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Markus Zusak

by
Reading Australia 02 November 2016

Markus Zusak

by
Reading Australia 02 November 2016

Zusak Markus bw by Bronwyn Rennex 200Markus Zusak is an Australian writer of German and Austrian descent. He is the author of six books including a number of international best-sellers.

He pursued a teaching degree at the University of Sydney before becoming a professional author. His first three books The Underdog (1999), Fighting Reuben Wolfe (2000), and When Dogs Cry (2001) formed a trilogy centred on two brothers of the working-class Wofle family. The latter two novels received the CBCA Children’s Book of the Year Awards in 2001 and 2002 respectively.

The Messenger followed in 2002, and won the 2003 Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature at the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. His most successful novel to date is The Book Thief (2005), which won the Kathleen Mitchell Award in 2006 and the Michael L. Printz Honor in 2007. It has been published in more than thirty languages and has been adapted into a film starring Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson (2013).

Markus Zusak lives in Sydney, Australia.

Reading Australia

Felicity Castagna has written on The Messenger (2002) for ABR as part of the Reading Australia project. Click here to read her essay

Further Reading and Links

Reading Australia teaching resources: The Messenger (2002)

Markus Zusak on Twitter: @Markus_Zusak

Markus Zusak’s blog

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Comment (1)

  • I am a huge fan of the works of Markus Zusak, teaching The Messenger to reluctant readers, but my favourite is Bridge of Clay, an emotional roller-coaster of a book that left me in tears for the last eighty pages. Who would think that an image of a clothes peg would reduce me and other readers to tears? I look forward to reading more from him.
    Posted by Anita
    26 May 2020

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