Kirsten Boye

Kirsten Boie is a German storyteller; Kirsten Boie is not only a well-known writer, but also the recipient of numerous national and international literary awards.

She was born in 1950 in Hamburg. She studied German and English, earned a doctorate in literary studies, and worked as a teacher. Today she is one of the most renowned authors of children’s and young adult literature. She is the winner of numerous national and international literary prizes, in particular the Hans Christian Andersen Award for outstanding contributions to children’s and young adult literature. Her entire body of work is distinguished by “high literary quality and extraordinary diversity.”

Kirsten Boie graduated from the University of Hamburg, majoring in German and English philology and literary studies. For a long time she worked as a teacher at a Hamburg gymnasium until, in 1983, she adopted her first child; she then stopped teaching and wrote her first children’s book. In 1985 she adopted her second child.

Her debut book, Paula, That’s Lucky, published in 1985, was an enormous success (nominated for a youth literature award; selected as Book of the Month by the German Academy for Children’s and Young Adult Literature; included on the Honor List of the Austrian State Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature).

Today Kirsten Boie is the author of many literary works for children and young people, many of which have been translated into foreign languages. These are books that leave no doubt that the writer is always on the child’s side.

The fact that she does not forget adults either makes her characters especially convincing and appealing, and their adventures invariably arouse interest and sympathy.

In addition to books, Kirsten Boie writes scripts for children’s television, gives lectures, and writes articles on various aspects of children’s literature.