Cornelia Funke

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Cornelia Caroline Funke (born December 10, 1958) is a German author.

1 Biography
2 Bibliography
3 Awards
4 External links

[edit] Biography

She was born in Dorsten, North Rhine-Westphalia.

After graduating from St. Ursula Grammar School, Funke earned a degree in education theory (although she wanted to be an astronaut when she was a child. Her dream of sailing to the stars ended when she found out military training was needed. She also wanted to be a pilot or live with the Red Indians, and felt serious about the plans) before working for three years as a [[social worker]working] with children with bad backgrounds. the childrens stories gave her ideas that inspired her to write and illustrate her novels. She had always wanted to make the world a better place by helping others. After completing a post-graduate course in book illustration at the Hamburg State College of Design, she worked as a designer of board games and as an illustrator of children's books, which eventually led her to writing children's books herself.she soon became bored with the stories that she was illistrating for and decided to write her own. She felt as if she should use her gifts, writing and drawing. Before moving into the U.S., Cornelia Funke worked for the German State Television channel ZDF.

As of 2006, she lives in Los Angeles with her children: Anna, 16, who reviews her novels before they are published, and 11-year-old Ben. Her husband Rolfe died of cancer in 2006.

[edit] Bibliography

She is the author of nearly 40 German novels, mainly for children, six of which have only recently been translated into English. They include Inkheart (Tintenherz), The Thief Lord (Herr der Diebe), Dragon Rider (Drachenreiter), the second book in the Ink trilogy Inkspell (Tintenblut) and the Wild Chicks series, soon to be published in English. Inkheart is being made into a major motion picture by New Line Cinema, the Oscar-winning creator of The Lord of the Rings, is due to be released 2007. Dragon Rider reached number two in the US book charts in 2004. Inkspell, the sequel to Inkheart, was released October 2005. The final part of the Inkheart trilogy, Inkdawn, is to be released in October 2007.