Barbara Wersba

Barbara Wersba (born August 19, 1932 in Chicago , Illinois , † February 18, 2018 in Englewood , New Jersey ) was an American writer for young people and children.

life and work

Barbara Wersba grew up in California and later in New York City , where she attended private school and took part in theater workshops. She graduated from Bard College. After graduating there she returned to Greenwich Village and took acting classes with Paul Mann . After several years at the theater, she began to write in her mid-twenties.

Thirty books for children and young people come from Barbara Wersba's pen. The Dream Watcher , which was first published in 1968, received the Library of Congress Children's Book Award and was included in the Junior Contemporary Classic booklist. Barbara Wersba was awarded the German Youth Literature Prize in 1973 for being a useful member of society . In 1977 she was nominated for the prestigious National Book Award for Tunes for a Small Harmonica , which came out in German translation under the title Alles über Harold . Wersba also worked for many years as a writer for the New York Times Review of Books . In 1994 she founded The Bookman Press, her own small publishing company.

In A Christmas present for Walter , which was published in 2007 and illustrated by Donna Diamond , Wersba tells of the beginning of an unusual friendship between an extremely cultured rat and a writer who both share a love for literature. In the audio book version, actor Jürgen Thormann gave the title character his voice. Although she has also written numerous children's books, Barbara Wersba is best known for her works for young adolescents. Her novels often focus on sensitive, often artistically gifted young people who feel misunderstood in their family environment and who find encouragement and self-affirmation in friendships with rather unconventional, sometimes significantly older people.

Works in German translation

• A useful member of society. ( Run softly, go fast. ) Signal-Verlag, Baden-Baden 1972, ISBN 3-473389-37-4
• Cotton candy and sawdust. ( The carnival in my mind. ) Arena Verlag, Würzburg 1984, ISBN 3-401-04069-3
• It's all because of Harold. ( Tunes for a small harmonica. ) Arena Verlag, Würzburg 1985, ISBN 3-473-54098-6
• Vanilla ice cream with swans. ( Crazy vanilla. ) Arena Verlag, Würzburg 1988, ISBN 3-401-04227-0
• I am simply myself! Franz Schneider Verlag, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-505-04650-7
• I think I'm really good! Franz Schneider Verlag, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-505-04667-1
• I go my way! Franz Schneider Verlag, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-505-04668-X
• The head full of dreams. Two novels. (Special edition) Ravensburger Buchverlag, Ravensburg 1995, ISBN 3-473-51942-1
• The thing with Kerry. ( Arena life. ) Arena Verlag, Würzburg 1996, ISBN 3-401-04661-6
• A Christmas present for Walter. ( Walter, the story of a rat. ) Tulipan-Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-939944-06-5 (as audio book from Sauerländer, ISBN 978-3-7941-8535-1 )

Awards

• 1973: German Youth Literature Prize for a useful member of society

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Barbara Wersba, 85, Dies; Wrote Candid Books for Young Adults
2. ↑ extract of Authors and Artists for Young Adults about Barbara Wersba (Engl.)
3. ↑ Information about The Dream Watcher  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (engl.)  
4. ^ Winners and nominees of the 1977 National Book Awards
5. ↑ extract of Authors and Artists for Young Adults about Barbara Wersba (Engl.)
6. ↑ Excerpt from the Dictionary of Literary Biography on Barbara Wersba (Engl.)

Web links

• Literature by and about Barbara Wersba in the catalog of the German National Library