March 7, 2021
Dear Angela Sommer-Bodenburg,
writing to you directly is one of the most exciting things that can happen to a woman who shaped her childhood in light of your stories. I discovered "The Little Vampire" when I was nine years old and since then I became an admirer of everything that was published accompanied by your name. Now that I am going to write about the latest book that has been published in Spanish in the collection, I am a 37-year-old mother, also a teacher, who writes and paints. Obviously I do not aspire to match your success but I feel faithful to that girl who grew up admiring you and, without realizing it, almost following in your footsteps.
I am going to ask you some questions and, of course, you are completely free to modify them or leave unanswered those that you do not consider appropriate.
Dear Angela, how was Rüdiger born? How did you conceive it? One night he knocked on your window to take you flying with his moldy cape?
In 1976, as a teacher of first to fourth graders of a primary school in Hamburg, Germany, I was ambitious to turn all my students into avid book readers. However, some of my students did not want to read books at all. They considered reading books boring. When asked what kind of books they would like to read they knew quite well what books should look like: "Books should be funny, full of suspense, and a little bit scary, too."
As there were no books of this kind in my school´s library, I decided to write such a book on my own.
It was the Saturday evening of September 25th. of 1976, when I wrote the first fifteen pages, which would later become the first chapter of the first volume of "The Little Vampire".
The following Monday I read these fifteen pages to my students without telling them that I was the author. After I finished reading, my students wanted to hear and learn more about Rüdiger and Anton. Unfortunately, these fifteen pages were all I had written then. Finding a publisher, who would be willing to publish a children´s book about Vampires and Graveyards, took almost two years.
Eventually, the first volume of "The Little Vampire" book series was published on May 11th. of 1979 in Germany, and it has not been out of print ever since.
Did the success of The Little Vampire allow you to live off your writing and delve into your painting? Was it the gift that little Rüdiger gave you for giving him life in his death?
This is a great question and a wonderful thought! It was my husband, Burghardt, who one night at the movies told me that I could stop working as a teacher and become a freelance writer instead. As much as I liked the idea of becoming a freelance writer, I was reluctant to give up the security I enjoyed as a teacher. So, Burghardt was the first one to stop working in 1983, and I followed him a year later in 1984. Since then, Rüdiger, the Little Vampire, has taken good care of ourselves, and we are grateful for his many gifts.
When did he decide to star Anna and write her original "Noctario"? Why?
"El Noctario de Anna" is the result of a different book project that I had planned to write. However, writing about Anna and Anton and their relationship without including Rüdiger did not really work. But it worked much better when I started to write Anna´s diary. The already existing volumes of The Little Vampire series, however, required some discipline and I had to restrain my fantasy more than I had expected.
A book that deeply impressed me as a child was "Hanna, the little angel." Is your story based on a real event?
"Hanna" is not based on a real event i.e., suicide. It never occurred to me that my ending could have been interpreted as an "invitation" to commit suicide. When the first critics were blaming me for this ending, it was already too late to change it. In hindsight I would have chosen a different ending…
However, "Hanna" is the most auto-biographical book I have ever written. It relates to my childhood and how I was raised. My poem "The Mole" (see: Artist´s Talk on http://angelasommer-bodenburg.com/english/index2-englisch.htm ) and the following three paintings reflect my feelings as a child.
Your artistic work is very symbolic and with notable influences from Mexican art. It also reminds a lot of Frida Kahlo. How would you define your pictorial art?
As for me, writing and painting/drawing have always been part of my life. I use "my" self-portraits to visually communicate the dark and light of everyday life and emotions and, as in my poetry, I also include irony and dark humor (as in British humor). I consider my paintings to be "Poetry on Canvas".
And "Yes!", Frida Kahlo is my most favorite painter as is Georgia O´Keeffe!
I have been deeply impressed by two works "I still, I see" and "Embracing the past" in which you are clearly recognized. What do they express or symbolize?
I do not feel comfortable when interpreting my own works.
