Markus Frank Zusak (born 23 June 1975) is an Australian writer. He is best known for The Book Thief and The Messenger (US title, I Am the Messenger), two novels for young adults which became international best-sellers. He won the annual Margaret A. Edwards Award in 2014 for his contributions to young-adult literature published in the US.
Video Markus Zusak
Life and career
Markus Zusak was born in 1975 and is the author of five books, including the international bestseller, The Book Thief, which is translated into more than forty languages.
First released in 2005, The Book Thief has spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list, and still remains there to this day. His first three books, The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe and When Dogs Cry(also known as Getting the Girl), released between 1999 and 2001, were all published internationally and garnered a number of awards and honours in his native Australia, and the USA.
The Messenger (or I am the Messenger), published in 2002, won the 2003 Australian Children's Book Council Book of the Year Award (Older Readers) and the 2003 NSW Premier's Literary Award (Ethel Turner Prize), as well as receiving a Printz Honour in America. It also won numerous national readers choice awards across Europe, including the highly regarded Deutscher Jugendliteratur prize in Germany, which he won again for The Book Thief in 2010.
It is The Book Thief, however, that has established Markus Zusak as one of the most successful authors to come out of Australia. To date, The Book Thief has held the number one position at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, the New York Times bestseller list, as well as in countries across South America, Europe and Asia. It has also been in the top five bestsellers in the UK and several other territories. It has amassed many and varied awards, ranging from literary prizes to readers choice awards to prizes voted on by booksellers. It was the only book to feature on both the USA and UK World Book Night Lists in 2012, and has been voted as Australian readers' favourite book by iconic independent bookstore, Dymocks, three years running. In 2013, The Book Thief was adapted to screen, directed by Emmy Award-winning Brian Percival (Downton Abbey) and shot in Berlin by Twentieth Century Fox. The cast was headlined by Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush (Shine, The King's Speech) and Academy Award nominee Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves, Anna Karenina). It also cast Sophie Nelisse (Monsieur Lazhar) as Liesel Meminger.
The Guardian calls The Book Thief "a novel of breathtaking scope, masterfully told" The New York Times: "Brilliant and hugely ambitious...the kind of book that can be life-changing" The Age: "an original, moving, beautifully written book." In 2014, Zusak received the Amaerican Library Association's Margaret Edwards award for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature, for his body work ranging from The Underdog to The Book Thief.
Markus Zusak grew up in Sydney, Australia, and still lives there with his wife and two children.
Maps Markus Zusak
Works
- The Underdog (1999) ISBN 978-3-473-35234-0
- Fighting Ruben Wolfe (2000), sequel to The Underdog ISBN 978-0-439-24187-8
- When Dogs Cry (2001), a.k.a. Getting the Girl; sequel to Fighting Ruben Wolfe ISBN 978-0-330-36309-9
- The Messenger (2002); US title, I Am the Messenger ISBN 978-0-375-83099-0
- The Book Thief (2005) ISBN 978-0-375-83100-3
- Bridge of Clay, (October 2018) Pan Macmillan Australia, ISBN 9781743534816
Awards
In 2014, Zusak won the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association (ALA), which annually recognises an author and "a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature".
In 2006, Zusak was also the recipient of the Sydney Morning Herald's Young Australian Novelist of the Year Award.
- The Book Thief
- 2009 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
- 2008 Ena Noel Award - the IBBY Australia Ena Noël Encouragement Award for Children's Literature
- 2007 Michael L. Printz Award runner-up (Honor Book) from the US Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)
- 2006 Kathleen Mitchell Award 2006 (literature)
- The Messenger (US Title I Am The Messenger)
- 2007 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
- 2006 Printz Award Honor Book
- 2006 Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book
- 2005 Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year-Children
- 2003 Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award
- 2003 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature
- When Dogs Cry/ Getting the Girl
- 2002 Honour Book, CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers
- Fighting Ruben Wolfe
- 2001 Honour Book, CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers
- shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature
References
External links
- Markus Zusak on Twitter
- Markus Zusak at Random House
- Interview at MotherDaughterBookClub.com
- "Why I Write: Markus Zusak", The Guardian, 28 March 2008
- Random House audio
Source of article : Wikipedia
0 Comments