Ursula Dubosarsky
Ursula Dubosarsky (born June 25, 1961 in Sydney , née Coleman) is an Australian writer. For her literary work, she has received various national and international awards in the field of children's and youth literature, including a Lynx of the Month (2012) and three White Ravens (1996, 2007, 2008). Two novels by Dubosarsky, The Golden Day (2011, German Not now, never , 2012) and The First Book of Samuel (1995, German The shortest day of the year , 2013), are also available in German translation. The FAZ wrote about The Golden Day that the novel "set unmistakable standards in terms of both content and form." Dubosarsky lives in Sydney.
life and work
Dubosarsky has two siblings. Her father is the politician Peter Coleman. Her mother was the literary scholar Verna Susannah Coleman. She had wanted to be a writer since she learned to read at the age of six. Already in her school days she wrote various stories and poems. She studied English and languages including Old Icelandic, Latin and Greek at the University of Sydney . After graduating, she moved to Canberra and worked in the public sector. She spent a year traveling and met her future husband while working on a kibbutz in Israel. They married in London and returned to Australia, where their daughter Maisie was born. From 2006 Dubosarsky worked for several years as an editor at NSW School Magazine. Dubosarsky received her PhD in English Literature from Macquaire University. The focus of her dissertation is the work of Macquaire and Mary Norton .
Dubosarsky's favorite books when she was a child included Biquette the White Goat by Francoise, as well as Gone is Gone by Wanda Gag and Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs. Her favorite books for young readers today include Come By Chance by Madeleine Winch and My Dearest Dinosaur by Margaret Wild and Donna Rawlins.
In addition to English, Dubosarsky's books are available in ten other languages (Chinese, German, Estonian, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Catalan, Korean, Slovenian and Spanish).
In addition to books for young readers, Dubosarsky also wrote texts for the theater. She won various national and international awards.
In 2014 she was a member of the jury for the award The Extraordinary Book of the children and youth program of the Berlin International Literature Festival .
Dubosarsky lives in Sydney with her daughter Maisie, their two sons Dover and Bruno, and their husband.
Press review
The First Book of Samuel (1995) / The Shortest Day of the Year (2013)
"The author skillfully develops the events which lead up to a climactic" kidnapping "and reconciliation. The theme of family relationships is narrated here in a fascinating style with the voice of a concerned observer, giving the story a feeling of immediacy. "
"A haunting book that gets under your skin by letting the reader feel the importance of talking to and listening to one another."
Rex (2005)
"How different children manage a dinosaur and the dreams they have for him make for a wonderfully imaginative story."
The Red Shoe (2006)
"In an unpretentious, matter-of-fact style, the curious six-year-old protagonist relates the events around her. The renowned Australian author uses real newspaper clippings cunningly woven into the haunting narrative to paint an authentic picture of small and big events in post-war Sydney and, at the same time, creates a family story filled with a sense of mystery, adventure, tragedy , and wonder. "
The Terrible Plop (2009)
"There's an irresistible bounce to this delightfully ridiculous story of how a whole forest of animals is terrified by a mysterious plop. The rhyming text and vigorous illustrations tell how rabbit, frightened by the sound of the plop, spreads panic as he races off. [...] A deliciously spine-tingling story about an unknown - and unreal - terror. "
The Golden Day (2011) / Not Now, Never (2012)
"Dubosarsky [...] subtly shows the impact of the tragedy through fragments of conversations, observations, and memories, while expertly sketching a cast of vulnerable, inquisitive children and ridiculous authority figures. Laced with humor amid a steady feeling of dread, the atmospheric narrative chillingly evokes lurking forces capable of tarnishing even the most golden and innocent of days. "
“So this book balances long and very cleverly between the harbingers of the seriousness of life, which press powerfully on the picturesque school building, and the childlike imagination in which the girls are (still) protected from harm. [...] Not now, never is an education novel either. He tells of eleven girls and their first exams, of early decisions and of such important questions as whether one would rather dream or be awake. Or whether the two cannot be reconciled. In this sense, Not Now is never a work that is as subtle as it is subtle. A nice book. "
