Kathrin Schmidt (born 12 March 1958 in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

, Bezirk Erfurt), is a German writer. She is known both for her poetry and prose.

Life and work

Kathrin Schmidt grew up in Gotha and from 1964 in

Waltershausen Waltershausen is a town in the south-western part of the district of Gotha in the state of Thuringia, Germany. Geography Geographic location Located on the verge of the Thuringian Basin just before the Thuringian Forest, Waltershausen is so ...

. After graduating from high school, she studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

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 ...

from 1976 to 1981. After completing her studies (

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

), she worked as a research assistant at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

from 1981 to 1982, and then as a child psychologist at the

Rüdersdorf Rüdersdorf is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany, near Berlin. It is served by the Schöneiche bei Berlin tramway which runs from Rüdersdorf through Schöneiche to Berlin-Friedr ...

District Hospital and at the

Berlin-Marzahn Marzahn () is a locality within the borough of Marzahn-Hellersdorf in Berlin. Berlin's 2001 administrative reform led to the former boroughs of Marzahn and Hellersdorf fusing into a single new borough. In the north the Marzahn locality includes ...

Child and Youth Health Protection Center. In 1986/1987, she completed special studies at the Johannes R. Becher Institute of Literature in

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 ...

. After the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (, ) on 9 November in German history, 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions we ...

, she worked at the

Round Table The Round Table (; ; ; ) is King Arthur's famed table (furniture), table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status, unlike co ...

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

. In 1990/1991 she was

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

of the feminist women's magazine

Ypsilon Upsilon (, ; uppercase Υ, lowercase υ; ''ýpsilon'' ) or ypsilon is the twentieth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value of 400. It is derived from the Phoenician waw . Etymology The name of the le ...

and worked as a research assistant at the Berlin Institute for Comparative Social Research until 1993. She has been a

freelance writer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

since 1994. She is a member of the PEN Center Germany. Kathrin Schmidt began writing as a teenager and initially published

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

. The poems are characterized by strict

metre The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

, powerful, sensual language and frequent use of

puns A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

. The novels, sometimes classified as

magical realism Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical rea ...

due to the baroque fullness of the stories, also show Kathrin Schmidt as a powerful author with an exuberant imagination, who has been compared by critics to the early

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gda ...

and

Irmtraud Morgner Irmtraud Morgner (22 August 19336 May 1990) was a German writer, best known for works of magical realism concerned predominantly with the role of gender in East German society. Life Irmtraud Morgner was born in 1933 in Chemnitz, the daughter of ...

. To date, her greatest literary success is the autobiographically tinged novel ''Du stirbst nicht''. In it, the author describes the illness and recovery story of the writer Helene, who is confronted with the lack of control over her body after a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

and must relearn language. The book sold 150,000 copies and was awarded the

German Book Prize The German Book Prize () is awarded annually, in October, by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association () to the best new German-language novel of the year. The books, published in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, are nominated by their ...

in 2009. Kathrin Schmidt raised five children with her husband and lives in Berlin-Mahlsdorf.

Selected works

Poetry collections

* ''Kathrin Schmidt. Poetry album (poetry series),'' 179th edition. Berlin 1982. * ''An angel flies through the wallpaper factory.'' Neues Leben, Berlin 1987, . * ''River Picture with Angel.'' Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1995, ISBN 3-518-11931-1; Lyrikedition 2000, Munich 2000, . * ''Go-In the Belladonnas.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2000, . * ''Dances of the Dead.'' With Karl-Georg Hirsch. Leipzig 2001. * ''Blind Bees.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2010, . * ''washing place of cool things.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2018, . * ''sommerschaums ernte.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2020, .

Novels

* ''The Gunnar Lennefsen Expedition.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1998, . * ''Koenig's Children.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2002, . * ''Seebach's Black Cats.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2005, . * ''You Don't Die.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2009, . * ''Kapok's Sisters.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2016, .

Short fiction

* ''Sticky ends.'' Science fiction novella. Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 2000, . * ''Three carp blue.'' Short prose. Berliner Handpresse, Berlin 2000. * ''Finito. Schwamm drüber.'' Short stories. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2011, . * ''Tiefer Schafsee and other stories.'' With three color etchings by Madeleine Heublein. Leipzig Bibliophile Evening 2016.

As editor

* ''Poetry Seminar 1989.'' 1990. * ''Yearbook of Poetry 2011,'' with Christoph Buchwald. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Munich 2011.

Awards

* 1988:

Anna Seghers-Preis Anna Seghers Preis is a literary prize of Germany. The prize goes back to the German writer Anna Seghers (1900–1983), who stated in her testament that the revenues from her work should be used to encourage promising young writers. The award is ...

* 1993: Leonce-und-Lena-Preis *1994:

Merano Poetry Prize The Merano Poetry Prize (German: Lyrikpreis Meran) is an international literary prize for German-language poetry that was founded by Alfred Gruber (1929–1998), a South Tyrolian catholic priest and writer. The biennial competition was established ...

*1994: Working scholarship of the German Literature Fund *1997: Town writer of Berlin-Hellersdorf *1998: Prize of the Province of Carinthia at the Ingeborg Bachmann Competition in Klagenfurt *1998: Working scholarship of the German Literature Fund *1998: Sponsorship award for the Heimito von Doderer Literature Prize *1998: GEDOK Literature Promotion Prize *2000: Working scholarship of the German Literature Fund *2001: German cultural prize *2003: Droste Prize of the city of

Meersburg Meersburg () is a town in Baden-Württemberg in the southwest of Germany. It is on Lake Constance. It is known for its medieval city. The lower town ("Unterstadt") and upper town ("Oberstadt") are reserved for pedestrians only, and connected by t ...

*2005: Art Prize for Literature of the Land Brandenburg Lotto *2009:

Preis der SWR-Bestenliste Preis der SWR-Bestenliste is a literature prize awarded in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Winners *1978 Gerhard Roth *1979 Ludwig Fels *1980 Otto F. Walter *1981 Peter Weiss *1982 Franz Fühmann *1983 Oskar Pastior *1984 Christa Reinig *198 ...

* 2009:

for ''Du stirbst nicht''Ulrike Hempel
''"I wanted to hear words"''
(PDF; 1.01 MB) Book review of "Du stirbst nicht.", in BERLINER ÄRZTE (Chamber Journal of the Berlin Medical Association), issue 03/2010. * 2017:

Thüringer Literaturpreis Thüringer Literaturpreis is a literary prize of Germany. It is awarded every two years and is endowed with 12,000 euros. The winners are selected by a three-member independent jury. Recipients * 2005 – * 2007 – Ingo Schulze * 2009 – R ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Kathrin 1958 births Living people People from Gotha (town) German women writers Writers from Thuringia German Book Prize winners