Monika Helfer

Monika Helfer (born October 18, 1947 in Au , Vorarlberg ) is an Austrian writer .

Life

Monika Helfer grew up in Vorarlberg. Her father, who was the administrator in a rest home for war invalids, worked as a librarian in the pension. She has published novels, short stories and children's books. She has received numerous awards for her work. Her books are often about difficult family relationships, with a special focus on the children's perspective. "The characters in Monika Helfer's books have the courage, the will to survive and the healthy defiance of a child, namely the defiance not to be swayed by social values ​​and categorizations," said Dorothea Zanon in her laudation on the occasion of the award of the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art .

She has been married to the writer Michael Köhlmeier since 1981 . They have four children, their daughter Paula Köhlmeier died in an accident in 2003. Helfer's 2010 novel Before I Can Sleep is dedicated to her memory. Helpers and Köhlmeier live in Hohenems .

In 2018 her novel Oskar und Lilli (1994) by Arash T. Riahi was made into a film under the title A Little We Stay .

Awards

• 1973 Honorary gift for art and science from the state of Vorarlberg for literature
• 1980 State grant from the Federal Ministry for Education and Art for Literature
• 1985 Franz-Michael-Felder-Medal for services to Vorarlberg's literature (1987 return of the Franz-Michael-Felder-Medal in protest against the National Socialist statements of Natalie Beer , another holder of the medal)
• 1989 Vorarlberg literary scholarship
• 1991 Prize of the Federal Ministry for Education and Art for Literature
• 1992 drama scholarship from the Federal Ministry for Education and Art
• 1994 ORF radio play award for Oskar and Lilli
• 1995 Honorary Prize from the Vorarlberg book trade
• 1997 Austrian Prize for Literature
• 2003 Austrian Children's and Youth Book Prize   for  Rosie in New York   (with Birgitta Heiskel )
• 2004 Recognition award within the framework of the children's and youth book award of  the city of Vienna  for  Rosie in Vienna (with Birgitta Heiskel )
• 2010 Toad of the Month November for Rosie and the great-grandfather (with Michael Köhlmeier)
• 2011 Austrian Children's and Youth Book Prize for Rosie and the great-grandfather
• 2012 Johann Beer Literature Prize for The Outdoor Bar
• 2016 Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, 1st class
• 2017 nomination for the German Book Prize with Look at me when I talk to you!
• 2020 Solothurn Literature Prize for the complete works (will not be awarded until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic )

Works

prose

• Actually, I was born in snow. Ill. V. Richard Helfer. 1977.
• The wild children. 1984.
• Mulo. A legend. 1986.
• I don't love you at all anymore. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-492-11343-5 .
• The nephew. 1991.
• with Michael Köhlmeier : People are different. Variations on Theophrastus. Ill. V. Peter Guth. 1994.
• Oskar and Lilli. 1994.
• Little princess. 1995.
• When the groom comes. 1998.
• My killer. 1999.
• Rosie in New York. Illustrations by Birgitta Heiskel , NP Verlag 2002, ISBN 3-85326-250-3
• Rosie in Vienna. Illustrations by Birgitta Heiskel, NP Verlag 2004, ISBN 3-85326-283-X
• Animals alone. Children's book. Ill. By Sofie Loeprecht. Provincial Library, Weitra, 2009, ISBN 978-3-85252-998-1 .
• Before I can sleep Novel. Deuticke, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-552-06142-2 .
• with Michael Köhlmeier: Rosie and the great-grandfather. Hanser, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-446-23587-8 .
• The outdoor bar. From the improbability of the world. Deuticke, Vienna 2012, ISBN 978-3-552-06190-3 .
• The world of disorder. Novel. Jung und Jung, Salzburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-99027-073-8 .
• Look at me when I talk to you! Jung und Jung, Salzburg / Vienna 2017, ISBN 978-3-99027-094-3 .
• The baggage. Roman, Hanser, Munich 2020, ISBN 978-3-446-26562-2 .

Plays

• The insubordinate. 1992.
• Beasts in spring. Deuticke, Vienna 1999, ISBN 978-3-216-30495-7 . (as a manuscript: Thomas Sessler Verlag, Vienna 1997)
• Kreuzer's children. World premiere 2010.

Radio plays

• The wrath of the master. (with Gerold Amann and Michael Köhlmeier), 1979.
• Tape record. (with Michael Köhlmeier), 1979.
• Indian temple dancer. 1981.
• Oskar and Lilli. 1994.

Movies

• The wild children. TV movie. (Screenplay based on the novel of the same name by Monika Helfer) with Christian Berger , director: Christian Berger, 1986/86

Web links

• Literature by and about Monika Helfer in the catalog of the German National Library
• Monika Helfer in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Short biography and photo at Deuticke-Verlag
• WDR 3 (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) talk on Saturday, March 21, 2020

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wolfgang Paterno: Monika Helfer: Poison of the world. Profile, May 30, 2017
2. ^ Dorothea Zanon: Monika Helfer and Michael Köhlmeier: Open locks in the world of fantasy. Der Standard, March 28, 2016
3. ↑ Katja Lückert: Sobs like hiccups . Deutschlandfunk, December 3, 2010
4. ↑ Review of Before I can sleep A little hopeless in the online review portal of the Literaturhaus Wien on August 5th, 2010.
5. ↑ "It won't be a victim film": Riahi shoots "Oskar & Lilli". In: Salzburger Nachrichten . July 27, 2018, accessed December 14, 2019 . 
6. ↑ List of Honor - Children's and Youth Book Awards of the City of Vienna ( Memento of the original from November 18, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Children's and young people's book prize for Michael Köhlmeier. Die Presse , February 4, 2011, accessed October 25, 2011 . 
8. ↑ orf.at - Cross of Honor for Köhlmeier and helpers. Article dated March 8, 2016, accessed March 8, 2016.
9. ↑ orf.at: German Book Prize: Five Austrians on the longlist . Article dated August 15, 2017, accessed August 15, 2017.
10. ↑ https://www.nau.ch/news/schweiz/solothurner-literaturpreis- geht-an-osterreicherin-monika-helfer- 65697300