Helga Bansch

Helga Bansch (born 1957 in Leoben, Austria) trained as a primary-school teacher at the Pedagogical Academy in Graz and worked in primary education for 25 years. In the early 2000s, she became a freelance artist, author, and illustrator. She became particularly known for her illustrations for children’s and picture books. Her work received several awards, including the Austrian Children’s and Young People’s Book Prize, the Children’s and Young People’s Book Prize of the City of Vienna, the Vienna Illustration Prize, and the Styrian Children’s and Young People’s Literature Prize. During training as a counsellor for life and social issues, she worked with children with behavioural difficulties and discovered painting as a means of expression.