David Chotjewitz (born 14 May 1964 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) is a German writer and theatre director who lives in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Life

In 1967, his family moved to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where Chotjewitz grew up until 1973. He attended the Italian primary school and later the German school of Rome. In 1973, he moved with his parents and brother to the small north

Hessia Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Darm ...

n village of Kruspis. He attended school in

Bad Hersfeld The festival and spa town of Bad Hersfeld (''Bad'' is "spa" in German; the Old High German name of the city was ''Herolfisfeld'') is the district seat of the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany, roughly 50 km southeast ...

until 1981, but left without receiving his diploma. In 1982, he received formal vocational training from the print publisher Weismann in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and in spring of 1984, from the Rowohlt publishing house in

Reinbek Reinbek (; probably from "Rainbek" = brook at the field margin; Northern Low Saxon: ''Reinbeek'') is a town located in Stormarn (district), Stormarn district in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein within the metropolitan regio ...

. He was married in 1983 and his daughter, Sarah, was born the same year. His first literary book publication, the collection, ''Frühreif - Texte aus der Plastiktüte'', appeared in the spring of 1984. He wrote his first radio play, ''Geduld Holfstätter oder Der Erste Kuß'', in 1987. In 1988, he began to translate a novel by

Norma Klein Norma Klein (May 13, 1938 – April 25, 1989) was a US young adults' book author. She was born, grew up and lived in New York City for most of her life, and studied Russian at Barnard College. She died, after a brief illness, in New York City on ...

, for the

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

publisher, . In the 1990s, Chotjewitz worked with independent theatre companies in Hamburg and as an assistant director at the

Deutsches Schauspielhaus The Deutsches Schauspielhaus is a theatre in the St. Georg quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany. It was established in 1901 by the renowned stage actress Franziska Ellmenreich. Theatre managers Notable actors Marco Albrecht, Ingrid ...

in Hamburg, as well as at the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in Vi ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. From 1992 to 1994, he studied with the Javanese dance and performance teacher, Suprapto Suryodarmo in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

- see

Amerta Movement Amerta movement is a form of non-stylised movement practice that draws on free movement, the practice of Vipassanā, Javanese Sumarah meditation and Javanese Theravada Buddhism. Its free-form approach is exploratory rather than therapeutic, though ...

. In the following years, he co-operated with the Healing Theatre in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

and the Julia Pascal Company in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In 1994, his novel about

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

, ''Das Abenteuer des Denkens'' (The Adventure of Thinking), was published and received a lot of attention. It has been reprinted several times, last by the Hamburg publisher,

Carlsen Verlag Carlsen Verlag is a subsidiary of the homonymous Danish publishing house which in turn belongs to the Swedish media company Bonnier. The branch was founded on 25 April 1953 in Hamburg. The publisher's program focuses on books for children, i.e. ...

. His award-winning novel for young people, ''Daniel Halber Mensch'', was also published in the United States by an imprint of

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

as '' Daniel Half Human'' and has been quite successful there. In 1999, Chotjewitz produced his first theatre work, ''Der einäugige Karpfen'', based on a story by

Kenzaburō Ōe is a Japanese writer and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His novels, short stories and essays, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, deal with political, social and philosophical issues, i ...

. In 2000, he founded the theatre project, "Theater: Playstation", which staged musical theatre projects such as ''BLUT on the DANCEFLOOR'' (BLOOD on the DANCE FLOOR, in a techno-disco) and ''STIRB, POPSTAR, STIRB'' (POPSTAR MUST DIE), in cooperation with

Kampnagel Kampnagel is a theatre in Hamburg, Germany. It is Germany's biggest independent production venue for the performing arts. It is based on the premises of a former mechanical engineering factory in Winterhude, founded in 1865. History Since 198 ...

