Benno Pludra

Benno Pludra was born in Mückenburg in the Lower Lusatia region. At the age of 17 he enlisted in the merchant marine. After the end of the war Pludra attended a teacher training course in Riesa and began university studies in German, history and art history in Halle and Berlin in 1948. His first literary works date from that period. He has devoted himself to his writing on a full-time basis since 1952.
Benno Pludra is regarded as one of the most important writers of books for young readers in the DDR era. In 1966 and 1981 he won the National Award for Art and Literature. His books for children and teens published after 1989 have been very well received, for instance the story Siebenstorch (1992).
He has published more than 40 books for young readers that have been translated into more than 20 languages. For his complete works he received the Alex-Wedding-Preis der Akademie der Künste zu Berlin in 2000 and the Deutscher Literaturpreis in 2004.
Benno Pludra now lives in Potsdam.