Christine Nöstlinger (13 October 1936 – 28 June 2018) was an Austrian writer best known for

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

. She received one of two inaugural

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award () is an international children's literary award established by the Swedish government in 2002 to honour the Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002). The prize is five million SEK, making it ...

s from the Swedish Arts Council in 2003, the biggest prize in children's literature, for her career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense." She received the

Hans Christian Andersen Medal The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

for "lasting contribution to children's literature" in 1984 and was one of three people through 2012 to win both of these major international awards.

Life and career

Nöstlinger was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria, in 1936. By her own admission, she was a wild and angry child. After finishing high school, she wanted to become an

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

ist, and studied

graphic arts A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional graphics, i.e. produced on a flat surface,journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, Ernst Nöstlinger, with whom she had two daughters. The majority of Nöstlinger's production is literature for

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

, and she also wrote for

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s. She centered on the needs of children in her work, with an

anti-authoritarian Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism. Anti-authoritarians usually believe in full equality before the law and strong civil liberties. Sometimes the term is used interchangeably with anarchism, an ideology which entails opposing a ...

bent. She is known for controversial topics discussing race, gender, sexuality and nationality Her first book was ''Die feuerrote Friederike'', published in 1970, which she illustrated herself. The book was published in English in 1975. WorldCat reports that her work most widely held in participating libraries is ''Fly away home'' (''Maikäfer flieg'', 1973)."Nöstlinger, Christine"
WorldCat. Retrieved 2012-10-13. In 2021, an award in her name, Christine-Nöstlinger-Preis, was jointly established by the city of Vienna and the Union of Austrian book publishers.

Awards and recognition

The biennial

Hans Christian Andersen Award The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

conferred by the

International Board on Books for Young People International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. Nöstlinger received the writing award in 1984. * Friedrich Bödecker Prize (1972) * German Youth Literature Prize ''Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis'' (1973 - ''Wir pfeifen auf den Gurkenkönig'' (The Cucumber king); 1988) * Austrian State Prize for Children's Literature (1974 - ''Achtung! Vranek sieht ganz harmlos aus'' (Attention! Vranek looks quite harmless); 1979 - ''Rosa Riedl Schutzgespenst'' (Rosa Riedl protection ghost)) * Viennese Youth Literature Prize (''Kinder- und Jugendbuchpreis der Stadt Wien''), five-time winner *

Mildred L. Batchelder Award The Mildred L. Batchelder Award, or Batchelder Award, is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the publisher of the year's "most outstanding" children's book translated into English-language, English and published ...

for ''Konrad oder das Kind aus der Konservenbüchse'' (Konrad or the Child out of the Tin) (1979) * Hans Christian Andersen Award (1984) * Zurich Youth Literature Prize (''Zürcher Kinderbuchpreis'') for "La vache qui lit" (1990) * First Prize of the Arts Foundation (1993) * The inaugural

Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation The Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation was a Literary award, literary prize awarded in the United Kingdom from 1996 until 2017 to the translator of an outstanding work of Children's literature, fiction for young readers translated ...

for ''Der Hund kommt!'' (English: ''A Dog's Life'', translated by

Anthea Bell Anthea Bell (10 May 1936 – 18 October 2018) was an English translator of literary works, including children's literature, from French, German and Danish language, Danish. These include ''The Castle (novel), The Castle'' by Franz Kafka, ''Aus ...

), 1996 * Styrian Leseeule for ''Am Montag ist alles ganz anders'' (Monday everything is completely different) (1997) * Honorary Award of the Austrian book trade for tolerance in thought and action (1998) * Wild females Prize (2002) *

(2003) *

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science and Art" was established by the National C ...

(2003) * Willy and Helga-Verlon sale price (2009) * Book Prize of the Vienna Business (2010) * Corine Honorary Award of the Bavarian Minister for lifetime achievement (2011) * Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (2011) * Bruno Kreisky Prize for Political Books for her life's work (2011) * Ten special books for ''Andersentag Lumpenloretta'' (2011)

Selected works

* ''Die feuerrote Friederike'', 1970 (''Fiery Frederica'', 1975) * ''Ein Mann für Mama'', 1972 * ''Wir pfeifen auf den Gurkenkönig'', 1972 (''The Cucumber King'', 1975) * Maikäfer, flieg!, 1973 * Ilse Janda, 14 oder Die Ilse ist weg, 1974 * ''Achtung! Vranek sieht ganz harmlos aus'', 1974 * ''Konrad oder Das Kind aus der Konservenbüchse'', 1975 (''Conrad: The Factory-Made Boy'', 1976) * ''Die unteren 7 Achtel des Eisbergs'', 1978 * ''Rosa Riedl Schutzgespenst'', 1979 * ''Dschi-Dsche-i-Dschunior'', 1980 * Gretchen Sackmeier: Eine Familiengeschichte, 1981 * ''Das Austauschkind'', 1982 * Gretchen hat Hänschen-Kummer, 1983 * ''Am Montag ist alles ganz anders'', 1984 * ''Haushaltsschnecken leben länger'', 1985 * ''Der geheime Großvater'', 1986 * ''Man nennt mich Ameisenbär'', 1986 * ''Die nie geschriebenen Briefe der Emma K., 75'', 1988 * ''Der Zwerg im Kopf'', 1989 * ''Einen Löffel für den Papa'', 1989 * ''Der gefrorene Prinz'', 1997

References

External links

* (

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nostlinger, Christine 1936 births 2018 deaths Austrian children's writers Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winners Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing winners Austrian women writers Recipients of the Austrian State Prize Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Austrian women children's writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century Danish women writers 20th-century Austrian writers People from Hernals Writers from Vienna

Life and career

Awards and recognition

Selected works

See also

References

External links