New York Times bestselling author Cornelia Funke was in my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this past Sunday for an event through our city library. I had the pleasure of interviewing her before this occasion (the transcript of which will be posted in parts beginning later this week), and also got to experience her in her element during the event, answering audience questions and autographing books.
The event took place in the city library’s theater, which was filled with fans young and old, desperate to get a chance to interact with one of their favorite authors. Funke (pronounced FOON-kah), having done this many times before, knew that there would be a lot of questions from the curious readers of her books, so this set the shape of the event, having most of it be a Q & A with the audience.
But first, to get everyone warmed up, she started off by reading the beginning pages of her newest book, Reckless (click here to see the Lytherus review). She also took a break from reading to draw some illustrations on a nearby art board—she began her professional career as an illustrator, something she still continues to do to this day in her own books, and it was nice to see a live demonstration of her abilities.
There was a good 45 minutes of a question and answer session, but sadly the sound system in the theater wasn’t great, so I can’t decipher the audio recording I made. However, the questions were common ones, so I have included both a video interview and a few transcripts from Scholastic, her Inkheart publisher, for you to enjoy.
The first of a two-part Lytherus Cornelia Funke interview will be posted later this week, but to hold you over until then, here are links to those past interviews .
Scholastic 8-part video interview
I’d encourage you to check out these interviews before reading the Lytherus interview, as many of the questions I asked her build off of basic knowledge of her life and work that is revealed in these previous Q & A sessions. We’ll be bringing you the detailed transcript beginning later this week, so stay tuned as Cornelia talks about the Reckless world, the process of writing, why she chooses the magic elements in her stories, and much more!
