Rudolph J. Wojta (born August 10, 1944) is an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

Life and work

Wojta was born and raised in Vienna. Whilst studying literature and psychology he began to publish short stories in German and Austrian newspapers, including ''

Die Welt (, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...

'' and ''

Die Presse (, ) is a German-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. It is considered a newspaper of record for Austria. History and profile was first printed on 3 July 1848 as a liberal (libertarian)-bourgeois newspaper within the ...

''. In 1975, he joined the weekly newspaper ''

Wochenpresse ''Wochenpresse'' was an Austrian weekly periodical founded by Fritz Molden soon after World War II as a subsidiary of the daily newspaper ''Die Presse''. In 1955 it became an independent publication, in 1993 it was taken over by the German economic ...

'' as critic in the fields of architecture, literature, theatre, cinema and art. In 1979 he joined the newly founded magazine ''

WIENER Wiener (from German: "Viennese") may refer to: Food * A Vienna sausage of German origin, in German ''Wiener'', named after the capital of Austria * A hot dog, a cooked sausage, traditionally grilled or steamed and served in a sliced bun * A Po ...

'' for which he served as

editor in chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held account ...

from 1981 to 1982. He then rejoined the ''Wochenpresse'' where he remained until the newspaper folded in 1996. Subsequently, he worked as freelance writer, author and contributor. In 2002, together with Nicholas Allen he founded

Shakespeare in Styria 300px, upright=1.25, '' Julius Caesar'' by William Shakespeare performed in Murau, 2014 Shakespeare in Styria was an annual Shakespeare festival in the Upper Styrian town of Murau in Austria. The festival was founded in 2002 by British-born theatr ...

, an annual festival in the town of

Murau Murau () is a town in the western part of the Austrian federal state of Styria. It is the administrative seat of Murau District. Geography The historic town is located in mountainous Upper Styria in the valley of the Mur river between the Lower ...

showcasing a

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

play in English with young European professional actors. He lived in Murau for eight years. In 2010 he returned to Vienna. ''Zerfall der Lage'' est, according to Michael Pfeffer, “an intense novel on a young poet who was installed in a small piece during the winter of 1930/31 to write a majeure oeuvre”. The story is located in

Döbling Döbling () is the 19th Districts of Vienna, district in the city of Vienna, Austria (). It is located in the north of Vienna, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing. Döbling has some heavily populated urban areas with many residential bui ...

and it is inspired by the life of

Heimito von Doderer Franz Carl Heimito, Ritter von Doderer, known as Heimito von Doderer (; 5 September 189623 December 1966), was an Austrian writer. Family Heimito von Doderer was born in Weidlingau, which has been part of the 14th District of Vienna sinc ...

. His plan to put writing before life fails; The novel deals with repressed memories and the obsessive search for a lost love, ultimately with the disintegration of a personality.

Buch Wien BUCH WIEN is a four-day international book fair in Vienna, which takes place annually in November on the grounds of the Messe Wien in the Hall D. A total of around 400 events will take place as part of "Buch Wien". Since 2014, BUCH WIEN has start ...

:
Zerfall der Lage
', 23 November 2024

Books

* ''Operation Fledermaus'', Crime story, Querverlag 2013 (as Sebastian Benedict), ISBN 978-3-89656-210-4 * ''Zerfall der Lage'', Verlag Klingenberg 2024, ISBN 978-3-903284-33-3

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wojta, Rudolph J. Austrian journalists Austrian novelists 1944 births Living people