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 books

• 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)

Latest news: Cornelia Funke

Fantasy news round-up, August 2, 2010
Dawn Treader: new movie poster and trailer  Dawn Treader, the film based on the CS Lewis book from the Narnia Chronicles, is being directed by British filmmaker Michael Apted and has been written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely and Michael Petroni. It will be appearing in cinemas around [...]

Cornelia Funke to present award, sign books and conduct a reading in Hawaii this April
Fantasy author Cornelia Funke, often called the German JK Rowling, can be found in Hawaii this April. On April 29, she will be a special guest at The Nene Award Ceremony where she will receive honour for her best-selling novel, Inkheart. The Nene Award is presented to the best fiction book, as voted [...]

Cornelia Funke’s Reckless to become a musical
Reckless, the new fantasy novel from best-selling author Cornelia Funke, is to premiere as a musical just six weeks after the book's world release, the Dresden Theatre in Germany has announced. Order Reckless from Amazon.co.uk Publishers say they will print 1 million copies of Reckless for a simu [...]

Cornelia Funke’s new book to benefit from worldwide coordinated launch
Three publishers will launch fantasy author Cornelia Funke’s Reckless on September 14, 2010, with a combined hardcover first printing of more than 1,000,000 copies. Reckless follows the adventures of brothers Jacob and Will Reckless in a magical, yet haunting world.” The story was inspired by Grimm [...]

Funke, Donaldson, Riddell and Kerr at the Edinburgh festival
The Edinburgh International Book Festival brings writers, poets, thinkers, politicians, photographers and artists from around the world to debate, discuss, argue and inspire. Over 800 events take place in the wonderful setting of Charlotte Square Gardens in the historic heart of Edinburgh, the world [...]

Fantasy rules audio-book downloads
OverDrive, the leading global distributor of audio-books and eBooks to libraries, schools, and retailers, today announced the 'Most Downloaded Books from the Library' for April 2009. In juvenile fiction, the top 10 consists entirely of fantasy authors  Stephenie Meyer, Christopher Paolini, Eo [...]

Cornelia Funke on JK Rowling
At the screening of the film of her novel Inkheart, author Cornelia Funke gave some new comments regarding the work of Harry Potter author JK Rowling. Cornelia Funke said "that she admires fellow author JK Rowling's ability to use visual imagery rather than realistic descriptions to help readers of [...]

Win great Inkheart prizes!
IESB has some great Inkheart prize items that you have a chance to win! Prize Packages One Grand Prize Winner Will Receive - A Digital Book Reader, one Kajeet Prepaid Phone, one Inkheart Nintendo DS Game, one Leather belt with pouch, an Inkheart Sketchbook with Pencil Case & Pencil, a sheet of [...]

The Inkheart movie adaptation: what did the critics think?
"This is one of those adaptations that tries to keep you watching with its sheer busyness. At times, though, you just want it to stop and catch breath with the aid of some rather better lines and deeper characterisations."This Is London - 2/5 "The sublime irony of this medley of state-of-the-art spe [...]

Cornelia Funke to sign books in Southwark on the 13th of December
Cornelia Funke, author of the Inkheart trilogy is to hold an exclusive Christmas book signing at Tales on Moon Lane. The German author also known worldwide for the success of her books, The Thief Lord and Dragon Rider will be signing copies of her most recent best sellers including Inkdeath. Funke [...]