Short bigraphy
Neža Maurer was born in Podvin
near Polzela, a small Slovenian village, on December 22nd 1930. She attended
both Slovenian and German elementary schools in Polzela. After the war she
continued her education at the secondary school for teachers in Ljubljana. She
worked as a teacher in the Primorska region. She then graduated from the
Teacher’s Academy in Ljubljana and studied at the University in Ljubljana where
she graduated from the department for the study of Slavic languages in 1960.
Neža Maurer’s professional life
was centred around journalism. She was the first editor of educational
television shows for children in Ljubljana, technical editor of several
magazines, reporter and editor-in-chief of the publication Prosvetni list. She
was an independent advisor for cultural matters at the Committee for Information
of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia several years before her retirement.
She is now retired and lives in
Škofja Loka. She still works as an independent artist, writing literature for
children and adults, translating from the German and Slavic languages. Neža
Maurer joined the Journalist’s Society in 1962, the Writers’ Society of Slovenia
in 1973, the Movement for Culture in 1983, and the PEN Club in 1991.
For her published work she has
received many national awards, among them: The Tomšič Award for Achievements in
Journalism (1967), The Prešeren Award of Gorenjska for literature (1989), the
Mladika First Award for Poetry (1989), and The Grohar Award for her life’s work
in 1991.
Neža Maurer published numerous
books for adults, mostly poetry, as well as fifteen titles for children, six
translations, two hundred poems with music written to them, and four drama
pieces. Her poems were translated into eleven different languages. Radio
stations in Ljubljana, Zagreb, Sarajevo and Novi Sad aired more than eighty of
her short plays for children. Five short television movies were based on her
poems for children, and two on her poems for adults. She also published two
audiocassettes of poems and more recently an audio-book.
Acknowledgements
and awards
1959 – 1st prize for
literary report from work camps
1961 – 1st prize for
nursery rhyme of the year – Radio Belgrade
1964 – all three prizes for the
nursery rhyme – Radio Ljubljana
1967 – the Tomšič award for
journalism
1970 – the Radost journal plaque
(Zagreb)
1975 – the Ciciban journal plaque
(Ljubljana)
1980 – ZPM golden badge and special
award from the union of Reading Bee for basic contribution to reading culture of
the Slovene youth
1985 – silver award for the
contribution in the development of journalism
1985 - ZPM golden badge and special
award from the union of Reading Bee for basic contribution to reading culture of
the Slovene youth
1989 – nomination for the Prešeren
award and an award from the Prešeren foundation (for book The Tree of the
Knowledge)
1989 – Mladika 1st prize
(Trieste) for poetry
1989 – the Gorenjska Prešeren award
for literature
1991 – the Grohar award (Škofja Loka)
for life work
1991 – a reward from the Movement for
peace and non-violence
1997 – the Škofja Loka plaque for
literary opus
1999 – the honorary citizen of birth
town Polzela
2009 - Awarded as Slovenian Woman of
the year 2008!
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