Wilhelm Genazino (22 January 1943 – 12 December 2018) was a German journalist and author. He worked first as a journalist for the satirical magazine '' pardon'' and for ''Lesezeichen''. From the early 1970s, he was a freelance writer who became known by a trilogy of novels, ''Abschaffel-Trilogie'', completed in 1979. It was followed by more novels and two plays. Among his many awards is the prestigious

Georg Büchner Prize The Georg Büchner Prize (german: link=no, Georg-Büchner-Preis) is the most important literary prize for German language literature, along with the Goethe Prize. The award is named after dramatist and writer Georg Büchner, author of '' Woyzeck ...

Career

Born in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

, Genazino studied German, philosophy and

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

at the

Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

Frankfurt am Main 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 ...

in the 1960s. He worked as a journalist until 1965. During this time, he worked, for the satirical magazine '' pardon'' and co-edited the magazine ''Lesezeichen''. Beginning in 1970 he worked as a freelance author. In 1977 he achieved a breakthrough as a serious writer with his trilogy ''Abschaffel''. In 1990 he became a member of the Academy for Language and Poetry in Darmstadt. After living in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

for a long time, Genazino moved to

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 it ...

in 2004. That same year he was awarded the

, the most prestigious award for German literature. Wilhelm-genazino-2013-ffm-939

Genazino died on 12 December 2018 after a short illness at the age of 75.

Works

Books

* ''Laslinstrasse'', 1965 * '':'' ** ''Abschaffel'', 1977 ** ''Die Vernichtung der Sorgen'', 1978 ** ''Falsche Jahre'', 1979 * ''Der Fleck, die Jacke, die Zimmer, der Schmerz'', 1989 (The mark, the jacket, the room, the pain) * ' Reinbek bei Hamburg 1990 * ''.'' Reinbek bei Hamburg 1994 * ''Die Kassiererinnen'', 1998 (Road works ahead) * ', 2001 (An umbrella for one day, English title : The shoe tester of Frankfurt) * ', 2003 (A woman, a flat, a novel) * ''Der gedehnte Blick'', 2004 (The extended gaze) * ', 2005 (The foolishness of love) * ', Munich 2007 (Mediocre homesickness) * ', Munich 2009 * ', 2011 (If we were animals) * ', Hanser, Munich 2014, * ''Außer uns spricht niemand über uns''. Hanser, Munich 2016, * ''Kein Geld, keine Uhr, keine Mütze.'' Hanser, Munich 2018,

Play

* ', premiered

Staatstheater Darmstadt The Staatstheater Darmstadt (Darmstadt State Theatre) is a theatre company and building in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany, presenting opera, ballet, plays and concerts. It is funded by the state of Hesse and the city of Darmstadt. Its history began in ...

in October 2005, Frankfurt 2003, Munich 2006 and ''Der Hausschrat''. Munich 2006, Mülheim 2007, Theaterstücke

In translation

* ''Ein Regenschirm für diesen Tag'' was translated to English by Philip Boehm as ''The Shoe Tester of Frankfurt'', New York: New Directions, 2006, and to Chinese, French, Italian, Greek and Lithuanian. * ''Eine Frau, eine Wohnung, ein Roman'' was translated into French, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, and Hebrew. Translations of works by Genazino have also been published in Greek, Latvian and Russian.

Honours

* Bremer Literaturpreis, 1990 *

Solothurner Literaturpreis The Solothurner Literaturpreis is a literary award for a literary achievement by a German language writer. Awarded since 1994, the annual prize is 15,000 Swiss francs. It is named after the city of Solothurn in Switzerland. Winners *1994: Mon ...

, 1995 * Literaturpreis der Bayerischen Akademie der schönen Künste, 1998 * Kranichsteiner Literaturpreis, 2001 *

, 2004 *

Kleist Prize The Kleist Prize is an annual German literature prize. The prize was first awarded in 1912, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist. The Kleist Prize was the most important literary award of the Weimar Repu ...

, 2007 * Kassel Literary Prize for Grotesque Humor, 2013 *

Goethe Plaque of the City of Frankfurt Goethe Plaque of the City of Frankfurt (german: Goethe-Plakette der Stadt Frankfurt am Main, links=no) is an award conferred by Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany and named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The plaque was originally designed by sculptor ...

, 2014

Literature

Heinz Ludwig Arnold Heinz Ludwig Arnold (29 March 1940 – 1 November 2011) was a German literary journalist and publisher. He was also a leading advocate for contemporary literature. Early years Heinz Ludwig Arnold attended schools in Bochum and, subsequentl ...

(ed.): ''Wilhelm Genazino.'' Edition Text + Kritik, München 2004, . * Andrea Bartl, (ed.): ''Verstehensanfänge. Das literarische Werk Wilhelm Genazinos.'' Wallstein, Göttingen 2011 (''Poiesis.'' Standpunkte zur Gegenwartsliteratur 7), . * Jonas Fansa: ''Unterwegs im Monolog. Poetologische Konzeptionen in der Prosa Wilhelm Genazinos.'' Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2008, . * Alexander Fischer
Wider das System: Der gesellschaftliche Aussteiger in Genazinos 'Ein Regenschirm für diesen Tag' und literarische Verwandte bei Kleist und Kafka
UBP, Bamberg 2012, . * Alexander Fischer
Im existentiellen Zwiespalt. Wilhelm Genazinos Ein Regenschirm für diesen Tag vor dem Hintergrund existenzphilosophischer Konzepte
In: Bartl, Andrea/Klinge, Annika (ed.): Transitkunst. Studien zur Literatur 1890-2010. UBP, Bamberg 2012 * Winfried Giesen (ed.): ''Wilhelm Genazino – "Die Belebung der toten Winkel"'', Begleitheft zur Ausstellung 11. Januar – 25. Februar 2006, Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main. Frankfurt 2006, . * ''Aktualisiertes Verzeichnis der unselbstständig erschienenen Primärliteratur Wilhelm Genazinos'' from 1961 to 2014, collected by Winfried Giesen. * ''Wilhelm Genazino – Sekundärliteratur'' from 1963 to 2014 collected by Winfried Giesen.Kontakt: winfried.giesen (at) web.de * Anja Hirsch: ''Schwebeglück der Literatur. Der Erzähler Wilhelm Genazino''. Synchron Wissenschaftsverlag der Autoren, Heidelberg 2006, * Joachim Jacob: ''Schönheit, Literatur und Lebenskunst. Überlegungen zu Peter Handkes „Versuch über den geglückten Tag“ und Wilhelm Genazinos "Eine Frau, eine Wohnung, ein Roman"'' In: Susanne Krepold, Christian Krepold (ed.): ''Schön und gut? Studien zu Ethik und Ästhetik in der Literatur.'' Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2008, pp. 185–199. * Ulrich Klappstein: ''Ein Flaneur für diesen Tag. Eine lexikalische Annäherung an den Schriftsteller Wilhelm Genazino'' In: Hartmut Fischer (ed.): ''Flanieren - Gehen - Wandern.'' Northeim 2011. * Christian Krepold: ''"... als sei das Ende des Menschen die einzige ordentliche Verrichtung". Altern, Melancholie und Komik bei Wilhelm Genazino und Italo Svevo''. In: Andrea Bartl (ed.): ''Transitträume. Beiträge zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur.'' Wißner, Augsburg 2009 (Germanistik und Gegenwartsliteratur 4), pp. 55–101. * Susanne Krepold, Christian Krepold: ''Literarische Selbstreflexion durch Lektüre. Wilhelm Genazino als Leser von Marguerite Duras.'' In: Steffen Buch, Álvaro Ceballos, Christian Gerth (ed.): ''Selbstreflexivität''. 23. Forum Junge Romanistik (Göttingen, 30. Mai–2. Juni 2007). Romanistischer Verlag, Bonn 2008, pp. 107–124. * Nils Lehnert: ''Wilhelm Genazinos Romanfiguren. Erzähltheoretische und (literatur-)psychologische Zugriffe auf Handlungsmotivation und Eindruckssteuerung.''

De Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...

, Berlin 2018 (Deutsche Literatur. Studien und Quellen 30), .

References

FU Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

Genazino, Wilhelm
interview with (PDF) * Peter Mohr
Chronist des alltäglichen Wahnsinns / Zum 75. Geburtstag des Georg-Büchner-Preisträgers Wilhelm Genazino
', 22 January 2018
Wilhelm Genazino
Stadtschreiberarchiv Bergen-Enkheim
Wilhelm Genazino Ein großer Desillusionierungskünstler
obituary in '' Die Zeit'', 14 December 2018 {{DEFAULTSORT:Genazino, Wilhelm 1943 births 2018 deaths German male novelists Kleist Prize winners Georg Büchner Prize winners Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin German male writers