Herta Müller

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Herta Müller (born August 17, 1953 in Nitzkydorf, Romania) is a German novelist and essayist.

1 Life
2 Works
3 Awards
4 Editor
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Life

Herta Müller was born in Banat, Romania, the daughter of displaced German farmers. She took German studies and Romanian literature at the Timişoara university. In 1976 she began working as a translator for an engineering company, but was dismissed in 1979 for her refusal to cooperate with the Romanian Securitate. Initially, she made a living by teaching kindergarten and giving private German lessons. Her first book, written in Romanian, was published in 1982, and appeared only as a censored version, as with most publications of this time. In 1987 Müller left for Germany with her husband Richard Wagner (german article). In the following years she received many lectureships at universities in Germany and abroad. She now lives in Berlin.

Müller received membership at the German academy for writing and poetry (german) in 1995, and other positions followed. In 1997, she withdrew from the PEN centre of Germany in protest of its merge with its former DDR branch.

[edit] Works

Niederungen (Underneath), Bucharest 1982
Drückender Tango (Oppressive tango), Bucharest 1984
Der Mensch ist ein großer Fasan auf der Welt (Man is a bigger bird than the world), Berlin 1986
Barfüßiger Februar (Barefoot February), Berlin 1987
Reisende auf einem Bein (Travels of a leg), Berlin 1989
The passport, 1989 (ISBN 1852421398)
Wie Wahrnehmung sich erfindet (How it invents sense), Paderborn 1990
Der Teufel sitzt im Spiegel (The devil in the mirror), Berlin 1991
Der Fuchs war damals schon der Jäger (The fox was then ahead of the hunter), Reinbek by Hamburg 1992
Eine warme Kartoffel ist ein warmes Bett (A warm potato is a warm bed), Hamburg 1992
Der Wächter nimmt seinen Kamm (The guard takes his comb), Reinbek by Hamburg 1993
Angekommen wie nicht da (Not arriving here), Lichtenfels 1994
Herztier (Heart-beast), Reinbek bei Hamburg 1994
Hunger und Seide (Hunger and silk), Reinbek by Hamburg 1995
In der Falle (In a trap), Göttingen 1996
Heute wär ich mir lieber nicht begegnet (Today I would not meet my love), Reinbek by Hamburg 1997
Der fremde Blick oder das Leben ist ein Furz in der Laterne (The strange view, or life is a flicker of a lantern), Göttingen 1999
The Land of Green Plums, 1999 (ISBN 0810115972)
Im Haarknoten wohnt eine Dame (A lady lives in her hair), Reinbek by Hamburg 2000
Heimat ist das, was gesprochen wird (Home becomes what you say it is), Blieskastel 2001
Der König verneigt sich und tötet (The king lays down and dies), München (and elsewhere) 2003
Die blassen Herren mit den Mokkatassen (The pale men with espressos), München (and elsewhere) 2005

[edit] Awards

1981 Adam-Müller-Guttenbrunn Sponsored Prize the Temeswarer Ring of Literature
1984 Aspekte Literature Prize
1985 Rauriser Literature Prize
1985 Sponsored des Literature Prize of Bremen
1987 Ricarda-Huch Prize of Darmstadt
1989 Marieluise-Fleißer Prize of Ingolstadt
1989 German Language Prize, together with Gerhardt Csejka, Helmuth Frauendorfer, Klaus Hensel, Johann Lippet, Werner Söllner, William Totok, Richard Wagner
1990 Roswitha Medal of Knowledge of Bad Gandersheim
1991 Kranichsteiner Literature Prize
1993 Critical Prize for Literature
1994 Kleist Prize
1995 European Literature Prize (Aristeion Prize)
1995/96 City-writer of Frankfurt-Bergen-Enkheim
1997 Literature Prize of Graz
1998 Ida-Dehmel Literature Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award (for the novel "Herztier")
1999 Franz-Kafka Prize
2001 CICERO Speaker Prize
2002 Carl-Zuckmayer-Medaille of Rheinland-Pfalz
2003 Joseph-Breitbach Prize (together with Christoph Meckel and Harald Weinrich)
2004 Literature Prize of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
2005 Berlin Literature Prize
2006 Würth Prize for European Literature und Walter-Hasenclever Literature Prize

[edit] Editor

Theodor Kramer (german): Die Wahrheit ist, man hat mir nichts getan (The truth is, no one did anything to me), Vienna 1999
Die Handtasche (The Pocketbook), Künzelsau 2001
Wenn die Katze ein Pferd wäre, könnte man durch die Bäume reiten (If the cat were a horse, could you ride between the trees?), Künzelsau 2001

[edit] References

This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of July 28, 2006.

Norbert Otto Eke (Ed.): Die erfundene Wahrnehmung (The invented sense), Paderborn 1991
Herta Müller, Berlin 1992
Herta Haupt-Cucuiu: Eine Poesie der Sinne (A poetry of senses), Paderborn 1996
Ralph Köhnen (Ed.): Der Druck der Erfahrung treibt die Sprache in die Dichtung (The compression of experience compels the writing of poetry), Frankfurt am Main [u. a.] 1997
Grazziella Predoiu: Faszination und Provokation bei Herta Müller (Fascination and provocation of Herta Müller), Frankfurt am Main (and elsewhere) 2000
Nina Brodbeck: Schreckensbilder (Terrifying images), Marburg 2000
Herta Müller, Munich 2002
Carmen Wagner: Sprache und Identität (Language and identity), Oldenburg 2002
Martin A. Hainz: Den eigenen Augen blind vertrauen? Über Rumänien. (Trust your own blind eyes? On Romania) From: Der Hammer – Die Zeitung der Alten Schmiede, Nr 2, Nov. 2004, S.5-6
Thomas Daum (Ed.): Herta Müller, Frankfurt a.M. 2003