Karen Köhler (born 1974 in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

) is a German writer, playwright and actor.

Life

Karen Köhler was born in the

Barmbek Barmbek (), until 27 September 1946 ''Barmbeck'', is the name of a former village that was absorbed into the city of Hamburg, Germany. In 1951 it was divided into the quarters ''Barmbek-Süd'', ''Barmbek-Nord'' and ''Dulsberg'' in the borough ''Ha ...

district of

. She is the daughter of a

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

and a care home assistant. After graduating from school, she studied acting at the Academy of Music and Theater in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. She worked as an actor until 2014, first in permanent positions and then as a

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

. In 2008, she began working as an author (drama and

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

) and illustrator. In 2010 she became a member of the Hamburg Authors Forum and in 2011 she received the Hamburg Literature Prize. She was invited to give a reading at the

Ingeborg Bachmann Prize The Festival of German-Language Literature () is a literary event which takes place annually in Klagenfurt, Austria. During this major literary festival which lasts for several days a number of awards are given, the major one being the Ingeborg B ...

ceremony in 2014 and received special attention as she was not allowed to attend the event because she had

chickenpox Chickenpox, also known as varicella ( ), is a highly contagious disease caused by varicella zoster virus (VZV), a member of the herpesvirus family. The disease results in a characteristic skin rash that forms small, itchy blisters, which ...

. Out of solidarity with her, there was a spontaneous, unofficial reading of Karen Köhler's text ''Il Comandante'' at Klagenfurt Lendhafen, which was broadcast on the Internet via livestream. This text is part of her collection of stories ''Wir haben Raketen geangelt'' (''We Fished for Rockets''). After its publication in the summer of 2014, it reached position 36 on the bestseller list for hardcover fiction, was nominated for the Aspects Literature Prize and was translated into several languages. Subsequently, Köhler won various scholarships and artist residencies. From 2013 to 2015, she wrote a series of plays (a hero trilogy) dealing with the topic of

right-wing extremism Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

for the DNT Weimar, which have since been performed in theatres throughout Germany. In 2019, Köhler was nominated for the German Screenplay Award, which was awarded at the 2019

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

, for ''Cowboy & Indianer'' (''Cowboys & Indians''). She has received several scholarships, including a one-year scholarship from the German Literature Fund for her debut novel ''Miroloi''. ''Miroloi'' was published in 2019 by

Carl Hanser Verlag The Carl Hanser Verlag was founded in 1928 by Carl Hanser in Munich and is one of the few medium-sized publishing companies in the German-speaking area still owned by the founding family. History From the very beginning, the publishing house h ...

and was on the long list for the 2019

German Book Prize The German Book Prize () is awarded annually, in October, by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association () to the best new German-language novel of the year. The books, published in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, are nominated by their ...

. Karen Köhler lives in

Works

Theatre

* ''Pornorama. Ein Männermärchen (Pornorama. A Man Tale).'' Premiered in 2010. * ''Wie ich unter einer Platane eine Erleuchtung hatte, warum sterben uncool ist und das Brot meiner Oma glücklich macht (How I Reached Enlightenment under a Plane Tree, Why Dying Is Uncool and Why My Grandma's Bread Makes You Happy).'' Premiered in 2012. * ''Ramayana. Ein Heldenversuch (Ramayana. A Heroic Attempt).'' Premiered at the Baden State Theatre in 2013. * ''Deine Helden – Meine Träume (Your Heroes – My Dreams).'' Premiered at DNT Weimar in 2013. * ''Helden! Oder: Warum ich einen grünen Umhang trage und gegen die Beschissenheit der Welt ankämpfe (Heroes! Or: Why I Wear a Green Cape and Fight the Shittiness of the World).'' Premiered at the DNT Weimar in 2014. * ''III Helden: Stadt. Land. Traum.'' (III Heroes: City. Country. Dream.) Premiered at the DNT Weimar in 2015. * ''ER. SIE. ES.'' (HE. SHE. IT.) Premiered at the Baden State Theatre in 2016. * ''Himmelwärts'' (Skybound), Premiered at the Theater Ingolstadt in 2022. * ''Sieres – Fragmente einer scheinbaren Aporie'' Scenic reading at

Berliner Ensemble The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langh ...

