Anja Štefan is a Slovene writer, poet and story teller.

Biography

Anja Štefan was born on 2 April 1969 in

Šempeter pri Gorici Šempeter pri Gorici (, also generally known simply as ''Šempeter''; ) is a town and the administrative seat of the Municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba in the Slovene Littoral region of Slovenia. There is a border crossing into the Italian town of ...

. She studied Slovene and English at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

and graduated in 1994. After graduation she continued with studies in the field of

folkloristics Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

and she obtained her master's degree in 1999. She works as a free-lance writer. She is one of the few Slovenian professional storytellers and the initiator of ''The Slovenian Storytelling Festival'', started in 1998. She explores the Slovenian narrative tradition. As a poet and writer she writes mostly for children; she also retells Slovenian folk and fairytales and translates folk stories from other languages. In 1993 she began to cooperate with '' Ciciban'' and in 1998 with '' Cicido'', the two Slovenian major magazines for children. She has received numerous awards for literary work. She won the

Levstik Award The Levstik Award () is a literary award in Slovenia awarded for achievements in children's literature. It has been bestowed since 1949 by the Mladinska Knjiga Publishing House, making it the first literary award established by a Slovene publishin ...

twice, in 2001 ''Melje, melje, mlinček'' (Grind, Grind, Grinder) and in 2007 for ''Kotiček na koncu sveta'' (A Corner at the End of the World).Mladinska Knjiga Publishing House site

Bibliography

Picture books

* ''Lonček na pike'' (A Pot for Points), 2008 * ''Štiri črne mravljice'' (Four Black Ants), 2007 * ''Sto ugank'' (AHundred Riddles), 2006 * ''Iščemo hišico'' (Looking for a Little House), 2005 * ''Kotiček na koncu sveta'', (A Corner at the End of the World), 2005 * ''Bobek in barčica'' (Bobby and the Boat), 2005 * ''Lešniki, lešniki'' (Hazelnuts, hazelnuts), 2000 * ''Melje, melje mlinček'' (Grind, Grind, Grinder), 1999 * ''Čmrlj in piščalka'' (The Bumblebee and the Whistle), 1998

Folk literature

* ''Za devetimi gorami'' (Beyond Nine Mountains), 2011 * ''Trije prašički: angleška ljudska pravljica'' (The Three Little Pigs: An English Folk Tale), 2008 * ''Zajec in lisica: slovenske basni'' (The Rabbit and the Fox: Slovene Fables), 2004 * ''Čudežni mlinček: ljudske pripovedi s celega sveta'' (The Enchanted Mill: Folk Tales from Around the World), 2002 * ''O pastirčku in debeli uši: slovenska ljudska pravljica'' (About the Little Shepherd Boy and the Fat Louse: A Slovene Folk Tale), 2000 * ''Zlato kralja Matjaža: slovenska ljudska pravljica'' (King Matjaž's Gold: A Slovene Folk Tale), 1999 * ''O Pustu in zakletem gradu: slovenska ljudska pravljica'' (The Story of Pust and the Cursed Castle: A Slovene Folk Tale), 1999 * ''Čez griček v gozdiček'' (Over the Hill Into the Woods), 1995

Awards

(2001) – ''Melje, melje mlinček'' * Growing With Books Awards (2006) – ''Bobek in barčica'' * Best Original Slovene Picture Book Award (2007) – ''Sto ugank'' *

(2007) – ''Kotiček na koncu sveta'' * Ljubljana Reads Award (2008) – ''Sto ugank'' * Ljubljana Reads Award (2010) – ''Lonček na pike''

References

Sources

''Anja Štefan: »Kot pripovedovalka sem bolj zares z ljudmi.«'' Article
in

Delo ''Delo'' () is a business oriented online media in Ukraine, belonging to ekonomika+ media holding. ''Delo'' was the first daily in Ukraine, publishing its real print circulation (13.000 - 15.000) and trying to introduce Western editorial and b ...

, 20 March 2011
Anja Štefan on the Mladinska Knjiga Publishing House site

External links

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre performance of Anja Štefan's ''Bobek in barčica'' (Bobby and the Boat)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stefan, Anja Slovenian women poets Slovenian poets 1969 births Living people Slovenian children's writers Levstik Award laureates Slovenian women children's writers Fabulists Women storytellers Slovenian storytellers People from Šempeter pri Gorici