Ingo Schulze (born 15 December 1962) is a German

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

born in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

in former

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. He studied classical

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

for five years, and, until

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, was an assistant director (dramatic arts advisor) at the State Theatre in

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

45 km south of

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

for two years. After sleeping through the events of the night of 9 November 1989, Schulze started a newspaper with friends. He was encouraged to write. Schulze spent six months in

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

which became the basis for his debut collection of short stories ''33 Moments of Happiness'' (1995). Schulze has won a number of awards for his novels and stories, which have been translated into twenty languages, among them into English by John E. Woods. In 2007, he was awarded the Thüringer Literaturpreis. In 2013 he was awarded the

Bertolt-Brecht-Literaturpreis Bertolt-Brecht-Literaturpreis () is a literary award in Augsburg, Germany, birthplace of Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre pract ...

Life

Schulze, the son of a physicist and a doctor, grew up with his mother after his parents' divorce. After completing his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

, which he took in 1981 at the Kreuzschule in Dresden, he completed basic military service in the

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

. Until 1988 he studied classical

at the Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena. Subsequently, Schulze was a

dramaturg A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

at the ''Landestheater'' of

, which he left in order to work as a journalist. In 1990 he was a cofounder of the 'independent newspaper' the ''Alternburger Wochenblatt'', which was operational until Autumn 1991, as well as an ''Offertenblatt'' (a kind of newspaper for classified ads) called the ''Anzeiger''. Both were published by the Alternburg publishing house, which was managed by Schulze until the end of 1992. In early 1993 he went to Russia, where he launched the advertising newspaper '' Привет Петербург'' (''Privet Petersburg''). Since the mid-1990s Schulze has lived as a freelance author in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He and his wife have two daughters. Since 2006 he has been a member of the Berlin Academy of the Arts and, since 2007, of the German Academy for Language and Poetry in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

. He is also a member of the Saxony Academy of the Arts and the PEN Centre Germany. In Autumn 2019 Schulze curated the ''forum:autoren'' at the Munich Literature Festival. The theme was titled 'Exercises in paradise. Questions to the world after 1989.'

Awards

* 1995 Alfred-Döblin-Förderpreis * 1995 Ernst-Willner-Preis beim Ingeborg-Bachmann-Wettbewerb * 1995

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 ...

* 1998 Johannes-Bobrowski-Medaille * 2001 Joseph-Breitbach-Preis (gemeinsam mit Dieter Wellershoff und Thomas Hürlimann) * 2006 Finalist für den Deutschen Buchpreis: Neue Leben * 2006 Peter-Weiss-Preis * 2007 Thüringer Literaturpreis * 2007 Preis der Leipziger Buchmesse * 2008 Premio Grinzane Cavour * 2008 Samuel-Bogumil-Linde-Preis * 2008 Finalist of Deutscher Buchpreis: Adam und Evelyn * 2009 Longlist of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award * 2011 Mainzer Stadtschreiber * 2013

* 2013 Manhae-Preis * 2017 Rheingau Literatur Preis * 2019 Werner-Bergengruen-Preis * 2020 Officers Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

Publications

* ''33 Augenblicke des Glücks'', Berlin 1995 ("33 Moments of Happiness") * ''Simple Storys'', Berlin 1998 erman text under an English heading* ''Der Brief meiner Wirtin'', Ludwigsburg 2000 * ''Von Nasen, Faxen und Ariadnefäden'', Berlin 2000 * ''Mr. Neitherkorn und das Schicksal'', Berlin 2001 * ''Würde ich nicht lesen, würde ich auch nicht schreiben'', Lichtenfels 2002 * ''Neue Leben'', Berlin 2005 * ''Handy. Dreizehn Storys in alter Manier'', Berlin 2007 * ''Adam und Evelyn'', Berlin 2008. * ''One More Story: Thirteen Stories in the Time-Honored Mode''. 2010

References

External links

German audio samples of "Neue Leben" and "Handy"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schulze, Ingo 1962 births Living people Writers from Dresden People from Bezirk Dresden 20th-century German novelists 21st-century German novelists German male novelists 20th-century German male writers 21st-century German male writers Aufstehen People educated at the Kreuzschule University of Jena alumni Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany