Jürgen Becker (; 10 July 1932 – 7 November 2024) was a German poet, prose writer and audio play author. He won the 2014 Georg Büchner Prize.

Life and career

Becker was born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

on 10 July 1932. His family moved from Cologne to

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

in 1939; he experienced the war as a child in

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

. In 1947, the family moved to

Waldbröl Waldbröl is a town in the southern part of the Oberbergischer Kreis (upper Berg county), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Location The town is located on the slopes of the Nutscheid range of hills and is part of the Bergisches Land ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, and in 1950, back to Cologne. From 1950 to 1953, he attended a gymnasium there, completing with the ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

''. He began to study German studies, but broke off a year later. From 1959 to 1964, Becker was a member of the

Westdeutscher Rundfunk (; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German public broadcasting, public-broadcasting institution based in the States of Germany, Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a const ...

, and from 1964 to 1966,

literary editor A literary editor is a editor responsible for refining and overseeing the quality of written content in a newspaper, magazine or other publication. Literary editor deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews. A literary ...

in the Rowohlt publishing house. He became a freelance writer in 1968. From 1973, he was director of Suhrkamp Theater publishing, and from 1974 to 1993, director of the department for audio plays of

Deutschlandfunk Deutschlandfunk (DLF, ''Broadcast Germany'') is a public-broadcasting radio station in Germany, concentrating on news and current affairs. It is one of the four national radio channels produced by Deutschlandradio. History Broadcasting in t ...

. Becker emerged as a poet in the 1960s, with a highly experimental kind of literature in open form, in opposition to conventional narrative. In later texts, landscape plays an important role in his poetry. He also wrote stories and audio plays. Since 1994, his contributions have appeared in the journal ''Sinn und Form'', edited by the

Akademie der Künste The Academy of Arts () is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The academy's predecessor organization was founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

in Berlin. From 1960, Becker was a member of the

Group 47 Gruppe 47 (Group 47) was a group of participants in German writers' meetings, invited by Hans Werner Richter between 1947 and 1967. The meetings served the dual goals of literary criticism as well as the promotion of young, unknown authors. In a ...

, whose literary prize he won at the last meeting of the group in 1967. Since 1969, he was a member of the PEN Centre Germany and the Akademie der Künste, since 1974 also of the

Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung The Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (in English German Academy for Language and Literature) was founded on 28 August 1949, on the 200th birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in the Paulskirche, Frankfurt, Paulskirche in Frankfurt. I ...

, since 1984 of the

Academy of Sciences and Literature The Academy of Sciences and Literature () is a scientific academy in Mainz, Germany. It was established in 1949 on an initiative of Alfred Döblin. The academy's goal is to support science and literature, and in doing so to help preserve and pro ...

in Mainz, and since 2009 of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts. In 2012 a first documentary about him appeared, entitled ''"In Hell of Silence" The Author Jürgen Becker''. Produced by Christoph Felder, the 80-minutes portrait featured him in interview and also short contributions by his colleagues

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm 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 Danzig (now Gda ...

Uwe Johnson Uwe Johnson (; 20 July 1934 – 22 February 1984) was a German writer, editor, and scholar. Such prominent writers and scholars as Günter Grass and Hans Mayer declared Johnson to be the most significant writer to emerge from East Germany. Duri ...

and

Hans Magnus Enzensberger Hans Magnus Enzensberger (11 November 1929 – 24 November 2022) was a German author, poet, translator, and editor. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Andreas Thalmayr, Elisabeth Ambras, Linda Quilt and Giorgio Pellizzi. Enzensberger was regarde ...

from Group 47.

Personal life

Becker was married to the artist Rango Bohne from 1965, and lived in

Odenthal Odenthal () is a municipality in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Odenthal is situated approximately 5 km north of Bergisch Gladbach and 15 km north-east of Cologne. Neighbouring places Near ...

near Cologne. Their son is the photographer and filmmaker . His wife died in 2021. Becker died in Cologne on 7 November 2024, at the age of 92.

