between reality television and footage of the Iraq War.[2]
- She named Katniss after the arrowhead plant, which she came across while researching edible plants; the alternatives "Swamp Potato" and "Duck Potato" lost out.[2]
- *Catching Fire* was at one point titled *The Ripple Effect*, which she decided was too watery for a Girl on Fire.[2]
- Reading Mary Renault's Theseus novel *The King Must Die* as a teenager shaped the arena; she has said "It will always be an arena to me."[2]
- The Underland Chronicles began with *Alice in Wonderland*: she reasoned that in New York City a child is more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole.[4]
- The children's author and illustrator James Proimos, whom she met while working on the Kids' WB show *Generation O!*, encouraged her to try writing children's books.[4]
- Her picture book *Year of the Jungle* draws on the year her father was deployed to Vietnam, when she was six.[1]
- In 2016 the Authors Guild gave her its Award for Distinguished Service to the Literary Community, the first time it went to a young-adult author.[1]

## Books

In order of first publication; each series is kept together in reading order.

Titles and first publication years from Encyclopaedia Britannica's biography and Suzanne Collins's official site, with the years of the later Underland Chronicles books from Wikipedia.[3][1][5]

- **The Underland Chronicles** (series, 5 books, 2003–2007)
  - 2003: Book 1, *Gregor the Overlander* (Novel). ISBN 9780439678131. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780439678131) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780439678131)
  - 2004: Book 2, *Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Gregor%20and%20the%20Prophecy%20of%20Bane%20Suzanne%20Collins)
  - 2005: Book 3, *Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Gregor%20and%20the%20Curse%20of%20the%20Warmbloods%20Suzanne%20Collins)
  - 2006: Book 4, *Gregor and the Marks of Secret* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Gregor%20and%20the%20Marks%20of%20Secret%20Suzanne%20Collins)
  - 2007: Book 5, *Gregor and the Code of Claw* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Gregor%20and%20the%20Code%20of%20Claw%20Suzanne%20Collins)
- 2005: *When Charlie McButton Lost Power* (Children's book). Her first picture book, illustrated by Mike Lester.[1] [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=When%20Charlie%20McButton%20Lost%20Power%20Suzanne%20Collins)
- **The Hunger Games** (series, 5 books, 2008–2025). Numbered in publication order. In story order the prequels come first: *The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes* is set at the tenth Games and *Sunrise on the Reaping* at the fiftieth.[7][6]
  - 2008: Book 1, *The Hunger Games* (Novel). ISBN 9780439023528. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780439023528) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780439023528)
  - 2009: Book 2, *Catching Fire* (Novel). ISBN 9780545586177. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780545586177) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780545586177)
  - 2010: Book 3, *Mockingjay* (Novel). ISBN 9780545663267. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780545663267) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780545663267)
  - 2020: Book 4, *The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes* (Novel). A prequel following eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow.[7] ISBN 9781339016573. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781339016573) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781339016573)
  - 2025: Book 5, *Sunrise on the Reaping* (Novel). A prequel following Haymitch Abernathy.[6] ISBN 9781546171461. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9781546171461) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781546171461)
- 2013: *Year of the Jungle: Memories from the Home Front* (Children's book). An autobiographical picture book illustrated by James Proimos.[1] [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Year%20of%20the%20Jungle%3A%20Memories%20from%20the%20Home%20Front%20Suzanne%20Collins)

## Latest news

- May 28, 2026: *The Hunger Games: On Stage*, Conor McPherson's adaptation of the first novel, extended its run at London's Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre to February 14, 2027.[11]
- Mar. 27, 2025: The Associated Press reported that *Sunrise on the Reaping*, published March 18, sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide in its first week, 1.2 million of them in the U.S.[8]

## Adaptations and other media

### Film

- *The Hunger Games film series* (2012–2015). Based on *The Hunger Games*, *Catching Fire*, *Mockingjay*. Four films, with *Mockingjay* released in two parts; Collins wrote much of the first film's screenplay.[3] She has been an executive producer on every film in the franchise, which has grossed more than $3.3 billion worldwide.[1]
- *The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes* (2023). Based on *The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes*. The film of the first prequel was released in 2023.[3][1]
- *The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping* (Opens Nov. 20, 2026). Based on *Sunrise on the Reaping*. Lionsgate's film, directed by Francis Lawrence, stars Joseph Zada as Haymitch, with Ralph Fiennes as President Snow and Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket.[9]

### Stage

- *The Hunger Games: On Stage* (Opened 2025). Based on *The Hunger Games*. Conor McPherson's adaptation of the first novel, directed by Matthew Dunster, began previews on October 20, 2025, in the round at the purpose-built Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre in London.[10]

## Timeline

- Aug. 10, 1962: Born in Hartford, Connecticut, the youngest of four children of an Air Force officer.[3]
- 1989: Earns an M.F.A. in dramatic writing from New York University.[3]
- 1991: Begins writing for children's television.[1]
- 2003: Publishes *Gregor the Overlander*, the first of the five Underland Chronicles.[3]
- September 2008: Publishes *The Hunger Games*.[4]
- 2010: The trilogy ends with *Mockingjay*; she is named to the TIME 100.[3][1]
- 2012: *The Hunger Games* film is released; she wrote much of the screenplay.[3]
- 2020: Publishes the prequel *The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes*.[3]
- Mar. 18, 2025: Publishes *Sunrise on the Reaping*, a second prequel.[8]
- Nov. 20, 2026: Lionsgate's film of *Sunrise on the Reaping*, directed by Francis Lawrence, is scheduled to open in theaters.[9]

## What's next

Lionsgate's *The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping*, with Joseph Zada as the young Haymitch Abernathy, is scheduled to open in theaters and IMAX on November 20, 2026.[9] The London stage adaptation is booking until February 14, 2027.[11]

## Sources

1. [Bio](https://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/bio.htm). Suzanne Collins (official site). (primary record)
2. [The Hunger Games 10th Anniversary Scholastic Interview](https://suzannecollinsbooks.com/hunger_games_10th_anniversary_scholastic_interview.htm). Suzanne Collins (official site). (primary record)
3. [Suzanne Collins](https://britannica.com/biography/Suzanne-Collins). Encyclopaedia Britannica. (reference)
4. [Suzanne Collins Author Biography](https://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm/author_number/1925/Suzanne-Collins). BookBrowse. (reference)
5. [The Underland Chronicles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Underland_Chronicles). Wikipedia. (reference)
6. [Sunrise on the Reaping (A Hunger Games Novel)](https://shop.scholastic.com/parent-ecommerce/books/sunrise-on-the-reaping-a-hunger-games-novel-9781546171461.html). Scholastic. (primary record)
7. [The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Novel)](https://shop.scholastic.com/parent-ecommerce/books/the-ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes-9781339016573.html). Scholastic. (primary record)
8. [Latest 'Hunger Games' novel has best ever opening for blockbuster series](https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/latest-hunger-games-best-opening-blockbuster-series-120224839). Associated Press, via ABC News. (news)
9. [Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping – release date, cast and everything we know](https://www.techradar.com/streaming/entertainment/hunger-games-sunrise-on-the-reaping). TechRadar. (news)
10. [Hunger Games Stage Play Begins World Premiere in London October 20](https://playbill.com/article/hunger-games-stage-play-begins-world-premiere-in-london-october-20). Playbill. (news)
11. [The Hunger Games: On Stage extends run into 2027](https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/the-hunger-games-on-stage-extends-run-into-2027_1722932/). WhatsOnStage. (news)