Vera Ferra-Mikura

Vera Ferra-Mikura (February 14, 1923 – March 9, 1997) was an Austrian writer best known for her children's stories.^[1]

She was born Vera Ferra in Vienna. After completing her schooling, she worked in her family's bird shop and then in a Vienna department store. During World War II, Ferra-Mikura worked as a stenographer for an architect; after the war, she worked for a publishing house. In 1948, she married Ludwig Mikura. In the same year, she became a freelance writer.^[2][1]

Her stories, inspired by fairy tales, are characterized by magic realism.^[2][3]

In 1951, she received a Förderungspreis of the City of Vienna [de]. She received an award from the International Board on Books for Young People in 1976.

In 1988, she received the Gold award of the Ehrenmedaille der Bundeshauptstadt Wien [de] for youth literature. Ferra-Mikura was also awarded the Theodor Körner Prize.^[1]

Ferra-Mikura died in Vienna at the age of 74.^[1]

Selected works^[1]

• Melodie am Morgen, poetry (1946)
• Melodie am Morgen, novel (1947)
• Zaubermeister Opequeh, children's literature (1956)
• Unsere drei Stanisläuse, children's literature (1963), received the Youth literature prize of the City of Vienna [de]
• Die zehn kleinen Negerlein (1958)
• Das Luftschloß des Herrn Wuschelkopf (1965)
• Das Sprachbastelbuch [de] (1975), co-author
• Update on Rumpelstiltskin and other Fairy Tales by 43 Authors (1976), Illustrated by Willi Glasauer
• Die Oma gibt dem Meer die Hand (1982)
• Horoskop für den Löwen (1982)

References