Traude Veran

Traude Vera was born Gertraud Schleichert in Vienna, Austria, and began writing as a child. She became a social worker and then earned a PhD degree and became a child psychologist. She lived and worked for many years in Germany, including as a lecturer at the University of Konstanz, and in the Czech Republic and Austrian provinces. She is the author of a large number of fiction and nonfiction books, including many advocating for the integration of disabled and disadvantaged children in the mainstream. She has also written poetry and short stories, co-founded a publishing company, served an editor for young authors, and worked as a cultural journalist. She has translated song lyrics from English, Czech and Serbian, and a number of her own poems have been set to music. Among her books is Das steinerne Archiv: Der Wiener jüdische Friedhof in der Rossau (The Stone Archive: The Vienna Jewish Cemetery in Rossau (2006). She is a member of the Graz Authors’ Assembly, the literary group ELLIPSE and the Austrian Haiku Society. She has received numerous awards, including the Golden Order of Merit for services rendered to the Republic of Austria.