Friederike Mayröcker (20 December 1924 – 4 June 2021) was an Austrian writer of poetry and prose, audio plays, children's books and dramatic texts. She experimented with language, and was regarded as an avantgarde poet, and as one of the leading authors in German. Her work, inspired by art, music, literature and everyday life, appeared as "novel and also dense text formations, often described as 'magical'." According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', her work was "formally inventive, much of it exploiting the imaginative potential of language to capture the minutiae of daily life, the natural world, love and grief".

Life

Mayröcker was born in Vienna, the daughter of a teacher and a milliner. Until age 11, she spent the summers regularly in the village Deinzendorf. In World War II, she was drafted as an air force aide, working as a secretary. From 1946 to 1969 Mayröcker was an English teacher at several public schools in Vienna. She started writing poetry at age 15. In 1946, she met Otto Basil who published some of her first works in his avant-garde journal '. Mayröcker's poems were published a few years later by renowned literary critic Hans Weigel. She was eventually introduced to the

Wiener Gruppe The Wiener Gruppe (''Vienna Group'') was a small and loose avant-garde constellation of Austrian poets and writers, which arose from an older and wider postwar association of artists called Art-Club. The group was formed around 1953 under the influ ...

, a group of mostly surrealist and expressionist Austrian authors such as Ingeborg Bachmann. Her first book, a collection of prose miniatures, ''Larifari – Ein konfuses Buch'' (''Airy-fairy. A confused book''), appeared in 1956. It remained the only book for ten years, but then the poem collection ''Death by Muses'', meant her breakthrough and recognition as "a leading lyrical voice of her generation". Many more collections followed, published from 1979 by

Suhrkamp Suhrkamp Verlag is a German publishing house, established in 1950 and generally acknowledged as one of the leading European publishers of fine literature. Its roots go back to the "arianized" part of the S. Fischer Verlag. In January 2010 the ...

. Mayröcker is recognized as one of the most important contemporary Austrian poets. She also had success with her prose and radio plays. Four of them she wrote together with

Ernst Jandl Ernst Jandl (; 1 August 1925 – 9 June 2000) was an Austrian writer, poet, and translator. He became known for his experimental lyric, mainly sound poems (''Sprechgedichte'') in the tradition of concrete and visual poetic forms. Poetry In ...

, her partner from 1954 until his death in 2000. While they shared a love of writing, they did not share a house or have any children. She once reflected in a poem that they stood together in the kitchen with poems in their heads, "but not the same one". Even so, after Jandl's death, she was so stricken with grief that she was initially unable to write. She eventually addressed this grief in her work, ''Requiem for Ernst Jandl,'' and resumed writing well into her nineties. Her prose is often described as autofictional, since Mayröcker uses quotes of private conversations and excerpts from letters and diaries in her work. She described her working process: "I live in pictures. I see everything in pictures, my complete past, memories are pictures. I transform pictures into language by climbing into the picture. I walk into it until it becomes language." She sometimes included her drawings in books, and exhibited her art. She was also inspired by music, and literature of

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic ex ...

and

Friedrich Hölderlin Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticism. Pa ...

, among many others. Her montages are also fed from everyday life observations, correspondence and newspapers. She produced "novel and also dense text formations, often described as "magical". Mayröcker earned numerous German-language literary prizes and was frequently mentioned as a potential Nobel laureate. A German-produced documentary chronicling Mayröcker's life and work was released in 2008. Her last lyric collection, ''da ich morgens und moosgrün. Ans Fenster trete'' (''as mornings and mossgreen I. Step to the window''), was short-listed for the prize of the

Leipzig Book Fair The Leipzig Book Fair (german: Leipziger Buchmesse) is the second largest book fair in Germany after the Frankfurt Book Fair. The fair takes place annually over four days at the Leipzig Trade Fairground in the northern part of Leipzig, Saxony. ...

2021, with the jury saying that she "fuses poetry and prose into 'proems' full of infatuations, futilities, fantasies, daydreams". She saw life, "like a surprise - you never know how it ends, it's an adventure that you create yourself". Mayröcker died on 4 June 2021, in Vienna, aged 96.

Works

Source: * ''Gesammelte Prosa 1949–2001'' (''Collected Prose 1949–2001'') ed. by Klaus Reichert, 5 volumes, Frankfurt/Main 2001 * ''Magische Blätter I-V'' (''Magic Pages I–V''), Frankfurt/Main 2001 * ''Requiem für Ernst Jandl'' (''Requiem for Ernst Jandl''), Frankfurt/Main 2001 * ''Mein Arbeitstirol – Gedichte 1996–2001'' (''My Working Tyrol – Poems 1996–2001''), Frankfurt/Main 2003 * ''Die kommunizierenden Gefäße'' (''The Communicating Vessels'') Frankfurt/Main 2003 * ''Sinclair Sofokles der Baby-Saurier'' (''Sinclair Sofokles the Baby Dinosaur'') with coloured illustrations by Angelika Kaufmann, St. Pölten 2004 * ''Gesammelte Gedichte 1939–2003'' (''Collected Poems'') ed. by Marcel Beyer, Frankfurt/Main 2005 * ''Und ich schüttelte einen Liebling'' (''And I Shook a Darling''), Frankfurt/Main 2005 * ''fleurs'', Suhrkamp, Berlin 2016, * ''Pathos und Schwalbe'', Suhrkamp, Berlin 2018,

Audio plays

Audio plays by Mayröcker, some written jointly with Jandl, include: * ''Die Umarmung, nach Picasso'' (''The Embrace, After

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is kn ...

'') * ''Repetitionen, nach Max Ernst'' (''Repetitions, After

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...