“When the novel Not Now, Never was published last year , it was a medium sensation [...]. Its author, the Australian Ursula Dubosarsky, born in 1961, had previously been completely unknown on the German book market for young people, although she had already published several books for young readers in her home country. But her cool novel, which portrays a girls' school class who has to cope with the sudden disappearance of their charismatic teacher, set unmistakable standards in terms of both content and form. In the end, Dubosarsky's demanding and cryptic story allows for two conflicting interpretations of what happened, so that the readers have to decide: a few years later, when the now almost adult school class happens to meet the teacher, it is the happy solution of a puzzling case ? Or are the high school graduates dealing with an apparition? "
“Dubosarsky's spare prose explores the space between innocence and adulthood. Shaped by the girls' growing awareness of the world, her scenes are uneasy dreamscapes. Questions about responsibility, violence, sex, fear and death bloom beneath their placid surface. Unanswerable, they linger past the end of this slender but powerful volume. "
Bibliography (selection)
| Original English language edition | German-language first edition | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 1989: Maisie and the Pinny Gig , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Roberta Landers (illustration), Macmillan Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-333-47852-3 | Picture book
not published in German translation |
|
| 1990: High Hopes , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Penguin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-670-83560-7 | novel
not published in German translation |
|
| 1991: Zizzy Zing , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Puffin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-14-038257-0 | novel
not published in German translation |
|
| 1994: The Last Week In December , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Puffin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-14-034984-9 | novel
not published in German translation |
|
| 1994: The White Guinea-Pig , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Penguin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-670-85738-8 | novel
not published in German translation |
|
| 1995: The First Book of Samuel , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Penguin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-670-85572-8 | 2013: The shortest day of the year , Andreas Steinhöfel (translation from Australian English), Verlag Carl Ueberreuter (Vienna), ISBN 978-3-7641-7006-6 | novel |
| 1996: Bruno and the Crumhorn , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Puffin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-14-037634-0 | novel
not published in German translation |
|
| 1997: Black Sails, White Sails , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Puffin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-670-87067-7 | novel
not published in German translation |
|
| 1998: The Strange Adventures of Isador Brown , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Paty Marshall-Stace (illustration), Puffin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-14-038788-9 | not published in German translation | |
| 1999: Honey and Bear , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Ron Brooks (illustration) | Picture book
not published in German translation |
|
| 1999: My Father Is Not a Comedian , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Puffin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-14-130208-9 | novel
Continued: How To Be a Great Detective not published in German translation |
|
| 2000: The Game of the Goose , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), John Winch (illustration), Penguin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-670-89438-3 | Novel with illustrations
not published in German translation |
|
| 2001: Abyssinia , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Penguin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-670-04109-1 | novel
not published in German translation |
|
| 2004: How To Be a Great Detective , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Puffin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-14-330100-4 | novel
Sequel to My Father Is Not a Comedian not published in German translation |
|
| 2005: Rex , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), David Mackintosh (illustration), Puffin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-14-138287-6 | Picture book
not published in German translation |
|
| 2005: Theodora's Gift , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Penguin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-670-04116-9 | novel
Continuation of The First Book of Samuel not published in German translation |
|
| 2006: The Red Shoe , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Allen & Unwin (Crows Nest), ISBN 978-1-74114-285-3 | novel
not published in German translation |
|
| 2009: The Terrible Plop , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Andrew Joyner (illustration), Penguin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-374-37428-0 | Picture book
not published in German translation |
|
