Gudrun Pausewang (3 March 1928 – 23 January 2020), less commonly known by her married name, Gudrun Wilcke, was a German author of
children's
A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person young ...
and
young adult literature
Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate w ...
. She was known for books such as ''
The Last Children of Schewenborn
''The Last Children of Schewenborn'' (German: ''Die letzten Kinder von Schewenborn'') is a 1983 novel by Gudrun Pausewang, depicting life in rural Germany in the aftermath of a Nuclear warfare, nuclear war.
While the story is entirely fictional, ...
'' and ''
Die Wolke
''Die Wolke'' () is a German novel for young adults by German author Gudrun Pausewang, published in 1987. The story was written after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, with a 14-year-old girl having to deal with the consequences o ...
'' (''The Cloud'', translated in the English book title as ''Fall-Out'')
which were made part of German school canons. Among her primary topics were work for peace and protection of the environment, namely warning of the alleged dangers of nuclear energy. Her books have been translated into English and received international recognition and awards.
Biography
Pausewang was born in Wichstadtl (now
Mladkov), Eastern Bohemia,
a member of the
German minority in Czechoslovakia
German Bohemians (german: Deutschböhmen und Deutschmährer, i.e. German Bohemians and German Moravians), later known as Sudeten Germans, were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part ...
.
Her father was Siegfried Pausewang, and she was the eldest of six siblings.
After the Nazis annexed the area, she became a
Jungmädel at age 10
and remained in the organisation until age 17. Her father died in World War II, and her mother fled with the children to the West
settling in
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
.
Pausewang studied pedagogy and taught in German primary schools ''(Volksschule)'', then from 1956 for Germany's foreign school services in South America,
in Chile, Venezuela and Columbia.
She returned to Germany with her son in 1972. She lived in
Schlitz, Hesse
Schlitz is a small town in the Vogelsbergkreis in eastern Hesse, Germany.
Geography
Location
The town of Schlitz lies at the outlet of the small river Schlitz on the Fulda.
Neighbouring communities
Schlitz borders in the north on the communitie ...
, where she taught until her retirement in 1989,
and where she wrote most of her novels.
After her retirement, she achieved her Ph.D. with a dissertation entitled ''"Vergessene Jugendschriftsteller der Erich-Kästner-Generation'' (''Forgotten young-adult writers of
Erich Kästner's generation).
Pausewang wrote around 100 novels.
In 2011, she named as her four main topics:
# "We should never experience another war" ("Krieg und Frieden")
# "We should never have another dictatorship" ("Nie mehr Nationalsozialismus")
# "The poor conditions in South America" ("Armut in Südamerika")
# "Protecting nature" ("Schutz der Umwelt").
She wrote her novel ''
Die Wolke
''Die Wolke'' () is a German novel for young adults by German author Gudrun Pausewang, published in 1987. The story was written after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, with a 14-year-old girl having to deal with the consequences o ...
'' (literally: ''The Cloud'') in 1987, after the
Chernobyl disaster,
using information that the organisation "Ärzte gegen den Atomtod" (Physicians against nuclear death) had published at the end of the 1970s.
In 1988, it was awarded the
Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only ...
,
the
Kurd Laßwitz Award and the
Deutscher Science Fiction Preis
Deutscher Science Fiction Preis is a German literary award. Together with the Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis, it is one of the most prestigious awards for German science fiction literature. The award was established in 1985 by the , a German Science Fiction ...
in the category Best Novel. It was translated as ''Fall-Out'' by
Patricia Crampton and published in 1994.
She wrote in 2011, after the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, that she was determined to take her readers serious regardless of age, and she wanted to warn of dangers of her time."
Her novel ''Dark Hours'' was included in the
New York Public Library's 2007 list of Books for the Teen Age Reader, and in the Texas Library Association's 2007–2008 ''Tayshas'' High School Reading List, and received the Silver Medal in Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction from the
Independent Publisher Book Awards
The Independent Publisher Book Awards, also styled the IPPY Awards, are a set of annual book awards for independently published titles. They are the longest-running unaffiliated contest open exclusively to independent presses. The IPPY Awards ar ...
.
![DJLP17 SOP Pausewang Barley AKJ Anna Meuer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/DJLP17_SOP_Pausewang_Barley_AKJ_Anna_Meuer.jpg)
Pausewang was awarded the
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...
.
Several schools were named after her, and she received the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis for her life's work in 2017.
Her books ''Die Wolke'' and ''Die letzten Kinder von Schewenhorn'' became part of required reading in schools,
providing a formative and highly ambivalent reading experience shared by many West Germans born in the 1970s and 1980s.
From 2016, she lived in a senior citizens' home in
Baunach,
where she died on 23 January 2020.
Publications
Publications by Gudrung Pausewang (Gudrun Wilcke) are held by the
German National Library
The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...
, including:
* ' (1977)
* ' (1978)
* ''
Die letzten Kinder von Schewenborn'' (1983)
* ''
Die Wolke
''Die Wolke'' () is a German novel for young adults by German author Gudrun Pausewang, published in 1987. The story was written after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, with a 14-year-old girl having to deal with the consequences o ...
'' (1987)
* ' (1989)
* ' (1992)
* ' (Roman, 1993)
* ''Die Kinder- und Jugendliteratur des Nationalsozialismus als Instrument ideologischer Beeinflussung. Liedertexte – Erzählungen und Romane – Schulbücher – Zeitschriften – Bühnenwerke'' (2005), published as Gudrun Wilcke
Books in English
* ''Fall-Out'', a translation of ''Die Wolke'', translated by
Patricia Crampton, published by
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
(1994).
* ''The Final Journey'', a translation of ''Reise im August'' by
Patricia Crampton, published by
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
and
Puffin Books
Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs t ...
.
*''Traitor'', translated by Rachel Ward, published by
Lerner Publishing Group
Lerner Publishing Group, based in Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota since its founding in 1959, is one of the largest independently owned children's book publishers in the United States. With more than 5,000 titles in print, Lerner Publi ...
.
*''Dark Hours'', translated by
John Brownjohn
John Maxwell Brownjohn (11 April 1929 – 6 January 2020) was a British literary translator.
Career
John Brownjohn translated more than 160 books, and won the Schlegel-Tieck Prize for German translation three times and the Helen and Kurt Wolf ...
, published in America through
Annick Press
Annick Press is a Canadian book publishing company that was founded in Toronto, Ontario in 1975 by Anne Millyard and Rick Wilks. Rick Wilks became the sole owner in 2000. A second editorial office was opened in Vancouver by Colleen MacMillan in 1 ...
(2006).
Annick Press: Dark Hours
References
External links
*
* ttp://thechildrenswar.blogspot.hu/2011/12/dark-hours-by-gudrun-pausewang.html ''The Children's War: Dark Hours'' by Gudrun Pausewang, translated by John Brownjohn*
Gudrun Wilcke
at LC Authorities, 2 records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pausewang, Gudrun
1928 births
2020 deaths
German children's writers
German science fiction writers
Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Sudeten German people
German people of German Bohemian descent
People from Ústí nad Orlicí District
Women science fiction and fantasy writers
German women children's writers