Kathrin Schmidt (born 12 March 1958 in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

Bezirk Erfurt The Bezirk Erfurt was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Erfurt. History The district was established, along with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 Octob ...

), is a German writer. She is known both for her poetry and prose.

Life and work

Kathrin Schmidt grew up in Gotha and from 1964 in

Waltershausen Waltershausen is a town in the south-western part of the district of Gotha in the state of Thuringia, Germany. Geography Geographic location Located on the verge of the Thuringian Basin just before the Thuringian Forest, Waltershausen is so ...

. After graduating from high school, she studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

from 1976 to 1981. After completing her studies (

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

), she worked as a research assistant at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

from 1981 to 1982, and then as a child psychologist at the

Rüdersdorf Rüdersdorf is a municipality in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany, near Berlin. It is served by the Schöneiche bei Berlin tramway which runs from Rüdersdorf through Schöneiche to Berlin-Friedrichshagen station on the B ...

District Hospital and at the

Berlin-Marzahn Marzahn () is a locality within the borough of Marzahn-Hellersdorf in Berlin. Berlin's 2001 administrative reform led to the former boroughs of Marzahn and Hellersdorf fusing into a single new borough. In the north the Marzahn locality includes ...

Child and Youth Health Protection Center. In 1986/1987, she completed special studies at the

Johannes R. Becher Institute of Literature The German Institute for Literature (German: ''Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig'', DLL) is a part of Leipzig University. It was founded in 1955 under the name Johannes R. Becher-Institut. Among the noted writers who graduated from the school a ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. After the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...

, she worked at the

Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

. In 1990/1991 she was

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the feminist women's magazine

Ypsilon Upsilon (, ; uppercase Υ, lowercase υ; el, ''ýpsilon'' ) or ypsilon is the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, grc, Υʹ, label=none has a value of 400. It is derived from the Phoenician waw . Etym ...

and worked as a research assistant at the Berlin Institute for Comparative Social Research until 1993. She has been a

freelance writer ''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 ...

since 1994. She is a member of the

PEN Center Germany A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a Nib (pen), nib or in a small void or ca ...

. Kathrin Schmidt began writing as a teenager and initially published

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

. The poems are characterized by strict

metre The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

, powerful, sensual language and frequent use of

puns A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophonic ...

. The novels, sometimes classified as

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...

due to the baroque fullness of the stories, also show Kathrin Schmidt as a powerful author with an exuberant imagination, who has been compared by critics to the early

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (born Graß; ; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Da ...

and

Irmtraud Morgner Irmtraud Morgner, (22 August 19336 May 1990), was a German writer, best known for works of magical realism concerned predominantly with the role of gender in East German society. Life Irmtraud Morgner was born in 1933 in Chemnitz, the daughter o ...

. To date, her greatest literary success is the autobiographically tinged novel ''Du stirbst nicht''. In it, the author describes the illness and recovery story of the writer Helene, who is confronted with the lack of control over her body after a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

and must relearn language. The book sold 150,000 copies and was awarded the

German Book Prize The German Book Prize (''Deutscher Buchpreis'') is awarded annually, in October, by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association (''Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels'') to the best new German language novel of the year. The books, publ ...

in 2009. Kathrin Schmidt raised five children with her husband and lives in

Berlin-Mahlsdorf Mahlsdorf () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Marzahn-Hellersdorf. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Hellersdorf. History The locality was mentioned for the first time in a document of 1345, n ...

Selected works

Poetry books

* ''Kathrin Schmidt. Poetry album (poetry series),'' 179th edition. Berlin 1982. * ''An angel flies through the wallpaper factory.'' Neues Leben, Berlin 1987, . * ''River Picture with Angel.'' Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1995, ISBN 3-518-11931-1; Lyrikedition 2000, Munich 2000, . * ''Go-In the Belladonnas.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2000, . * ''Dances of the Dead.'' With Karl-Georg Hirsch. Leipzig 2001. * ''Blind Bees.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2010, . * ''washing place of cool things.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2018, . * ''sommerschaums ernte.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2020, .

Novels

* ''The Gunnar Lennefsen Expedition.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1998, . * ''Koenig's Children.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2002, . * ''Seebach's Black Cats.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2005, . * ''You Don't Die.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2009, . * ''Kapok's Sisters.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2016, .

Tales

* ''Sticky ends.'' Science fiction novella. Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 2000, . * ''Three carp blue.'' Short prose. Berliner Handpresse, Berlin 2000. * ''Finito. Schwamm drüber.'' Short stories. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2011, . * ''Tiefer Schafsee and other stories.'' With three color etchings by Madeleine Heublein. Leipzig Bibliophile Evening 2016.

Edition

* ''Poetry Seminar 1989.'' 1990. * ''Yearbook of Poetry 2011,'' with Christoph Buchwald. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Munich 2011.

Awards

* 1988

Anna Seghers-Preis Anna Seghers-Preis is a literary prize of Germany. The prize goes back to the German writer Anna Seghers (1900–1983), who stated in her testament that the revenues from her work should be used to encourage promising young writers. The award is ...

* 1993 Leonce-und-Lena-Preis *1994: Merano Poetry Prize *1994: Working scholarship of the German Literature Fund *1997: Town writer of

Berlin-Hellersdorf Hellersdorf () is a locality in the borough of Marzahn-Hellersdorf in Berlin. Between 1986 and Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was a borough in its own right, consisting of the current area of Hellersdorf as well as Kaulsdorf and Mahlsdo ...

*1998: Prize of the Province of Carinthia at the Ingeborg Bachmann Competition in

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

*1998: Working scholarship of the German Literature Fund *1998: Sponsorship award for the Heimito von Doderer Literature Prize *1998: GEDOK Literature Promotion Prize *2000: Working scholarship of the German Literature Fund *2001: German cultural prize *2003:

Droste Prize Droste-Preis is a literary prize awarded in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The city of Meersburg awards the Droste Prize in memory of the writer Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, who spent the last years of her life in Meersburg. It is awarded every thr ...

of the city of

Meersburg Meersburg () is a town in Baden-Württemberg in the southwest of Germany. It is on Lake Constance. It is known for its medieval city. The lower town ("Unterstadt") and upper town ("Oberstadt") are reserved for pedestrians only, and connected by t ...

*2005: Art Prize for Literature of the Land Brandenburg Lotto *2009:

Preis der SWR-Bestenliste Preis der SWR-Bestenliste is a literature prize awarded in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Winners *1978 Gerhard Roth *1979 Ludwig Fels *1980 Otto F. Walter *1981 Peter Weiss *1982 Franz Fühmann *1983 Oskar Pastior *1984 Christa Reinig *1985 ...

* 2009

for ''Du stirbst nicht''Ulrike Hempel
''"I wanted to hear words"''
(PDF; 1.01 MB) Book review of "Du stirbst nicht.", in BERLINER ÄRZTE (Chamber Journal of the Berlin Medical Association), issue 03/2010. * 2017 Thüringer Literaturpreis

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Kathrin 1958 births Living people People from Gotha (town) German women writers Writers from Thuringia German Book Prize winners