Daniel Kehlmann

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Daniel Kehlmann (born January 13, 1975 in Munich) is a German author. His work Die Vermessung der Welt (translated into English by Carol Brown Janeway as Measuring the World: A Novel, 2006) is the biggest selling German novel since Patrick Süskind's Perfume was released in 1985. Kehlmann's works, and in particular Die Vermessung der Welt, are heavily influenced by Latin American magical realism and represent a dramatic shift from the goals of the influential Group 47.[1]

[edit] Life

Kehlmann was born in Munich, the son of the television director Michael Kehlmann. He moved to his father's hometown of Vienna at the age of six. At university he read philosophy and literature before going on to complete his doctorate, for which he wrote a thesis on the sublime in the works of Immanuel Kant.

In 1997 Kehlmann completed his first novel, Beerholms Vorstellung, whilst still a student. He also wrote numerous reviews and essays whilst at university, contributing to such organs as: Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Literaturen.

In 2001, Kehlmann held the guest lectureship of poetics at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. In the winter term of 2005/6 Kehlmann held the lectureship of poetics at the FH Wiesbaden, and in 2006/7 he is holding the lectureship for poetics at the university of Göttingen. Daniel Kehlmann is a member of the Mainzer Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ The Guardian Luke Harding: "Unlikely bestseller heralds the return of lightness and humour to German literature", 19 July 2006, p.21.