As for "But still, I see" my message might be: "You could blindfold me and strip me naked but as an artist I shall always find a way to emerge from the DARK and see the LIGHT."
As for "Embracing the Past", it might relate to the memory (good or bad) of our own childhood (perhaps of a "nine-year-old girl"?) that we carry with us for the rest of our adult lives. As parents we should not repeat the negative, we experienced during our childhood. Instead, we should embrace this memory and allow our "nine-year-old" girl/boy to accompany us as our "little sister" or "little brother" while we grow older and wiser.
No work of yours has been translated into Spanish that is not a youth theme. Have you written any work on an adult theme?
Until I had started to write the first fifteen pages of "The Little Vampire" on September 25th. 1976, I had written only short stories and poetry for adults that were published mostly in anthologies. My first poetry book "Sarah bei den Wölfen" aka "Sarah with the Wolves" was published by Suhrkamp in the same month of May 1979 as the first "The Little Vampire" book. However, Suhrkamp would not accept any new poems of mine after they had realized that I had also published a book for children!
What was it like for a teacher to achieve such incredible success as the one you achieved with "The Little Vampire"?
During all these years of writing books for young adults I have never stopped being the teacher. I have always felt responsible for my readers who should learn to love reading my books, and others as well.
Receiving letters like yours is the most precious acknowledgement an author and teacher could ask for.
Why did you move to the United States? What has changed about your way of life from Europe to this country?
In November 1991, on my first-ever visit to the USA, while waiting for the rental car at the Los Angeles Airport I heard my "Inner Voice" telling me that I should live in California. A couple of months later I moved to San Diego and my longing for LIGHT and WARMTH was fulfilled eventually.
Living in San Diego felt like the beginning of a new life, a second chance. It also felt like being able to fly for the first time – another of Rüdiger´s many gifts that I am grateful for.
As for my life in New Mexico, it feels like I have arrived at a place I can call HOME at last.
Is any character in your works directly inspired by you? In the case of "The Little Vampire", is there a story or character in which a part of you is directly represented?
Anna is certainly my favorite character – a reflection of who I am. There are many stories, events, and characters that I have included in my writing – openly and hidden.
Lumpi i.e., is one of my characters who would have been jubilant on July 3rd, 2005 had he "lived" in Spain…
As for me, Rüdiger, "The Little Vampire," has become an ambassador to the world, who stands for TOLERANCE, FRIENDSHIP, EQUALITY, RESPECT, and, most of all, for READING books!
What are your immediate challenges at the pictorial and written level? What are you currently working on? Are there any other Rüdiger books awaiting us that Spanish readers are not familiar with?
One of my immediate challenges is not to lose my patience regarding the development of a new movie production of The Little Vampire. The story would be told from a new angle that had never been told before.
I am currently not writing but do continue to paint. I am not planning on writing new books about Rüdiger.
However, Simon & Schuster is going to publish American editions of the first eight books of the Little Vampire starting in Summer 2022.
Then Rüdiger and his family von Schlotterstein will also become German-American citizens.
What advice would you give someone who is beginning to take their first steps in professional writing? How to approach the writing of a first work?
As for someone whose life does not center around the Social Media, it would not be appropriate to give advice to the younger generations.
However, Hanna could give you some advice: "I always order other voices to be quiet so I can hear my own inner voice."
Listen to your "Inner Voice" would be my advice to approach the writing of a first work.
Dear Esther, answering your questions felt like joining in a conversation with someone who has a deep understanding of my works. Thank you for asking me these wonderful questions and for sharing your feelings with me. Letters like yours are precious to me and the only awards that do matter to me – thank you!
Take good care of yourself and your family.
Con cariño y fuerte abrazos de Anna, Rüdiger, Lumpi, y Hanna, y …
Tu Angela Sommer-Bodenburg
Thank you very much for having made so many readers fly to a wonderful and magical world in which we were so happy. At heart, this interview is the dream come true of a 9-year-old girl who looks 37.
Your admirer in time,
Esther L. Barceló
To see more of Angela's work, visit http://www.AngelaSommer-Bodenburg.com