2022.

Prose

* ''Wir haben Raketen geangelt (We've been fishing Fireworks).'' Stories.

, Munich 2014, . Translated into French, Dutch, Turkish, Albanian. * ''Miroloi.'' Novel.

, Munich 2019, . Translated into Italian, Greek, Chinese.

Audio books

* ''Wir haben Raketen geangelt (We've been fishing Fireworks).'' Stories. Read by

Sandra Hüller Sandra Hüller (; born 30 April 1978) is a German actress. She has appeared in German, Austrian, British, French, and American films. She has received various accolades, including two European Film Awards, a César Award and three German Film Aw ...

and Karen Köhler. Roof Music/Tacheles!

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

2015, . * ''Miroloi.'' Novel. Read by Karen Köhler. Roof Music/Tacheles!

2019, .

Translations

* Nick Drnaso, ''Sabrina''.

Graphic Novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

. Translated by Karen Köhler and Daniel Beskos. Blumenbar Verlag,

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 ...

2019, . * Steven Withrow, ''Abzählreim'' (''Counting Rhyme'') (Poem), translated by Karen Köhler. In Kenn Nesbitt: ''Jetzt noch ein Gedicht und dann aus das Licht!'' (English language version: ''One Minute Until Bedtime''), Hanser Verlag,

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

2019, . * Nick Drnaso, ''Acting Class''. Graphic Novel. Übersetzt von Karen Köhler und Daniel Beskos. Blumenbar / Aufbau Verlag,

. Translated by Karen Köhler and Daniel Beskos. Blumenbar Verlag,

2022 .

Publishing

* ''Akzente 3 / 2019 – Briefe an den Täter (Akzente 3 / 2019 – Letters to the Perpetrator).'' Magazine series by

Akzente Akzente is a German literary magazine that was founded in 1953 by Walter Höllerer and Hans Bender. From February 1954 to 2014, it appeared every two months in the Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich, with the subtitle "Zeitschrift für Literatur" (Journ ...

, Munich 2019, .

Awards

* 2011: * 2011: Prize from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Art and Culture. * 2013: Otfried Preußler Theatre for Children Prize * 2015:

Rauris Literature Prize The Rauris Literature Prize () is an annual Austrian literary award since 1972 by the Salzburg state government. The prize money is €10,000. It is awarded "for the best prose first publication by a German-speaking author from the previous year". ...

from the

Salzburg state Salzburg (, ; , also known as ''Salzburgerland''; ) is an Austria, Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state. In German it is called a , a German-to-English dictionary translates that to ''federal state'' and the European Commission calls ...

government * 2015: Advancement award at the Schubart Literature Prize * 2015:

Writer in residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

for the

Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

* 2015: Scholar of the German Embassy in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

* 2016: Scholar of the Dutch Foundation for Literature in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

* 2017: Boarder crosser scholarship from the Robert Bosch Foundation * 2017: Laudinella scholarship in

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

from the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media * 2018: Scholarship from the German Literature fund * 2019: Work scholarship from the

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

* 2019: Nomination for the German Screenplay Prize for ''Cowboy & Indianer'' (''Cowboys & Indians'') * 2019: Nomination for the

for ''Miroloi'' * 2020: London scholarship from the German Literature Fund * 2025: Katholischer Kinder- und Jugendbuchpreis for ''Himmelwärts'' (Köhler's first children's book)Kinderbuch über den Tod wird geehrt.
wdr.de, 26 February 2025 (in German). Retrieved 26 February 2025.

Literature

Theo Breuer Theo Breuer (born 30 March 1956) is a German poet, essayist, editor, translator and publisher. Life and work Theo Breuer was born in Bürvenich, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany and educated at Cologne University where he studied German a ...

: ''Zwanzig Tage – Zwanzig Romane: Ein Buchspiel (Twenty Days – Twenty Novels: A Book Game).'' In: Matrix. ''Zeitschrift für Literatur und Kunst'' (''Magazine for Literature and Art''), Edition 58., Pop Verlag,

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a Cities of Germany, city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg (district), Lu ...

2019, pp. 7–167.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohler, Karen 1974 births Living people 21st-century German women writers German women dramatists and playwrights Writers from Hamburg