Peter Rosei (born in

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

on 17 June 1946) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n literary writer. Rosei attended the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, where he earned a doctorate in law in 1968. He worked for a time as the personal assistant to the Viennese painter Ernst Fuchs and then as the director of a publishing house for textbooks and nonfiction. Since 1972 he has been a freelance writer, publishing novels, stories, essays, poetry, plays, travelogues, and children's literature. He has traveled extensively and intensively throughout the world and has been a guest writer at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

, and the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

at Taos, as well as guest professor at the University of Nagoya, Japan. His literary breakthrough came with the novel ''Wer war Edgar Allan'' (Who was Edgar Allan) in 1977, which was filmed by the Austrian director

Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, G ...

, with a screenplay by Rosei, in 1984.Michael Haneke: A Cinema of Provocation"
DEFA Film Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Retrieved December 16, 2010. His fictional texts portray the limits of knowledge and the discrepancies between thought and action in Western society. Rosei's prolific output includes the novels ''Die Milchstrasse'' (The Milky Way, 1981), ''Rebus'' (1990), and ''Persona'' (1995), as well as a six-part novel cycle titled ''Das 15 000-Seelen-Projekt'' (The 15,000 Souls Project) from 1984–1988. In 2005 he published a panoramic novel of Vienna during the postwar period, ''Wien Metropolis'' (Metropolis Vienna). Works that have been translated into English include ''Von hier nach dort'' (1978) (''From Here to There'', translated by Kathleen Thorpe, 1991), ''Das schnelle Glück'' (1980) (''Try Your Luck'', translated by Kathleen Thorpe, 1994), and ''Ruthless and Other Writings'' (translated by Geoffrey Howes, 2003), all published by Ariadne Press; and ''Wien Metropolis'' (2005) (''Metropolis Vienna'', translated by Geoffrey C. Howes, published by Green Integer in 2009).

Decorations and awards

* 1973:

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". ...

* 1980: Literature of the Cultural Fund of the City of Salzburg, * 1986: Elias Canetti scholarship of Vienna * 1987: Literature Prize of Salzburg * 1991: Austrian Prize for Literature * 1993: Franz Kafka Prize of the City of Klosterneuburg * 1996:

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

* 1997: Literature Prize of Vienna * 1999:

Anton Wildgans Prize The Anton Wildgans Prize of Austrian Industry is a literary award that was endowed in 1962 by the Federation of Austrian Industry. The prize is worth 15,000 Euro and is granted by an independent jury to a young or middle-aged writer of Austrian c ...

* 2006:

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

Decorations and awards

References

Further reading