Anna Funder (born 1966) is an Australian author. She is the author of ''

Stasiland ''Stasiland'' by Anna Funder is a book published in 2003 about individuals who resisted the German Democratic Republic, East German regime, and others who worked for its secret police, the Stasi. It tells the story of what it was like to work for ...

'', '' All That I Am'', ''Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life'' and the novella ''The Girl With the Dogs.'' Anna’s book ''Wifedom'' was a Sunday Times Bestseller and New York Times Notable Book of 2023.

Life

Education

Funder attended primary school in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and Paris; and later Star of the Sea College, Melbourne, graduating as '' dux'' in 1983. She studied at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

and the '' Freie Universität'' of Berlin, and holds a BA ( Hons) and an LLB (Hons). She also holds an MA from the

and a Doctor of Creative Arts degree from the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a Institute of technology, ...

. Funder speaks French and German fluently.

Legal career

Funder worked for the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

as an international lawyer in

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

and treaty negotiation, before turning to writing full-time in the late 1990s.

Family

She lived with her husband and three children in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, returning to Australia in 2015 after three and a half years.

''Stasiland''

Funder's first book ''

'' published in 2003 tells the stories of people who resisted the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, and of people who worked for its secret police, the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

. ''Stasiland'' has been translated into 16 languages. ''Stasiland'' won the 2004

Samuel Johnson Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its m ...

and was also the finalist for the Age Book of the Year Awards, Guardian First Book Award, Queensland Premier's Literary Award, Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature (Innovation in Writing), Index Freedom of Expression Awards and the W.H. Heinemann Award.

''All That I Am''

Funder's 2012 novel ''All That I Am'' tells the previously untold story of four German-Jewish anti-Hitler activists forced to flee to London. There, they continued the dangerous and illegal work of smuggling documents out of Goering's office, and giving them to

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

backbencher In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson ...

at the time) to try to alert the world to Hitler's plans for war. In 1935 two of them were found dead from poison in mysterious circumstances in a locked room in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

. The book was called "superb" by ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'', "strong and impressively humane" by the '' Times Literary Supplement''), "a beautiful ensemble novel of Graham Green’esque proportions" by '' Weekendavisen'' and "an essential novel" by Colum McCann. The novel was

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Book of the Week and Book at Bedtime in the UK, and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' (London) Book of the Month for May 2012.

Awards received

Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the Will (law), will of Miles Franklin ...

, 2012"2012 Winner: Anna Funder"
Miles Franklin Literary Award * Western Australian Premier's Book Awards – 2011 Fiction Award and People's Choice Award * Barbara Jefferis Award *The Indie Book Awards Indie Book of the Year *The Indie Book Awards Best Debut Fiction * Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2012 *Nielsen BookData Bookseller's Choice Award.

Awards nominated

* International Dublin Literary Award * Commonwealth Book Prize * Prime Minister's Literary Award *

Australian Literature Society Gold Medal The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (ALS Gold Medal) is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for "an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year." From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by th ...

* Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature (Fiction Prize) * Victorian Premier's Literary Award *

Australian Society of Authors The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) was formed in 1963 as the organisation to promote and protect the rights of Australia's authors and illustrators. The Fellowship of Australian Writers played a key role it its establishment. The organisati ...

Asher Literary Award

Writing

Anna Funder's essays, feature articles and columns have appeared in numerous publications, such as ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', ''Best Australian Essays'', ''

The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...

'' ''Ny Tid'', and have been selected for ''Best Australian Essays''. Her feature ''Secret History'' which appeared in ''The Guardian'' and in '' Good Weekend'' about the files from the Nazi death camps held in obscurity by German authorities won the 2007 ASA Maunder Award for Journalism.

Human rights activities

Funder is an ambassador for the Norwegian-based International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN). ICORN is a global network of cities offering safe havens for persecuted writers. She is a member of the Advisory Panel of the Australian Privacy Foundation. Funder is a member of the Folio Prize Academy and

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide professional association, association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association ...

, in both the Australian and US chapters. In 2007 she was selected to deliver a PEN 3 Writers Lecture.

Public appearances and named lectures

She has toured as a public speaker, and is a former

German Academic Exchange Service The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD; ), founded in 1925, is a joint organization of German universities and student bodies to foster their international relations. Since 1 January 2020, the president has been Joybrato Mukherjee. Organisa ...

(DAAD),

Australia Council for the Arts Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announ ...

, NSW Writing and

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

fellow. Funder has delivered numerous named lectures, including: *Allen Missen Address for Liberty Victoria *PEN Three Writers Lecture *Closing address for the Perth Writers Festival, 2013 * Dymphna Clark Memorial Lecture 2013 *ICORN Oration, 2013

Awards and recognition

List of literary awards: *

, 2004 *ASA Maunder Prize, 2007 * Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, 2011 *Western Australian Premier's People's Choice Award, 2011 *BBC '' Book of the Week'' and '' Book at Bedtime'' in the UK, 2011 *

, 2012 * Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) Book of the Year, 2012 *ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year, 2012 *Nielsen BookData Bookseller's Choice Award, 2012 * Barbara Jefferis Award, 2012 * Indie Book of the Year, 2012 *Indie Best Debut Fiction, 2012 *''

'' (London) Book of the Month for May 2012 *Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) Biography Book of the Year 2024: ''Wifedom'' List of literary award nominations: *The Age Book of the Year Awards *''The Guardian'' First Book Award *Queensland Premier's Literary Award *Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature (Innovation in Writing) *Index Freedom of Expression Awards *W. H. Heinemann Award *IMPAC Award *Commonwealth Book Prize *The Prime Minister's Literary Award *ALS Gold Medal *Adelaide Festival Fiction Prize *Victorian Premiers Literary Award *The Australian Society of Authors Asher Literary Award *Nonfiction Indie Book Award, 2024 * Women's Prize for Non-Fiction 2024 for ''Wifedom'' * Nib Literary Award, 2024 for ''Wifedom'' Fellowships: *

(DAAD) fellowship *

fellowship, 2008 *

Australia Council Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announ ...

fellowship *NSW Writing fellow, 2010 Other recognition: *Appointed to the Literature Board of the

, 2011 *Listed in ''

'' 'Sydney's Top 100 Most Influential People', 2012 *''

InStyle ''InStyle'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine founded in 1994. It was published in the United States by Dotdash Meredith, and started originally as a brand extension of ''People (magazine), People'' before carving out its own ide ...

'' magazine's Woman of Style Award for Arts & Culture, 2013

Bibliography

* * * * about Eileen Blair,

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's first wife.

References

External links

*
Video: Anna Funder lecture on 'Courage'
Sydney PEN 3 Voices Project, November 2008, on SlowTV
Podcast of Anna Funder discussing "On East Germany" at the Shanghai International Literary Festival

, Guardian Unlimited, Thursday 6 November 2003.
Debut author wins Johnson prize
, BBC News, Tuesday, 15 June 2004

ABC Critical Mass, 2003

Lancette Journal, review by Alidë Kohlhaas April 2004 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Funder, Anna 1966 births Living people Australian non-fiction writers Miles Franklin Award winners Writers from Melbourne 21st-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian women Australian women novelists University of Melbourne alumni People educated at Star of the Sea College, Melbourne University of Technology Sydney alumni Free University of Berlin alumni