Elfie Donnelly | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1950-01-14)14 January 1950 (age 75) London, England |
| Nationality | British-Austrian |
| Occupation | Author |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Elfie Donnelly (born January 14, 1950, inLondon) is aBritish-Austrian author, who has written numerous books andradio dramas for children. Her major works areBibi Blocksberg andBenjamin Blümchen.
Donnelly spent her early childhood inRugby in the English Midlands, and moved toVienna in her later childhood. The daughter of an Irish father and an Austrian mother, she started a career injournalism 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 toBerlin, marriedPeter Lustig and started writingHörspiele (audio dramas) for children. She won the German prize for youth literature with her first book. In the 1980s, she became a disciple ofIndian mysticOsho.[1] At present she lives with her current husband, author Paul Arató, inIbiza. Donnelly's two grown-up sons live inAustria andAmerica.
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 theGerman youth literature prize 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 areBenjamin Blümchen (literally “Benjamin Small Flower”, later localised into English as “Benjamin the Elephant”), which deal with the adventures of the talking elephant Benjamin and his little friend, the boy Otto, andBibiBlocksberg, a series about the adventures of a young cheeky witch. Since 1977, Donnelly has written 65 episodes ofBenjamin Blümchen and 40 episodes ofBibi Blocksberg. After seven years, she sold the rights to the works and moved toMajorca. TheBenjamin Blümchen audio cassettes have sold over 54 million copies. Summer 2007 marked the 30th anniversary of the series.
Donnelly has also written the newHörspiel and book seriesElea Eluanda, a story about a disabled girl, who hasn't let her fate put her down, and is accompanied by herIndian friend Ravi and her "consolingowl" Ezechiel. Keeping in with Donnelly's style, all episodes of the series have easily recognisable signature sounds or phrases: Ezechiel'sAramba cholé is as ubiquitous in the respective series as Bibi Blocksberg'sHex-hex or Benjamin Blümchen'sTöröö.
Donnelly also writespoetry.
In adult literature, Donnelly has written two detective books forPiper Verlag:Kein einziges Wort andWen der Tod entlässt. Both books star a German-Austrian female funeral parlor owner with a fondness fortango. For unknown reasons, critics have mainly ignored these books. ORF is planning a TV series based on the books.Für Paare verboten, published byHoffmann und Campe, is acaricature of the tantra therapy scene. Donnelly has also written an amusing travel guideGebrauchsanweisung für Mallorca (2002).Das Glasauge (Donnelly's autobiography),Wendelburgs Komplott andDie Hühnerleiter ins Nirvana arebooks-on-demand also available ase-book.
In 2001, Donnelly wrote the script for the German 2002 filmBibi Blocksberg.
In 2003, this was followed byBibi Blocksberg and the Secret of the Blue Owls [de] 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 a third Bibi Blocksberg film, and together with her husband Paul Arató, she wrote the film scriptsEmma Panther andDer kleine Medicus (not finished yet) - both family entertainment films. Also in 2006, Donnelly wrote the script to the romanticdramedy filmTöne aller Arten based on the book by Peter Trabert.
Currently the author couple Donnelly-Arató are working on a newmultimedia character for children.
Donnelly has also written the script for the filmApuena.
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