Elfie Donnelly
Encyclopedia
Elfie Donnelly is a British
-Austria
n author, who has written numerous books and radio drama
s for children. Her major works are Benjamin Blümchen and Bibi Blocksberg
.
in the English Midlands, and moved to Vienna
in her later childhood. The daughter of an Englishman and an Austrian, she started a career in journalism
already in her youth. In Vienna, she worked as a texter in the news agency APA, where her mother had also worked. In 1973 she moved to Berlin
, married Peter Lustig
(Löwenzahn
/ZDF
) and started writing Hörspiele (audio dramas) for children. She won the German prize for youth literature with her first book. In the 1980s, she became a disciple of India
n mystic Osho
. At present she lives with her current husband, author Paul Arató, in Ibiza
. Donnelly's two grown-up sons live in England
and America
.
and the Hans-im-Glück prize in 1978. The book about the accompanying TV series won the Adolf Grimme prize in 1979.
Two of her most famous series are Benjamin Blümchen ("Benjamin Blossom"), which deal with the adventures of the talking elephant Benjamin and his little friend, the boy Otto, and Bibi Blocksberg, a series about the adventures of a young mischievous witch. Since 1977, Donnelly has written 65 episodes of Benjamin Blümchen and 40 episodes of Bibi Blocksberg. After seven years, she sold the rights to the works and moved to Majorca. The Benjamin Blümchen audio cassettes have sold over 54 million copies. Summer 2007 marked the 30th anniversary of the series.
Donnelly has also written the new Hörspiel and book series Elea Eluanda, a story about a disabled girl, who hasn't let her fate put her down, and is accompanied by her India
n friend Ravi and her trusty owl
Ezechiel. Keeping in with Donnelly's style, all episodes of the series have easily recognisable signature sounds or phrases: Ezechiel's Aramba cholé is as famous as Bibi Blocksberg's Hex-hex or Benjamin Blümchen's Töröö.
Donnelly also writes poetry
.
In 2003, this was followed by Bibi Blocksberg und das Geheimins der blauen Eulen with Marie Luise Stahl as Elea as the second major character. In both films, Sidonie von Krosigk played Bibi and Katja Riemann, Ulrich Noethen, Corinna Harfouch had other major roles.
In 2005 and 2006, Donnelly wrote the script to the third Bibi Blocksberg film, and together with her husband Paul Arató, she wrote the film scripts Emma Panther and Der kleine Medicus (not finished yet) - both family entertainment films. Also in 2006, Donnelly wrote the script to the romantic dramedy film Töne aller Arten based on the book by Peter Trabert.
Currently the author couple Donnelly-Arató are working on a new multimedia
character for children.
: Kein einziges Wort and Wen der Tod entlässt. Both books star a German-Austrian female funeral parlor owner with a fondness for tango
. For unknown reasons, critics have mainly ignored these books. ORF is planning a TV series based on the books. Für Paare verboten, published by Hoffmann und Campe, is a caricature
of the tantra therapy scene. Donnelly has also written an amusing travel guide Gebrauchsweisung für Mallorca (2002). Glasauge is Donnelly's autobiography. Wendelburgs Komplott and Die Hühnerleiter ins Nirvana are books-on-demand.
Donnelly has also written the script for the film Apuena.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n author, who has written numerous books and radio drama
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
s for children. Her major works are Benjamin Blümchen and Bibi Blocksberg
Bibi Blocksberg
Bibi Blocksberg is a German audio theatre series for children, created in 1980 by Elfie Donnelly. The main character is a girl called Bibi Blocksberg, who is a witch. As of winter 2008, there have been 92 episodes. The original title of the series was Eene meene Hexerei. This title was used for the...
.
Biography
Donnelly spent her early childhood in RugbyRugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
in the English Midlands, and moved to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in her later childhood. The daughter of an Englishman and an Austrian, she started a career in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
already in her youth. In Vienna, she worked as a texter in the news agency APA, where her mother had also worked. In 1973 she moved to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, married Peter Lustig
Peter Lustig
Peter Fritz Willi Lustig is a German television presenter and author of children's books who has become espicially well-known as leading actor in the children television show Löwenzahn and mittendrin.-External links:...
