Wolf Wondratschek (; born August 14, 1943) is a German

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. He was born in

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide v ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

Life

Wondratschek grew up in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

. From 1962 through 1967, he studied

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

, philosophy and

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

at the

Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, Georg-August University of Göttingen, and the

Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

. In 1968, Wolf won the prestigious Leonce and Lena Prize for poetry given by the city of Darmstadt. The next year, Wolf's first book, '' Früher begann der Tag mit einer Schußwunde'', came out to critical acclaim; the short stories which included his famous piece, '' Mittagspause''. During 1970 and 1971, Wolf was a Research Fellow at the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

. In 1970, he won the Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden for his

radio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

Paul oder die Zerstörung Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

'' (''Paul or the Destruction''). He continued to publish both poetry and prose during the 1980s, when he took an extended vacation to the United States, and Mexico. Upon his return to Germany, Wondratschek settled into residences in Munich and Vienna, publishing not only poetry and prose, but also radio plays and screenplays. In 2012, Wolf was awarded the Literaturpreis der Wilhelm und Christine Hirschmann-Stiftung, a

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n literary prize.

Work

Wondratschek was influenced mainly by writers from Gruppe 47, such as

Ingeborg Bachmann Ingeborg Bachmann (25 June 1926 – 17 October 1973) was an Austrian poet and author. Biography Bachmann was born in Klagenfurt, in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the daughter of Olga (née Haas) and Matthias Bachmann, a schoolteacher. Her f ...

and Paul Celan. His work is characterized by its sparseness and usage of "colloquial language; his sentences are short and clear, grammatically reduced to a minimum."

Selected filmography

* ''

Violanta ''Violanta'', Op. 8, is a one-act opera by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The libretto is by the Austrian playwright Hans Müller-Einigen. It is Korngold's second opera, written when he was seventeen years old. Performance history It was premiered o ...

'' (1976)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wondratschek, Wolf 1943 births Living people People from Rudolstadt 20th-century German novelists 21st-century German novelists 20th-century German poets Writers from Thuringia German male poets German male novelists 20th-century German male writers 21st-century German male writers