'') * ''Schubertnotizen oder das unbestechliche Muster der Ekstase'' (''

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

-Notes or the Incorrupt Model of Ecstasy'') * ''Arie auf tönernen Füßen'' (''Aria on Feet of Clay'') * ''Das zu Sehende, das zu Hörende'' (''The to Be Seen, the to Be Heard'') (awarded the

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of t ...

radio play prize) * ''Die Kantate oder, Gottes Augenstern bist Du'' (''The Cantata or, Gods Eye-star You Are''), music by

Wolfgang von Schweinitz Wolfgang von Schweinitz (born 7 February 1953 in Hamburg) is a German composer of classical music and an academic teacher. Career Schweinitz studied composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, from 1971 to 1973 with Gernot Kl ...

(2003) with Ernst Jandl: * ''Der Gigant'' (''The Giant'') * ''Gemeinsame Kindheit'' (''Childhood Together'') * ''Fünf Mann Menschen'', translated as ''Five Man Humanity'' * ''Spaltungen'' (''Partitions'')

Libretto

* ''Stretta'', music by Wolfram Wagner. World premiere at Sirene Opera, Vienna 2004Wolfram Wagner / Stretta
(in German) Doblinger Musikverlag

Awards

* 1963: Theodor Körner Prize * 1969:

Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden The Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden (War Blinded Audio Play Prize), also known as the Kriegsblindenpreis (War Blinded Prize) is the most important literary prize granted to playwrights of audio plays written in the German language. The award was ...

for ''Fünf Mann Menschen'' (with

) * 1975: Austrian Prize for Literature * 1976: * 1977: * 1981: Anton Wildgans Prize * 1982: Grand Austrian State Prize for Literature * 1982: Roswitha Prize * 1985: Literature Prize of Southwest Radio Baden-Baden * 1985: Gold Medal of Vienna * 1987: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art * 1989: Hans-Erich-Nossack-Preis * 1993: Friedrich-Hölderlin-Preis of Bad Homburg * 1994: Manuscripts Award * 1996: Else Lasker-Schüler Poetry Prize * 1996: Grand Literature Prize of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts * 1997: America Award * 1997:

Droste-Preis 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 ...

( Meersburg) * 2000:

Christian-Wagner-Preis Christian-Wagner-Preis is a literary prize of Germany. Since 1992, the Christian Wagner Society has been awarding the Christian Wagner Prize to a contemporary poet every two years "in memory of the poet and his program of protecting all living t ...

* 2001: Karl Sczuka Prize for the radio play ''The envelope of the birds'' * 2001:

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 ...

* 2001: Honorary doctorate, University of Bielefeld * 2003: Premio Internazionale * 2004: Honorary Ring of the Vienna * 2009:

Hermann-Lenz-Preis Hermann-Lenz-Preis was a literary prize of Germany 1999–2009. Recipients * 1999: Josef W. Janker * 2000: Johannes Kühn * 2001: Ralf Rothmann * 2002: Erich Wolfgang Skwara * 2003: Joseph Zoderer * 2004: Walter Kappacher * 2005: Franz We ...

for poem ''Scardanelli'' * 2010: Peter-Huchel-Preis for ''This jacket (namely) the griffin'' * 2010:

Horst-Bienek-Preis für Lyrik The Horst Bienek Prize for Poetry () is a German literary prize named after novelist and poet Horst Bienek. It was established in 1991 and is awarded by the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. It is awarded every two years. Recipients *1991: John Ashb ...

of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts * 2011:

Bremen Literature Prize The Bremen Literature Prize (german: link=no, Literaturpreis der Stadt Bremen, literally: Literature Prize of the city of Bremen) is a German literary award. The prize money is €25,000 (Förderpreis: €6,000). Recipients *1954 Heinrich Schmi ...

for ''ich bin in der Anstalt. Fusznoten zu einem nichtgeschriebenen Werk'' * 2016: * 2017: * 2017: Hörbuch des Jahres

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Theo Breuer: „Friederike Mayröcker, usw.“, in: T.B., ''Aus dem Hinterland. Lyrik nach 2000'', Edition YE, Sistig/Eifel 2005 * Renate Kühn (Ed.): ''Friederike Mayröcker oder Das innere des Sehens'', studies about poetry, radio play and prose, Bielefeld 2002 * Inge Arteel / Heidy M. Müller (Ed.): ''Rupfen in fremden Gärten – Intertextualität im Schreiben Friederike Mayröckers'', Bielefeld 2002 * Edith A. Kunz: ''Verwandlungen – Zur Poetologie des Übergangs in der späten Prosa Friederike Mayröckers'', Göttingen 2004 * Ralf B. Korte / Elisabeth Hödl: ''FM dj (reading reise durch die nacht). Ein elektronischer Briefroman. '' 2004 * Martin A. Hainz: ''Schwarze Milch zu schreiben. Paul Celan und Friederike Mayröcker.'' In: Weimarer Beiträge, No. 52·1, 2006, pp. 5–19 * Leo Truchlar: ''Wozu lese und schreibe ich? Notizen aus Anlaß meiner Lektüren von Adrienne Rich und Friederike Mayröcker.'' – In: Leo Truchlar, Über Literatur und andere Künste, Wien 2000, p. 17ff. * Inge Arteel: ''„gefaltet, entfaltet“. Strategien der Subjektwerdung in Friederike Mayröckers Prosa 1988–1998''. Bielefeld 2007.

External links

Friederike Mayröcker
poetryfoundation.org

*
was brauchst du
(poem and biography, in German) lyrikline.org
Sound recordings with Friederike Mayröcker
in the Online Archive of the Österreichische Mediathek (Literary readings) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayrocker, Friederike 1924 births 2021 deaths Austrian women poets Writers from Vienna Anton Wildgans Prize winners Georg Büchner Prize winners Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Recipients of the Grand Austrian State Prize Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin German-language poets