“Sometimes you read a book so special that you want to carry it around with you for months after you’ve finished just to stay near it.” – Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

Today, we celebrate the birthday and literary heritage of award-winning author Marcus Zusak. After growing up in Sidney, Zusak studied English, History and Education at the University of New South Wales before he became an author. His greatest success The Book Thief (2005), which foregrounds the hope-giving power of reading during the darkest days of history, was translated into more than 40 languages and adapted as a film  (2013). Zusak’s writing is influenced by his parent’s biography, who experienced loss, destruction, hope and coming-of-age in Austria and Germany during WWII. Before his great success as an author, failure, humiliation and struggle have been parts of Zusak’s life. In his motivating TED Talk “The Failure” he reminds us to stay positive, motivated and to fail better when failing again. Today, Zusak lives in Sydney, working as an author and occasionally at a high school teaching English.

Kind rgeards and stay safe,

Simon