Works

* ''Bilder, Häuser, Hausfreunde. Drei Hörspiele''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1969; Teilausgabe mit einem * ''Nachwort des Autors: Häuser. Hörspiel''. Reclam, Stuttgart 1972, . * ''Umgebungen''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1970, . * ''Schnee. Gedichte''. Literarisches Colloquium, Berlin 1971. * ''Eine Zeit ohne Wörter''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1971, . * ''Die Zeit nach Harrimann. 29 Szenen für Nora, Helen, Jenny und den stummen Diener Moltke. Als Bühnenmanuskript gedruckt''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1971, . * ''Das Ende der Landschaftsmalerei. Gedichte''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1974, . * ''Erzähl mir nichts vom Krieg. Gedichte''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1977, . * ''In der verbleibenden Zeit. Gedichte''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1979, . * ''Erzählen bis Ostende''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1981, . * ''Gedichte 1965–1980''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1981, . * ''mit Rango Bohne: Fenster und Stimmen''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1982, . * ''Felder, Ränder, Umgebungen''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1983, . * ''Die Abwesenden. Drei Hörspiele''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1983, . * Die Türe zum Meer. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1983, . Odenthals Küste. Gedichte. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1986, . * ''Das Gedicht von der wiedervereinigten Landschaft''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1988, . * ''mit Rango Bohne: Frauen mit dem Rücken zum Betrachter''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1989, . * ''Das englische Fenster. Gedichte''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1990, . * ''Beispielsweise am Wannsee''. Ausgewählte Gedichte Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1992, . * ''Foxtrott im Erfurter Stadion''. Gedichte. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1993, . * ''Die Gedichte''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1995, . * ''mit Boris Becker: Geräumtes Gelände''. Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln 1995, . * ''mit Rango Bohne: Korrespondenzen mit Landschaft''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1996, . * ''Gegend mit Spuren. Hörspiel''. Akademie der Künste, Berlin 1996, . * ''Der fehlende Rest''. Erzählung., Frankfurt 1997, . * ''Kaleidoskop der Stimmen. Ein Gespräch mit Leo Kreutzer und das Hörspiel „Bahnhof am Meer"''. Wehrhahn, Hannover 1998, . * ''Journal der Wiederholungen. Gedichte''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1999, . * ''Aus der Geschichte der Trennungen. Roman''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1999, . * ''mit Rango Bohne: Häuser und Häuser. Fünfunddreißig Prosatexte''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 2002, . * ''. Journalroman''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 2003, . Awarded "Ein Buch für die Stadt",

2009. * ''Die folgenden Seiten''. Journalgeschichten. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 2006, . * ''Dorfrand mit Tankstelle. Gedichte''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 2007, . * ''Aus der Kölner Bucht. Gedichte''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 2009, . * ''Im Radio das Meer. Journalsätze''. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 2009, . * ''Scheunen im Gelände. Gedichte. Mit Collagen von Rango Bohne''. Edition Lyrik Kabinett, München 2012, . * ''Wie es weiterging. Ein Durchgang – Prosa aus fünf Jahrzehnten''. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2012, . * "Was wir noch wissen. Journal der Augenblicke und Erinnerungen". In: ''Sinn und Form'' 4/2013, pp. 591–602. * ''Jetzt die Gegend damals. Journalroman''. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2015, .

Works in English

* *

Awards

* 1965/66: Villa Massimo scholarship * 1967: Prize of Group 47 * 1994: Peter Huchel Prize * 1995:

Heinrich-Böll-Preis The Heinrich-Böll-Preis (Heinrich Böll Prize for Literature) is a literary prize of Germany, awarded by the City of Cologne in memory of Nobel Prize winner Heinrich Böll. The prize money is €30,000. The prize is awarded "for outstanding ach ...

* 2001: Uwe Johnson Prize * 2011: Thüringer Literaturpreis * 2013: * 2014: Georg Büchner Prize

References

; Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Jurgen 1932 births 2024 deaths Georg Büchner Prize winners German poets Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Writers from Cologne