Mariya Parr

Maria Parr is a Norwegian children’s writer.

Maria Parr was born on January 18, 1981, in the tiny village of Fiskå in Vanylven municipality, Møre og Romsdal county. She graduated from the Norwegian literature department at the University of Bergen and is continuing her literary studies at Volda University College in Norway.

Her first book, Waffle Heart (Vaffelhjarte), was published in 2005. After its release, Parr attracted attention and was even dubbed “the new Astrid Lindgren.” Incidentally, Parr truly does admire Astrid Lindgren herself. According to the young writer, the book that inspires her most is Lindgren’s The Brothers Lionheart (Swedish: Bröderna Lejonhjärta).

Waffle Heart was published in Norway, Sweden, France, Poland, Germany, and the Netherlands. Both of Maria Parr’s books have been translated into many languages, including Russian (translated by Olga Drobot). The original Norwegian editions of the books were illustrated by Bo Gaustad and Øyvind Torsen.

Maria Parr visited Russia in December 2010 to present her new book Tone from the Glimmerdal at the Non/fiction book fair, held at the Central House of Artists in Moscow. She led the program “10 Minutes About Values” in the children’s workshop area. On December 2, during her second day in Moscow, the young but already fairly well-known Norwegian children’s writer Maria Parr visited Educational Center No. 2010, which hosts the Norwegian-Russian High School international project.

When asked whether she would like to write a book for adults, Maria gave a firm “no.” According to Parr, she simply enjoys writing books for children, and for her this is much more interesting than writing for adults. She remembers her own childhood well, and the problems of children and teenagers are very close to her.