Hamburg. In the summer of 2007, he started the project, ''BEHÖRDE für LIEBLINGSLIEDER'' (MINISTRY for FAVORITE SONGS). Projects planned for 2008 include a new

biographical novel The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional account of a contemporary or historical person's life. Like other forms of biographical fiction, details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fiction ...

about the young

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

and a project with youths in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. Chotjewitz has received awards such as the literature prize of the city Hamburg in 1996, a grant from the in 1997, and a grant from the Stuttgarter Schriftstellerhaus in 2006. " Daniel Half Human" received in the USA, among others, a

Mildred L. Batchelder Award The Mildred L. Batchelder Award, or Batchelder Award, is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the publisher of the year's "most outstanding" children's book translated into English and published in the U.S. The M ...

(Honor Book). His novel ''

Crazy Diamond ''Crazy Diamond'' is a 1993 triple-CD boxed set of Syd Barrett's two 1970 albums ''The Madcap Laughs'' and '' Barrett'', and '' Opel'', an out-takes compilation from 1988. All discs are further augmented by various alternate takes. "Our main ...

'', about a teenaged rockstar who dies under unclear circumstances, was published in the United States in April 2008.

Works

* ''Frühreif - Texte aus der Plastiktüte'', Munich 1984 * ''Der erste Kuß oder Geduld, Hofstätter'', radio play, Süddeutscher Rundfunk 1987 * ''Bücher waren ihr Schicksal'', radio play,

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...

1988 * ''Mitten in der Masse'', radio play,

Norddeutscher Rundfunk Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, M ...

1989 * ''Das große Schweigen'', radio play, Norddeutscher Rundfunk 1992 * ''Marie ist tot, das Radio ist aus...'', radio play,

Radio Bremen Radio Bremen (RB), Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (which includes Bremerhaven). With its headquarters sited in Bremen, Radio Brem ...

1993 * ''Daniel - Der kindliche Held'', radio play, Radio Bremen 1994 * ''Das Abenteuer des Denkens, Roman über Albert Einstein'', novel, Frankfurt 1994 * ''Tödliche Safari, Roman'', novel, Frankfurt 1995 * ''

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

- Roman aus dem Leben eines jungen Philosophen'', novel, Frankfurt 1996 * ''Daniel Halber Mensch'', novel for young people, Hamburg 2000 (as '' Daniel Half Human'', New York 2003) * ''Javanische Schatten'', radio play, NDR 2001 * ''Mr. Pitiful - Das Leben des

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

'', radio feature, SDR 2002 * ''Crazy Diamond'', novel, Hamburg 2005, New York 2008

Theater works

* ''Der einäugige Karpfen'', based on a story by Kenzaburo Oe, Hamburg 2000 * ''Die Traumwandler'', Hamburg 2001 * ''BLUT on the DANCEFLOOR'', Hamburg 2002 * ''STIRB, POPSTAR, STIRB'', Hamburg 2003 * ''Boys don't Cry'', Hamburg 2005 * '' Daniel Halber Mensch'', Hamburg 2006

Translations

: ''Familienbande'' 1988 * Norma Klein: ''Daddy's Darling'' 1989 * Norma Klein: ''Der Weg zurück'' 1989 * Norma Klein: ''Madison oder Die Freiheit der Jugen'' 1990 * Norma Klein: ''Leda oder die Anfänge der Liebe'' 1991 * Edith Konnecky: ''Allegra Maud Goldmann'' 1992 * Hatty Naylor: ''Im Pappkarton'' (radio play) 1992 * Slelagh Stephenson: ''Fünffaches Schweigen'' (radio play) 2003 *Doris Orgel: '' Daniel Half Human'' 2004

Reviews in the internet

English text about ''Daniel Halber Mensch'' on the website of New Books in German

Review by a young reader about ''Crazy Diamond''
''in German''
Review of the Einstein novel
''in German'' Doris Orgel (from Daniel Half Human and the Good Nazi)

Life

Works

Theater works

Translations

Reviews in the internet

External links