Markus Zusak (born 23 June 1975) is an Australian-German writer. He is best known for The Book Thief and The Messenger, two novels that became international bestsellers. He won the Margaret Edwards Award in 2014.
Early life Zusak was born in Sydney, Australia. His mother Elisabeth Zusak is originally from Germany and his father Helmut Zusak is Austrian. They immigrated to Australia in the late 1950s. Zusak is the youngest of four children and has two sisters and one brother. He attended Engadine High School and briefly returned there to teach English while writing. He studied English and history at the University of New South Wales, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education.
Career Zusak is the author of seven books. His first three books, The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, and When Dogs Cry, released between 1999 and 2001, were all published internationally.
The Messenger (I Am the Messenger in the United States), published in 2002, won the 2003 CBC Book of the Year Award (Older Readers), the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award's Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature,wiki and was a runner-up for the Michael L. Printz Award.
The Book Thief was published in 2005 and has since been translated into more than 40 languages. The Book Thief was adapted into a film of the same name in 2013. In 2014, Zusak delivered a talk called "The Failurist" at TEDxSydney at the Sydney Opera House. It focused on his drafting process and journey to success through writing The Book Thief.
In March 2016 Zusak talked about his then unfinished novel Bridge of Clay. He stated that the book was 90% finished but that, "I'm a completely different person than the person who wrote The Book Thief. And this is also the scary thing—I'm a different person to the one who started Bridge of Clay eight, nine years ago ... I've got to get it done this year, or else I'll probably finally have to set it aside." It was finally released in October 2018.
A TV series based on The Messenger premiered on ABC in 2023. Zusak said his next book would be a "memoir type thing" and not fiction. In 2024, he put this into practice through publishing Three Wild Dogs (and the truth).
Awards In 2006, Zusak received The Sydney Morning Herald Young Australian Novelist of the Year Award. In 2014, he won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association (ALA), which annually recognises an author and "a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature".
Bridge of Clay is a Junior Library Guild selection.
In 2005, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and Publishers Weekly named I Am the Messenger (The Messenger) one of the best children's books of the year. +Awards for Zusak's writingYearTitleAwardCategoryResult2001Fighting Ruben WolfeChildren's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers—HonorNew South Wales Premier's Literary AwardsEthel Turner PrizeShortlist2002When Dogs CryChildren's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers—Honor2003The MessengerChildren's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers—WinnerNew South Wales Premier's Literary AwardsEthel Turner PrizeWinner2006Michael L. Printz Award—Honor2007Deutscher JugendliteraturpreisJugendjuryWinner2006The Book ThiefCybils Award Young Adult FictionFinalistKathleen Mitchell Award—WinnerNational Jewish Book Award Children's and Young Adult LiteratureWinner2007Michael L. Printz Award—Honor2008Ena Noël Award for Encouragement—Winner2009Deutscher JugendliteraturpreisJugendjuryWinner2014Fighting Ruben WolfeWhen Dogs CryThe MessengerThe Book ThiefMargaret Edwards Award—Selected
Publications
Standalone books
The Underdog trilogy
Non-fiction
References