Cornelia Funke biography

Born on 10th December 1958 in Dorsten, Germany, Cornelia Caroline Funke aspired to being an astronaut when a child but took the route of studying education theory at Hamburg University. After graduating Funke (pronounced - FOON-ka) took the position of Social Worker and dedicated her three years in this role to deprived children. She then took a job as an illustrator and board game designer after completing a postgraduate course at Hamburg University of Design but soon realised that she wanted to write and illustrate her own stories; her time working with children had certainly given her an insight into the type of stories that children wanted to read and enjoy. Establishing herself with the Ghosthunters (Gespensterjäger) and Wild Chicks (Wild Hühner) series of books in her home country it was the fantasy novel Dragon Rider in 1996 that saw her on the New York Times bestseller list for 78 weeks and brought her writing to an international audience. She has since gone on to write several popular titles not least the Inkheart trilogy. After receiving critical acclaim and several awards including the Book Sense Children’s Literature Award she moved to Los Angeles in 2005 with her husband Rolf and their children Anna and Ben. However, the joy of her success has also been tinged with sadness as Rolf her husband of 25 years died of cancer in 2006. The Inkheart trilogy was completed in 2008 with the book Inkdeath following the release of Inkspell which won her the Book Sense Book of the Year Children’s Literature Award in 2006 and Inkheart has now become the subject of a multi-million pound film staring Brendan Fraser.

Cornelia Funke bibliography

• Die Wilden Hühner (1993)
• Die Wilden Hühner auf Klassenfahrt (1995)
• Die Wilden Hühner, Fuchsalarm (1998)
• Die Wilden Hühner und das Glück der Erd, (2000)
• The Thief Lord (2000)
• Die Wilden Hühner und die Liebe (2003)
• Inkheart (2003)
• Die Wilden Hühner - gestohlene Geheimnisse (CD-ROM) (2004)
• Dragon Rider (2004)
• The Princess Knight (2003)
• Pirate Girl (2005)
• Inkspell (2005)
• The Wildest Brother (2006)
• When Santa Fell to Earth (2006)
• Ghosthunters and the Gruesome Invincible Lightning Ghost (2006)
• Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost (2006)
• Princess Pigsty (2007)
• Igraine The Brave (2007)
• Ghosthunters And the Totally Moldy Baroness! (2007)
• Ghosthunters And The Muddy Monster Of Doom! (2007)
• Meggie's Journal (2008)
• Inkdeath (2008)