Born in 1962 in Battenberg, Germany, Steinhöfel now works as a translator and reviewer and writes screenplays. First and foremost, though, he is the author of numerous children's and young adult books awarded with various literature prizes. His bestseller "The Center of the World" was nominated for the well-known and prestigious German Youth Literature Prize and has been published in numerous countries worldwide.

Steinhöfel was awarded the Erich Kästner Prize in 2009, after Peter Rühmkorf, Loriot, Robert Gernhardt, and Tomi Ungerer. In the same year, he was also awarded several literary prizes for his work "Rico, Oskar und die Tieferschatten", including the German Youth Literature Prize, the Catholic Children's and Youth Literature Prize as well as the "Lesekünstler 2009" award by the Börsenverein Deutscher Buchhandel.