| 2011: The Carousel , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Walter Di Qual (illustration), Penguin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-670-07462-4 | Picture book
not published in German translation |
|
| 2011: The Golden Day , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Allen & Unwin (Crows Nest), ISBN 978-1-74237-471-0 | 2012: Not now, never , Silvia Schröer (translation from Australian English), Verlag Carl Ueberreuter (Vienna), ISBN 978-3-8000-5676-7 | novel |
| 2012: Too Many Elephants in This House , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Andrew Joyner (illustration), Penguin Books Australia (Melbourne), ISBN 978-0-670-07546-1 | Picture book
not published in German translation |
|
| 2013: The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno - The Perplexing Pineapple , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Terry Denton (illustration), Allen & Unwin (Crows Nest), ISBN 978-1-74331-257-5 | Novel with illustrations
not published in German translation |
|
| 2013: Eva Adds , Ursula Dubosarsky (text), Annie White (illustration), Hachette (Sydney), ISBN 978-0-7344-1400-7 | Picture book
not published in German translation |
Nominations and Awards
| year | book | Nomination / award |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The First Book of Samuel / The shortest day of the year | White Raven of the International Youth Library |
| 2007 | The Red Shoe | White Raven of the International Youth Library |
| 2008 | When We Were Young - True Stories From Your Favorite Australian Authors | White Raven of the International Youth Library |
| 2010 | The Word Snoop | Nomination for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award |
| July 2012 | The Golden Day / Not now, never | Lynx of the month of time |
| 2012 | Complete works | Nomination for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2013 |
| 2013 | Complete works | Nomination for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2014 |
| 2013 | The Golden Day / Not now, never | Publishers Weekly Picks - The Best New Books for the Week of August 5, 2013 |
| 2013 | The Golden Day / Not now, never | Listed on Publishers Weekly 's Best Children's Books of 2013 list |
| 2014 | The Golden Day / Not now, never | IBBY Honor List 2014 in the Text category |
Festival participation
| date | festival |
|---|---|
| March 2013 | Bellingen Readers 'and Writers' Festival |
| July 2013 | Southern Highlands Writers' Festival |
| October 2013 | North Sydney Children's Festival |
| February 2014 | Perth Writers' Festival |
| March 2014 | Children's Book Festival Melbourne |
| May 2014 | Sydney Writers Festival |
| August 2014 | Melbourne Writers Festival |
| September 2014 | Children's and youth program at the 14th Berlin International Literature Festival |
Web links
- Dubosarsky website (in English)
- Biography of Dubosarsky at Ueberreuter and Perlentaucher
- The Golden Day / Not Now, Never : Book Website (in English)
- Literature by and about Ursula Dubosarsky in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.radiobremen.de/unternehmen/presse/radio/luchs514.html
- ↑ http://www.ijb.de/files/HM_4/whiteravens.htm
- ↑ http://www.buecher.de/shop/australien/der-kuerzeste-tag-des-jahres/dubosarsky-ursula/products_products/detail/prod_id/38474879/
- ↑ http://ursuladubosarsky.squarespace.com/frequently-asked-questions/
- ↑ http://www.childrenslibrary.org/servlet/WhiteRavens?searchText=dubosarsky
- ↑ http : //www.eselsohr-leseablösungen.de
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jun/17/featuresreviews.guardianreview25
- ↑ http://www.ijb.de/files/whiteravens/wr07/australia.htm
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/may/01/children-horacek-dubosarsky-oakley-review
- ↑ http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7636-6399-5
- ↑ Lena Bopp: That remains our little secret, doesn't it? In: FAZ.net . July 13, 2012, accessed October 13, 2018 .
- ↑ http://www.buecher.de/shop/australien/der-kuerzeste-tag-des-jahres/dubosarsky-ursula/products_products/detail/prod_id/38474879/
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/books/review/fangirl-by-rainbow-rowell-and-more.html
- ↑ http://www.childrenslibrary.org/servlet/WhiteRavens?searchText=dubosarsky
- ↑ http://www.ijb.de/files/whiteravens/wr07/australia.htm
- ↑ http://www.ijb.de/files/whiteravens/wr08/australia.htm
- ↑ http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/nonfiction/2010nominations
- ↑ http://www.zeit-verlagsgruppe.de/presse/2012/07/luchs-preis-juli-fur-ursula-dubosarsky-nicht-jetzt-niemals/
- ↑ http://www.alma.se/en/Nominations/Candidates/2013/
- ↑ http://www.alma.se/en/Nominations/Candidates/Candidates-2014/
- ↑ http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/58522-pw-picks-the-best-new-books-for-the-week-of-august -5-2013.html
- ↑ http://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2013/childrens-fiction#book/book-7
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated November 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dubosarsky, Ursula |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 25, 1961 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sydney |