Günter Grass [ Germany ]

Biography

Gast des ilb 2003.

Bibliography

Die Blechtrommel
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, 1959

Gleisdreieck
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, 1960

Katz und Maus
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, 1961

Hundejahre
Luchterhand
Neuwied, 1963

Die Vorzüge der Windhühner
Luchterhand
Berlin, 1963

Ausgefragt: Gedichte und Zeichnungen
Luchterhand
Neuwied, 1967

Hochwasser. Ein Stück in zwei Akten
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1968

Über das Selbstverständliche
Luchterhand
Neuwied, 1968

Briefe über die Grenze
[mit Pavel Kohout]
Wegner
Hamburg, 1968

Die Ballerina
Friedenauer
Berlin, 1969

Örtlich betäubt
Luchterhand
Neuwied, 1969

Theaterspiele
Luchterhand
Neuwied, 1970

Gesammelte Gedichte
Luchterhand
Neuwied, 1971

Aus dem Tagebuch einer Schnecke
Luchterhand
Neuwied, 1972

Mariazuehren
Bruckmann
München, 1973

Der Bürger und seine Stimme: Reden, Aufsätze, Kommentare
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, 1974

Der Butt
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, 1977

Denkzettel: Politische Reden und Aufsätze
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, Neuwied, 1978

Das Treffen in Telgte
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, 1979

Kopfgeburten oder Die Deutschen sterben aus
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, 1980

Aufsätze zur Literatur
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, Neuwied, 1980

Die bösen Köche: Ein Drama in fünf Akten
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, 1982

Ach Butt, dein Märchen geht böse aus
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, 1983

Die Rättin
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, Neuwied, 1986

Mit Sophie in die Pilze gegangen
Steidl
Göttingen, 1987

Zunge zeigen
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, 1988

Die Gedichte: 1955 – 1986
Luchterhand
Darmstadt, 1988

Skizzenbuch
Steidl
Göttingen, 1989

Meine grüne Wiese
Manesse
Zürich, 1989

Schreiben nach Auschwitz
Luchterhand
Frankfurt/Main, 1990

Totes Holz: Ein Nachruf
Steidl
Göttingen, 1990

Vier Jahrzehnte: Ein Werkstattbericht
Steidl
Göttingen, 1991

Gegen die verstreichende Zeit
Luchterhand
Frankfurt/Main, 1991

Rede vom Verlust: Über den Niedergang der politischen Kultur im geeinten Deutschland
Steidl
Göttingen, 1992

Unkenrufe
Steidl
Göttingen, 1992

Schaden begrenzen oder auf die Füße treten
Volk & Welt
Berlin, 1993

Novemberland: 13 Sonette
Steidl
Göttingen, 1993

Günther Grass – In Kupfer, auf Stein
Steidl
Göttingen, 1994

Gestern, vor 50 Jahren: Ein deutsch-japanischer Briefwechsel
[mit Kenzaburo Oe]
Steidl
Göttingen, 1995

Ein weites Feld
Steidl-Verlag
Göttingen, 1995

Fundsachen für Nichtleser
Steidl
Göttingen, 1997

Mein Jahrhundert
Steidl
Göttingen, 1999

Für- und Widerworte
Steidl
Göttingen, 1999

Vom Abenteuer der Aufklärung: Werkstattgespräche
[mit Harro Zimmermann]
Steidl
Göttingen, 1999

Ohne Stimme: Reden zugunsten des Volkes der Roma und Sinti
Steidl
Göttingen, 2000

Die Zukunft der Erinnerung
Steidl
Göttingen, 2001

Gebrannte Erde
Steidl
Göttingen, 2002
Ill: Dirk Reinartz

Im Krebsgang
Steidl
Göttingen, 2002

Letzte Tänze
Steidl
Göttingen, 2003

Lyrische Beute
Steidl
Göttingen, 2004

Fünf Jahrzehnte
Steidl
Göttingen, 2004

„Wir leben im Ei“
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 2005

Freiheit nach Börsenmaß
Steidl

Göttingen, 2005

Beim Häuten der Zwiebel
Steidl
Göttingen, 2006

Günter Grass was born in Danzig (now Gdansk) in 1927. He served on an anti-aircraft battery and as a tank gunner towards the end of the Second World War, eventually being wounded and captured by the U.S. Army. After his release he trained as a stonemason before studying Graphic Art and Sculpture in Düsseldorf and Berlin, writing poetry and plays.

In 1955 he won a prize in a regional poetry competition. This success earned him his first reading for the Gruppe 47, an influential group of writers, and the publication of his first book of poems, prose and illustrations entitled 'Die Vorzüge der Windhühner' in 1956. In 1958 he was awarded the literary prize of the Gruppe 47 for the novel 'The Tin Drum', which was published in 1959 and established Grass on the global literary scene. This first volume of his so-called 'Danzig Trilogy' of novels was followed by 'Cat and Mouse' (1961) and 'Dog Years' (1963). Although Grass also wrote dramas and poems, it was his prose with its autobiographical figures and narrators that drew the most attention. His works are distinguished by the link between realism and absurd fantasy, a profound enjoyment of language games, jargon, and grotesque imagery.

The 60’s saw Grass assuming an active role in politics, supporting the German Social Democrats on election campaigns and founding the Social Democratic Voters’ Initiative. He continues to regularly express his critical views on political issues, most recently on the Iraq war in the spring of 2003. His writing also "lets the citizen in the writer have his say", giving a political moralist’s perspective on the history of Germany – whether the East Berlin worker’s rebellion on June 17, 1953 in his drama 'The Plebeians Rehearse the Uprising' (1966), German reunification in the novel 'Too Far Afield' (1995) or the sinking of the 'Wilhelm Gustloff', a 'Kraft durch Freude' cruise liner, in January 1945, in his novella 'Crabwalk' (2002). Shortly before the publication of his memoirs 'Beim Häuten der Zwiebel' (2006; t: Peeling the Onion), it became public that the author at age 17 had briefly been a member of the Nazi "Waffen-SS", he became the subject of a heavy public debate in Germany.

After receiving countless literary distinctions and honorary titles, Grass was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999 for his life’s work. He was cited in the official declaration as a writer "whose frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of history". Grass lives near Lübeck.