Sten Nadolny (; born 29 July 1942, in

Zehdenick Zehdenick () is a town in the Oberhavel district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Havel, southeast of Fürstenberg/Havel, and north of Berlin (centre). Since 31 July 2013, the city has the additional appellation "Havelstadt" ...

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg () was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1947. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg (excluding Altmark) and ...

) is a German novelist. His parents, Burkhard and Isabella Nadolny, were also writers.

Biography

Nadolny grew up in the town of

Traunstein Traunstein (; ) is a Town#Germany, town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger Traunstein (district), district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health se ...

, in

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat of the district gove ...

. After receiving his ''Abitur'', he studied history and political science in Munich, Göttingen, Tübingen and Berlin. Nadolny received his PhD in 1976 at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

. His dissertation was on German disarmament diplomacy at the 1932/33 Geneva Conference, shortly before Hitler came to power. Nadolny's grandfather, Rudolf Nadolny, had led the German delegation. Nadolny worked for about a year as a history teacher before entering the film industry as a production manager, an experience he wrote about in his first novel, the semi-autobiographical ''Netzkarte''. He currently lives 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 ...

Literary works

Nadolny's first novel, ''Netzkarte'', was published in 1981. Originally, it was written as a script for a film that was never realized. It details the adventures of a young man named Ole Reuter, who purchases a "Netzkarte", or ticket that allows him to travel by train throughout (then West) Germany. Nadolny revisits the character of Ole Reuter in a sequel, ''Er oder Ich'' ("Him or Me"), published in 1999. His best known work is '' The Discovery of Slowness'' (1987; originally published in 1983 as ''Die Entdeckung der Langsamkeit''), a fictionalized meditation on the life and lessons of British Arctic explorer Sir

John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditions into the Northern Canada, Canadia ...

. A pre-publication portion of the novel titled ''Kopenhagen 1801'' (which would become the fifth chapter) had earned Nadolny the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize in 1980.

Bibliography

* 1978: ''Abrüstungsdiplomatie 1932/33: Deutschland auf der Genfer Konferenz im Ubergang von Weimar zu Hitler''. Tuduv-Studien, Munich. * 1981: ''Netzkarte.'' List, Munich. * 1983: '' Die Entdeckung der Langsamkeit.'' Piper, Munich. ('' The Discovery of Slowness'', Viking, 1987) * 1990: ''Selim oder Die Gabe der Rede.'' Piper, Munich. * 1990: ''Das Erzählen und die guten Absichten: Münchner Poetikvorlesungen im Sommer 1990.'' Piper, Munich. * 1994: ''Ein Gott der Frechheit.'' Piper, Munich. (''God of Impertinence'', Viking 1997) * 1999: ''Er oder ich: Roman.'' Piper, Munich. * 2001: ''Das Erzählen und die guten Ideen: die Göttinger und Münchener Poetik-Vorlesungen.'' Piper, Munich. * 2003: ''Ullsteinroman.'' Ullstein, Munich. * 2004: ''Deutsche Gestalten.'' (together with Hartmut von Hentig (Eds.)) dtv, Munich. * 2009: ''Putz- und Flickstunde. Zwei Kalte Krieger erinnern sich.'' (together with Jens Sparschuh) Piper, Munich. * 2012: ''Weitlings Sommerfrische.'' Piper, Munich. * 2017: ''Das Glück des Zauberers.'' Piper, Munich. (''The Joy of Sorcery'', Paul Dry Books, Philadelphia 2020)

Awards

* 1980: Ingeborg Bachmann Prize * 1985: Hans Fallada Prize * 1986: Premio Vallombrosa * 1995: Ernst Hoferichter Prize * 2004: Jakob-Wassermann-Literaturpreis * 2005:

Mainzer Stadtschreiber The Mainzer Stadtschreiber (City clerk in Mainz) is an annual German literature award. It is awarded by ZDF, 3sat and the city of Mainz and was founded in 1984. The award is endowed with €12,500. Additionally the laureate receives the right to l ...

* 2010: Weilheimer Literature Prize

References

External links

* Robert Macfarlane,
Read it on the autobahn
" Review of ''The Discovery of Slowness'', ''London Review of Books'', Vol. 25 No. 24 · 18 December 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nadolny, Sten 1942 births Living people People from Zehdenick 20th-century German novelists 21st-century German novelists Writers from the Province of Brandenburg Ingeborg Bachmann Prize winners German male novelists 20th-century German male writers 21st-century German male writers