Gert Jonke (8 February 1946 – 4 January 2009) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

, playwright and novelist.

Life

Jonke was born and educated in

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

, Austria. He attended the Gymnasium (university preparatory school) and the Conservatory. After he served his mandatory military service, he continued his studies at the College of Music and Representative Art in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in the Film and Television Department. He did not, however, complete his studies there, nor his studies of

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, Philosophy, Music Theory, or German Studies at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

which followed. Despite this, in 1971 he received a scholarship to study in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

, where he stayed for five years. He then lived for a year in London, followed by extensive travels through the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, after which he settled again in Austria. Jonke died of cancer at the age of 62 on 4 January 2009, in Vienna. He was given a grave of honor (german: Ehrengrab) in the

Zentralfriedhof The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...

, the central cemetery in Vienna.

Recognition

* 1977

Ingeborg Bachmann Prize The Festival of German-Language Literature (german: Tage der deutschsprachigen Literatur, links=no) is a literary event which takes place annually in Klagenfurt, Austria. During this major literary festival which lasts for several days a number of ...

* 1980 Literature Prize of the University City of Marburg * 1984 Manuscripts prize of Styria * 1987 Austrian Prize for Literature * 1988 Prize of the Frankfurt Authors Foundation * 1990–1993 Robert Musil scholarship * 1991 International Bodensee-Culture Prize * 1993 Merit Award of the City of Vienna * 1994 Anton Wildgans Prize * 1997 Erich Fried Prize * 1997 Franz Kafka Literature Prize of the city of

Klosterneuburg Klosterneuburg (; frequently abbreviated as Kloburg by locals) is a town in Tulln District in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It has a population of about 27,500. The Klosterneuburg Monastery, which was established in 1114 and soon after gi ...

* 1998

Berlin Literature Prize Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

* 2001 Grand Austrian State Prize for Literature * 2003 Nestroy Theatre Prize Best Author for ''Chorphantasie'' * 2005

Kleist Prize The Kleist Prize is an annual German literature prize. The prize was first awarded in 1912, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist. The Kleist Prize was the most important literary award of the Weimar Repu ...

* 2006 Arthur Schnitzler Prize * 2006 Nestroy Theatre Prize Best Author for ''Die versunkene Kathedrale'' (The Sunken Cathedral) * 2008 Nestroy Theatre Prize Best Author for ''Free Fall''

Novels (translated into English)

* 2000 ''Geometric Regional Novel'' (Champaign:

Dalkey Archive Press Dalkey Archive Press is an American publisher of fiction, poetry, foreign translations and literary criticism specializing in the publication or republication of lesser-known, often avant-garde works. The company has offices in Funks Grove, Il ...

) * 2008 ''Homage to Czerny: Studies in Virtuoso Technique'' (Champaign:

) * 2009 ''Blinding Moment: Four Pieces About Composers'' (Riverside: Ariadne Press) * 2009 ''System of Vienna: From Heaven Street to Earth Mound Square'' (Champaign:

) * 2010 ''The Distant Sound'' (Champaign:

) June 2010. * 2012 ''Awakening to the Great Sleep War'' (Champaign:

) December 2012.

Theatreplays

* ''At that time, Graz'', Forum Stadtpark Graz 1989 * ''The Perfidy of the Wind Machines'' * ''Gentle Rage or the Ear Engineer'', Theater Sonata, Styriarte Graz 1990 * ''Opus 111'', Volkstheater Vienna 1993 * ''The Presence of Memory'', Volkstheater Vienna 1995 * ''There sing the Stones'', Stadttheater Klagenfurt 1998 * ''Insektarium'', Volkstheater Vienna 1999 * ''The Birds'', UA Volkstheater Wien 2002 * ''Choir Phantasy'', Schauspielhaus Graz, 2003 * ''Speaker around the Clock'', Semper-Depot Vienna, 2004 * ''Strange Case'', Ruhrtriennale, 2005 * ''The Sunken Cathedral'', Burgtheater Vienna 2005 * ''Gentle Rage or The Ear Engineer'', First Performance in

Sign Language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

with the deaf actor Werner Mössler by

ARBOS - Company for Music and Theatre ARBOS is an Italian agricultural machinery company located in Migliarina di Carpi, Modena, Italy. It was founded in 1954 in Piacenza, Italy. ARBOS manufactures tractors, fertilizer equipment, seeding equipment and sprayers. History ARBOS, a b ...

Vienna 2006 * ''Free Fall'', UA Akademietheater Vienna 2008 24.5.2008
Review of the perfoamnce * ''Bursting Suddenly'', aktionstheater ensemble at the Festspielhaus

Bregenz Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...

and Semper Depot Vienna 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonke, Gert 1946 births 2009 deaths Austrian male dramatists and playwrights Writers from Klagenfurt Anton Wildgans Prize winners Kleist Prize winners Ingeborg Bachmann Prize winners Recipients of the Grand Austrian State Prize 20th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Austrian male writers