Christoph Ransmayr (; born 20 March 1954) is an Austrian writer.

Life

Born in

Wels Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the List of cities and towns in Austria, eighth largest city in Aus ...

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

, Ransmayr grew up in Roitham near Gmunden and the Traunsee. From 1972 to 1978 he studied philosophy and

ethnology Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Sci ...

in Vienna. He worked there as cultural editor for the newspaper ''Extrablatt'' from 1978 to 1982, also publishing articles and essays in '' GEO'', ''TransAtlantik'' and '' Merian''. After his novel '' Die letzte Welt'' was published in 1988, he traveled extensively across Ireland, Asia, North and South America. This is reflected in his works, where he looks at life as a tourist and believes that good writing needs ignorance, speechlessness, light luggage, curiosity, or at least a willingness not only to judge the world, but to experience it. In 1994 he moved to West Cork, Ireland, as a friend offered to lease him a splendid house on the Atlantic coast for a very affordable rent. In his prose, Ransmayr combines historical facts with fiction. His novels portray cross-border experiences and weave historical events with the present time. The combination of exciting plots and demanding forms in his first two novels brought him praise, attention from literary studies, and numerous literary prizes. Ransmayr achieved international success with his novel ''The Last World'' (1988), a rewrite of

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

’s ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

''. His novel '' Morbus Kitahara'' (1995) is named after an eye disease which leads to an increasing narrowing of the field of vision. It is a metaphor for the moral defect afflicting the main characters, survivors of World War II, in a devastated no man's land. In 1997, Ransmayr read his short story ''Die dritte Luft oder Eine Bühne am Meer'', written for this occasion, as a keynote speech for the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

. After his marriage in the Spring of 2006 Ransmayr returned to live in Vienna. His play '' Odysseus, Verbrecher'' was performed in Dortmund as part of the RUHR.2010 events. In 2018, he received the Nicolas Born Prize for his literary works to date.

Awards

*1986–1988 Elias Canetti Fellowship, see also

Elias Canetti Elias Canetti (; 25 July 1905 – 14 August 1994; ; ) was a German-language writer, known as a Literary modernism, modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and nonfiction writer. Born in Ruse, Bulgaria, to a Sephardi Jews, Sephardic Jewish fam ...

*1988 Anton Wildgans Prize *1992 Großer Literaturpreis der Bayerischen Akademie der Schönen Künste *1995 Franz-Kafka-Preis, see also

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

*1995 Franz Nabl Prize *1996 Aristeion Prize for the novel ''Morbus Kitahara'' *1997 Solothurner Literaturpreis *1997 Kulturpreis des Landes Oberösterreich *1998 Friedrich-Hölderlin-Preis *2001 Nestroy Theatre Prize, see also Johann Nestroy *2004 Bertolt-Brecht-Literaturpreis *2004 Großer Österreichischer Staatspreis für Literatur *2010 28° Preis Gambrinus "Giuseppe Mazzotti" *2013 Donauland Sachbuchpreis *2013 Ernst-Toller-Preis *2013 Brothers Grimm Prize of the City of Hanau for '' Atlas of an Anxious Man'' *2014 Fontane Prize of the City of Neuruppin for ''Atlas of an Anxious Man'' *2015 Prix Jean Monnet de Littérature Européenne for ''Atlas of an Anxious Man'' *2015 Prix du Meilleur livre étranger for ''Atlas of an Anxious Man'' *2018 Nicolas Born Prize for his literary works to date *2018 Kleist Prize

Bibliography

*''Strahlender Untergang'', together with Willy Puchner, 1982, *'' Die Schrecken des Eises und der Finsternis'', 1984, *'' Die letzte Welt'', 1988, *'' Morbus Kitahara'', 1995, *'' Der Weg nach Surabaya'', 1997, *''Die dritte Luft, oder Eine Bühne am Meer'', 1997, *''Die Unsichtbare. Tirade an drei Stränden'', 2001, *''Der Ungeborene, oder Die Himmelsareale des Anselm Kiefer'', 2002, *''Die Verbeugung des Riesen. Vom Erzählen'', 2003, *''Geständnisse eines Touristen. Ein Verhör'', 2004, *'' Der fliegende Berg'', 2006, *''Damen & Herren unter Wasser'', together with Manfred Wakolbinger, 2007, *'' Odysseus, Verbrecher. Schauspiel einer Heimkehr'', 2010, *''Der Wolfsjäger. Drei polnische Duette'', together with Martin Pollack, 2011, *'' Atlas eines ängstlichen Mannes'', 2012, *''Gerede: Elf Ansprachen'', 2014, *'' Cox oder Der Lauf der Zeit'', 2016, *'' Der Fallmeister. Eine kurze Geschichte vom Töten'', 2021, *'' Egal wohin, Baby. Mikroromane'', 2024,

English editions

*'' The Terrors of Ice and Darkness'', 1991, translated by John E. Woods, *'' The Last World'', 1991, translated by John E. Woods, *'' The Dog King'', 1997, translated by John E. Woods, *'' Atlas of an Anxious Man'', 2016, translated by Simon Pare, *'' The Flying Mountain'', 2018, translated by Simon Pare, *'' Cox, or, The Course of Time'', 2020, translated by Simon Pare, *'' The Lockmaster: A Short Story of a Killing'', 2024, translated by Simon Pare,

References

External links

*
Library of Congress, New Literature from Europe, May 1998S. Fischer Verlag, his publisher
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ransmayr, Christoph 1954 births People from Wels Living people Anton Wildgans Prize winners Kleist Prize winners Austrian science fiction writers 20th-century Austrian novelists 21st-century Austrian novelists 21st-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights Austrian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Austrian male writers 21st-century Austrian male writers Austrian male novelists