Michael Hametner (born 1950 at

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

) is a German–Austrian journalist, editor, writer and

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, ...

and

theater critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...

Life

Hametner, son of an Austrian citizen, studied journalism and

literary studies A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...

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 ...

. Initially working as an actor and director he became leading the "Poetische Theater" at the

; where he played and directed '' Der Auftrag'' by

Heiner Müller Heiner Müller (; 9 January 1929 – 30 December 1995) was a German (formerly East German) dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. His "enigmatic, fragmentary pieces" are a significant contribution to postmodern drama and postd ...

(as "Debuisson"), ''Kohlhaas'', version of Kleists novel (as "Luther"), Stephan Hermlins ''Scardanelli'' (Premiere),

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicat ...

s '' Die Zoogeschichte'' (first performance in East Germany),

Alexander Vampilov Alexander Valentinovich Vampilov (; 19 August 1937 – 17 August 1972) was a Soviet playwright. His play ''The Elder Son'' was first performed in 1969, and became a national success two years later. Many of his plays have been filmed or televised ...

s ''Provinzanekdoten'' and

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

's ''

Waiting for Godot ''Waiting for Godot'' ( or ) is a 1953 play by Irish writer and playwright Samuel Beckett, in which the two main characters, Vladimir (Waiting for Godot), Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), engage in a variety of discussions and encounters w ...

'' (as Pozzo). As director, he also played in important role in the debut performance of ''Astoria'' by Austrian writer Jura Soyfer in East Germany (together with Bernhard Scheller). From the beginning of the 1990s Hametner had been working as a

freelancer ''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 ...

Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (; "Central German Broadcasting"), shortened to MDR (; stylized as mdr), is the public broadcaster for the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. Established in January 1991, its headquarters are in Leipzig, wi ...

(MDR). In 1993 he was appointed jury member for "Hörspiel des Monats" ("Radio drama of the month"). Before he just headed the East German radio drama critics jury and later he became a member of the jury for ,

Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden The Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden (War Blinded Audio Play Prize), also known as the Kriegsblindenpreis (War Blinded Prize) is the most important literary prize granted to playwrights of audio plays written in the German language. The award was e ...

(radio drama prize of the blind war victims) and

Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding The City of Leipzig awards the Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding () which has been given since 1994. The award is endowed with prize money of 20,000 Euro and is presented every year during the official opening of Leipzig Book Fair. Rec ...

(2007–2009). Since 2007 Hametner is also member of the jury for the

Uwe Johnson Prize The Uwe Johnson Prize is an annual German literary award. The award is named after the writer Uwe Johnson (1934–1984) and was first awarded in 1994. It is awarded for "outstanding literary works in which there are links to the poetics of Uwe John ...

. In 1994 he became editorial journalist and presenter for literature at Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, where he established the MDR-Literaturpreis (MDR literature prize) in 1995. Hametner published several books containing one-on-one interviews with German painters and actors like

Bernhard Heisig Bernhard Heisig (31 March 1925 – 10 June 2011) was a German painter and graphic artist. Long-time director of the Leipzig Academy (Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst; 1961–64, 1976–87) and a leading figure in East Germany's Leipzig School ...

Johannes Heisig Johannes Heisig (born 23 April 1953 in Leipzig, East Germany) is a German painter and graphic artist. His work combines the tradition of German socialist realism with a subjective expressionism. He portrayed several famous German politicians s ...

, Sighard Gille and

Fred Delmare Werner Vorndran (24 April 1922 – 1 May 2009), known professionally as Fred Delmare, was a German actor. Life and work Werner Vorndran was the son of a carpenter and a seamstress and grew up in Hüttensteinach at Sonneberg in Thuringia, wh ...

. Hametner has also been working as a narrator for audio recordings since 2005. Until 2015 he had been editorial journalist for literature. Since 2008 he is member of Bührnheim's Literature Salon.Unser Team/our team
at signiertebuecher.de Hametner lives 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 ...

Works (selection)

Author * ''Kleine Form des Theaters.'' Zentralhaus-Publikation, Leipzig 1986. * ''Neue und wiederentdeckte Gegenwarts-Dramatik aus der DDR.'' Zentralhaus-Publikation, Leipzig 1989, . * ''Kleine Leute. Das Leben des Schauspielers

.'' Schwarzkopf und Schwarzkopf, Berlin 1997, . * ''Einkreisen.'' 15 Gespräche – ein Porträt des Malers Sighard Gille. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2014, . * ''Auf der Bühne.'' 15 Gespräche – ein Porträt des Malers Matthias Weischer. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2016, . * ''Übermalen.'' 15 Gespräche – ein Porträt des Malers Johannes Heisig. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2017, . * ''Bernhard Heisig und Gudrun Brüne. Ein Künstlerpaar über fünfzig Jahre.'' Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2018, . * ''Gert Pötzschig – Valeurs.'' Sax, Beucha/Markkleeberg 2018, . * ''Kopfkino.'' 15 Gespräche – ein Porträt des Malers Hans Aichinger. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2019, Publisher * ''Zornesrot. Anthologie junger Autoren.'' Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2007, . * ''Zeit der Witze. Texte junger Autoren.'' Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2009, . * Wolfgang Heger: ''Lichtzeichen. Ein Porträt des Malers Rolf-Gunter Dienst im Dialog.'' Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2015, . Audiobook narrator At Universal Music, Berlin: * ''Wahnsinn Fußball! Bundesliga-Geschichten aus vier Jahrzehnten.'' 2005, . * ''Pferde sind meine Freunde. Der richtige Umgang mit Pferden.'' 2005, . * ''Hunde richtig kennen und verstehen. So wird Ihr Hund zum besten Freund.'' 2005, . At Universal Family Entertainment, Berlin: * Fritz Hennenberg: ''

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

.'' 2006, . * Alan Posener: ''William Shakespeare.'' 2006, . * Klaus Schröter: ''

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

.'' 2006, . * Barbara Meier: ''

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

.'' 2006, . * Peter Boerner: ''

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

.'' 2006, . * Christian Liedtke: ''

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

.'' 2006, . * Wolfgang Emmerich: ''

Gottfried Benn Gottfried Benn (2 May 1886 – 7 July 1956) was a German poet, essayist, and physician. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. He was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 1951. Biography and work Family and beginnings G ...

.'' 2006, . * Heimo Rau: ''

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

.'' 2006, . * Hans Wißkirchen: ''Die Familie Mann.'' 2006, . * Stefana Sabin: ''

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

.'' 2006, . * Claudia Pilling, Diana Schilling, Mirjam Springer: ''

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

.'' 2007, . * Frank Niess: ''

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

.'' 2007, .

References

External links

Michael Hametner
at Website of Rotbuch-Verlag

at Die Horen (Morawietz)
Am Anfang fast ein Fehlstart – article about MDR literature-prize
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hametner, Michael Austrian editors German editors German opinion journalists Literary editors East German writers German male poets Austrian journalists 21st-century Austrian poets Writers from Leipzig Living people 1950 births 20th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers German radio journalists German radio presenters Austrian radio presenters Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk people Audiobook narrators 20th-century essayists 21st-century essayists German theatre critics Austrian theatre critics