Cornelia Funke

Cornelia Funke was born on December 10th, 1958, in Dorsten, Westphalia, Germany. As a child, she had many different ideas on what she would want to be when she grew up. One of her dream jobs was becoming an astronaut--until, of course, she found out that this job would require military training. Cornelia moved to Hamburg after her final school exam, and graduated with a degree in education theory.

Following college, Cornelia worked as a social worker on education-related projects for three years. While working with children, she began to understand what kinds of stories seemed to grasp their imaginations; stories that every bookworm would love, and yet still be able to inspire those who don't read. It was her dream to illustrate such books, and essentially, write them.

Cornelia worked as a board game designer and children's book illustrator after taking a course in book illustration at the Hamburg State College of Design. However, the stories she illustrated did not satisfy what she was looking for; she wanted to draw fantastical creatures and lands, not things associated with this world. It was this that inspired her to write her own stories.

When Cornelia was 35 years old, she became a full-time writer. Her books were very popular in Germany, and yet in the United States and Britain, practically no one had read a single word from her stories. A young bilingual reader, knowing both English and German, sent a letter to Barry Cunningham, the publisher of the publishing house called The Chicken House. In the letter, the curious reader wanted to know why books by Cornelia Funke, her favorite author, did not have English versions. Barry then set out to find Cornelia's latest book at the time, Herr der Diebe.

Upon publication in the United States by Scholastic in 2002, the English translation of The Thief Lord became a New York Times bestseller instantly, reaching up to the number two position. The book won several awards internationally, including an American award for the best translated children's book. Cornelia Funke has written many other international bestsellers, including Inkheart, Inkspell, and Dragon Rider, all of which were New York Times bestsellers.

Cornelia Funke now lives in Los Angeles, California, after moving from Hamburg in the spring of 2005. She loves the praise and reception she has received here in the United States, and even said that "nowhere else have I met so much book passion as in America". She lives with her two children, Anna and Ben, and their dog, Luna (nicknamed Loonie). Her family helps her greatly with writing her novels; her children give her advice on her writing, while her sister deals with fan mail, and one of her cousins is even her manager.

Since her first novel, Cornelia Funke has written over forty stories that capture the minds, hearts, and imagination of us all.

Information gathered from CorneliaFunkeFans.com.

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