| Περίληψη: | This handbook is based on the project "Österreichische Kinder- und Jugendbuchautorinnen" (Austrian Women
Writers of children's literature), which was defined as part of the project "biografiA. datenbank und lexikon
österreichischer frauen" (database of austrian women, http://www.biografia.at), localised on the Institute for
Science and Art in Vienna. In the years 1999 to 2002 more than 800 women writers could be described
biographically. Among them are many women, who wrote only one single book for children, there are some
illustrators who decided to write also the text for their books and there are also some wellknown writers for
Children's books, like Christine Nöstlinger, Renate Welsh, Friederike Mayröcker and many others. There ist no
time-limitation, so we have a good overlook of the whole production of children's literature in Austria. Austria
means by that way to be born in this land or to live here for more than 10 years.
Many of the living authors sendt their curriculum vitae and also many experts on this field helped to fill up the
entries. But there are great differences between the portraits of the women, differences in the length of the articles,
in the presenting details of the lifes and also differences in their way to live, in their political behaviour and so on.
Many of the authors had to flee from austria during the time of nationalsocialism because of their jewish origin or
their political background. Some of them are nearly forgotten. They were murdered or had to emigrate in a land
with another language, the chance to be able to continue the writing career was very small. But we know some
women who had the luck to continue the career. Alex Wedding is one of them, she founded with some other
writers like Auguste Lazar the proletarian children's literature. Hertha Pauli is one of the women whose career
began in her exile, she began to write books for children in the USA. The biographs can be read as a part of
austrian culture, as a piece of our own history.
It is the intention of this handbook to encourage scientists to study more about the austrian women-writers of
children's books and to discuss their publications.
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