Burkhard Spinnen (born December 28, 1956, in

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...

) is a German author.

Education and early life

Spinnen grew up in Mönchengladbach as the only child of Willy and Cornelia Spinnen. After completing his secondary education and his military service in 1976, he studied

Mass communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large population segments. It utilizes various forms of media as technology has made the dissemination of information more efficient. Primary examples o ...

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

and

German Studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

, completing his master's degree in 1984 and then his doctorate in the Faculty of Philosophy in 1989. Following his studies, he worked at the Institute for German Studies as an Assistant until 1995 after which, from 1996 onward, he decided to become a freelance writer.

Career as a writer

Burkhard Spinnen is a member of

PEN Centre Germany PEN Centre Germany is part of the worldwide association of writers founded in London in 1921, now known as PEN International. One of over 140 autonomous PEN centres around the world, PEN Centre Germany is based in Darmstadt, Hesse. Work PEN Ce ...

. From 1997 to 2000 he was guest professor at the Deutsches Literaturinstitut in Leipzig. From 2000 to 2006 he was a member of the Jury of the Klagenfurt-based

Ingeborg-Bachmann-Prize The Festival of German-Language Literature () is a literary event which takes place annually in Klagenfurt, Austria. During this major literary festival which lasts for several days a number of awards are given, the major one being the Ingeborg Ba ...

, and from 2008 to 2014 the Jury Chairman. Since 2011 he has been a member of the prestigious North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts. As well as writing novels, short stories, essays and criticism, Spinnen writes reviews and opinion pieces for the newspapers and radio. Spinnen has received numerous awards for his work.

Family life

Spinnen has lived in Münster since 1996 as a freelance writer. He is married with two sons. In 2016 he published a frank account of his mother’s gradual decline into dementia.''Die letzte Fassade. Wie meine Mutter dement wurde''. Verlag Herder, Freiburg (2016)

Awards

* 1991

Aspekte-Literaturpreis The Aspekte-Literaturpreis (''Aspekte'' Literature Prize) is awarded annually for the best debut novel written in German, as judged by a panel of writers, critics, and scholars. The prize is sponsored by the ZDF television network through its arts ...

for ''Dicker Mann im Meer'' * 1992 Kärntner Industrie Prize of the

* 1996 Märkisches Stipendium für Literatur * 1996

Kranichsteiner Literaturpreis Kranichsteiner Literaturpreis is a literary prize of Germany. The Deutscher Literaturfonds (German Literature Fund) based in Darmstadt has been awarding the prize since 1983. The prize money was raised in 2019 from €20,000 to €30,000. In addi ...

* 1999

Literaturpreis der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Literaturpreis der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung is a literary prize of Germany. The prize money is €20,000 and the prize ceremony takes place in Weimar. The first winner was Sarah Kirsch. The prize is awarded "to authors who give freedom their wor ...

* 2001 Oldenburger Kinder- und Jugendbuchpreis for ''Belgische Riesen'' * 2002 Mindener Stadtschreiber-Stipendium * 2002

Caroline-Schlegel-Preis The is a literary award of the city of Jena in Germany, given for outstanding work in the genres of essay and feuilleton in German. The award began with a public competition in 2000, to celebrate the (lit.: ''House of the Romantics'', the former ...

for his Essay ''Skandal'' * 2003 Herbert-Quandt-Medien-Preis * 2003 Commerce Book Prize of the

Financial Times Deutschland The ''Financial Times Deutschland'' was a German-language financial newspaper based in Hamburg, Germany, published by Bertelsmann's Gruner + Jahr newspaper and magazine division. The daily contained four sections: Business, Politics & Economy, Fi ...

* 2004 Niederrheinischer Literaturpreis * 2007

Deutscher Hörbuchpreis Deutscher Hörbuchpreis (German Audiobook Prize) is a literary prize of Germany. Best of all * 2003: Isaak Babel: ''Die Reiterarmee.'' '' Red Cavalry'' * 2004: Flann O'Brien: ''Auf Schwimmen-zwei-Vögel.'' ''At Swim-Two-Birds'' Kein & Aber Rec ...

/German Audio Book Prize * 2008 Rheinischer Literaturpreis Siegburg

Works

* ''Die Münstermacher. Eine satirische Szene'', Münster (1986) * ''Eine Reise durch das Buch. Ein Stück für das Schultheater'', Münster (1988) * ''Zeitalter der Aufklebung. Versuch zur Schriftkultur der Gegenwart'', Münster (1990) * ''Dicker Mann im Meer'' (Short stories) Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (1991) * ''Schriftbilder. Studien zu einer Geschichte emblematischer Kurzprosa'', Münster (1991) * ''Kalte Ente'', Geschichten, Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (1994) * ''Langer Samstag'', Roman, Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (1995) * ''Trost und Reserve'', Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (1996) * ''Modelleisenbahn'', München (1998) * ''Belgische Riesen'' (Novel for children aged 9 upwards) Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (2000) * ''Bewegliche Feiertage. Essays und Reden'' (Essays and speeches) Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (2000) * ''Der schwarze Grat. Die Geschichte des Unternehmers Walter Lindenmaier aus Laupheim'' (Biography) Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (2003) * ''Lego-Steine. Kindheit um 1968'' (Autobiography) Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (2004) * ''Der Reservetorwart'' (Short stories) Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (2004) * ''Klarsichthüllen. Ein Dialog über Sprache in der modernen Wirtschaft'' (Non-fiction) Carl Hanser Verlag, München (2005) * ''Kram und Würde'' (Critical essays) Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (2006) * ''Mehrkampf'' (Novel) Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (2007) * ''Gut aufgestellt. Kleiner Phrasenführer durch die Wirtschaftssprache'' (Guide to business terminology) Verlag Herder, Freiburg (2008). * ''Müller hoch Drei'' (Novel for children aged 10 upwards) Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (2009) * ''Auswärtslesen. Mit Literatur in die Schule'' (Non-fiction) Residenz Verlag, Salzburg (2010) * ''Nevena'' (Novel) Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (2012) * ''Am Ende des Tages'' (Essays on language) Verlag Herder, Freiburg (2014) * ''Zacharias Katz'' (Novel), Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (2014) * ''Die letzte Fassade. Wie meine Mutter dement wurde'' (Autobiographical) Verlag Herder, Freiburg (2016) * ''Hauptgewinn. Die Erzählungen'' (Collected short stories) Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (2016) * ''Das Buch. Eine Hommage'' (Essay on the future of the book) Schöffling & Co. Verlag, Frankfurt am Main (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinnen, Burkhard 1956 births Living people People from Mönchengladbach German male writers