Christine Nöstlinger was an Austrian writer best known for children's books. By her own admission, Nöstlinger was a wild and angry child. After finishing high school, she wanted to become an artist, and studied graphic arts at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna. She worked as a graphic artist for a few years, before marrying a journalist, Ernst Nöstlinger, with whom she had two daughters. The majority of Nöstlinger's production is literature for children and for young people, and she also writes for television, radio and newspapers. She centres on the needs of children in her work, with an anti-authoritarian bent. She does not shy away from tackling difficult subjects like racism, discrimination and self-isolation. Her first book was Die feuerrote Friederike, published in 1970, which she illustrated herself. The book was published in English in 1975 as Fiery Frederica. Awards and recognition: Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German Youth Literature Prize) 1973, 1988 Friedrich Bödecker Prize 1972 Kinder- und Jugendbuchpreis der Stadt Wien (Viennese Youth Literature Prize) (five-time winner) Österreichischer Staatspreis für Kinder- und Jugendliteratur (Austrian Youth Literature Prize) 1974, 1979 Hans Christian Andersen Award 1984 Tolereis des österreichischen Buchhandels für Toleranz in Denken und Handeln 1998 Zürcher Kinderbuchpreis "La vache qui lit" (Zurich Youth Literature Prize) 1990 Erster Preis der Stiftung Buchkunst 1993 The inaugural Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation for Der Hund kommt! (English: A Dog's Life, translated by Anthea Bell) 1996 Wildweibchenpreis 2002 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2003