(Löwenzahn
Löwenzahn
Löwenzahn is a children's television series produced and aired by German public broadcaster ZDF on German television. Originally conceived and hosted by Peter Lustig the first episode aired on January 7, 1979 then titled Pusteblume. The first episode of the retitled series Löwenzahn aired on March...
/ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
) and started writing Hörspiele (audio dramas) for children. She won the German prize for youth literature with her first book. In the 1980s, she became a disciple of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n mystic Osho
Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh)
Osho , born Chandra Mohan Jain , and also known as Acharya Rajneesh from the 1960s onwards, as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh during the 1970s and 1980s and as Osho from 1989, was an Indian mystic, guru, and spiritual teacher who garnered an international following.A professor of philosophy, he travelled...
. At present she lives with her current husband, author Paul Arató, in Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
. Donnelly's two grown-up sons live in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Works
At age 26, Donnelly published her first book: Servus Opa, sagte ich leise, a story of a small boy telling about the death of his grandfather. The book won the German youth literature prizeDeutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
The Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's literature. It is Germany's only state-funded literary award. In the past, authors from many countries...
and the Hans-im-Glück prize in 1978. The book about the accompanying TV series won the Adolf Grimme prize in 1979.
Two of her most famous series are Benjamin Blümchen ("Benjamin Blossom"), which deal with the adventures of the talking elephant Benjamin and his little friend, the boy Otto, and Bibi Blocksberg, a series about the adventures of a young mischievous witch. Since 1977, Donnelly has written 65 episodes of Benjamin Blümchen and 40 episodes of Bibi Blocksberg. After seven years, she sold the rights to the works and moved to Majorca. The Benjamin Blümchen audio cassettes have sold over 54 million copies. Summer 2007 marked the 30th anniversary of the series.
Donnelly has also written the new Hörspiel and book series Elea Eluanda, a story about a disabled girl, who hasn't let her fate put her down, and is accompanied by her India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n friend Ravi and her trusty owl
Owl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
Ezechiel. Keeping in with Donnelly's style, all episodes of the series have easily recognisable signature sounds or phrases: Ezechiel's Aramba cholé is as famous as Bibi Blocksberg's Hex-hex or Benjamin Blümchen's Töröö.
Donnelly also writes poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
.
Films
In 2001, Donnelly wrote the script to the German 2002 film Bibi Blocksberg.In 2003, this was followed by Bibi Blocksberg und das Geheimins der blauen Eulen with Marie Luise Stahl as Elea as the second major character. In both films, Sidonie von Krosigk played Bibi and Katja Riemann, Ulrich Noethen, Corinna Harfouch had other major roles.
In 2005 and 2006, Donnelly wrote the script to the third Bibi Blocksberg film, and together with her husband Paul Arató, she wrote the film scripts Emma Panther and Der kleine Medicus (not finished yet) - both family entertainment films. Also in 2006, Donnelly wrote the script to the romantic dramedy film Töne aller Arten based on the book by Peter Trabert.
Currently the author couple Donnelly-Arató are working on a new multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
character for children.
Works for adults
In adult literature, Donnelly has written two detective books for Piper VerlagPiper Verlag
Piper Verlag is a German publisher based in Munich, printing both fiction and non-fiction works. It currently prints over 200 new paperback titles per year. Authors published by the company include Andreas von Bülow and Sara Paretsky. It owned by the Swedish media conglomerate Bonnier. It was...
: Kein einziges Wort and Wen der Tod entlässt. Both books star a German-Austrian female funeral parlor owner with a fondness for tango
Tango (drink)
Tango is a carbonated soft drink sold primarily in the United Kingdom and Ireland and from 2010 in Sweden, Norway and Hungary as well, first launched by Corona in 1950. Corona were bought by the Beecham Group in 1958, and Beecham Soft Drinks were bought by Britvic in 1987...
. For unknown reasons, critics have mainly ignored these books. ORF is planning a TV series based on the books. Für Paare verboten, published by Hoffmann und Campe, is a caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
of the tantra therapy scene. Donnelly has also written an amusing travel guide Gebrauchsweisung für Mallorca (2002). Glasauge is Donnelly's autobiography. Wendelburgs Komplott and Die Hühnerleiter ins Nirvana are books-on-demand.
Donnelly has also written the script for the film Apuena.