Jutta Richter was born in 1955 in Burgsteinfurt, Westphalia, and grew up in the Ruhrgebiet and Westphalia. After spending a year in Detroit, USA, she published her first book whilst still a pupil at school. She went on to study Theology, German and Media Studies. Since 1978 she has lived and worked as a freelance writer at Schloss Westerwinkel in Münsterland and in Hamburg.

Photo: © Carl Hanser Verlag

Awards (selection):

• 1983 City of Soltau Literary Prize
• 2000 Rattenfänger Literary Prize
• 2001 LUCHS Prize for Children's Literature (2000)
• 2001 German Youth Literature Prize: children's book category for Der Tag, an dem ich lernte, die Spinnen zu zähmen [The Day I Learnt To Tame Spiders]
• 2004 LUCHS 210 award for Hechtsommer
• 2004 ‘LesePeter’ award for September for Hechtsommer
• 2005 Catholic Children’s Literature Prize for Hechtsommer
• 2007 Premio Andersen Italy for IL GATTO VENERDÌ (The Cat, or How I Lost Eternity)
• 2008 Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book (Children's Literature Prize USA) for THE CAT (Die Katze)
• 2009 Nomination for the 2010 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award