Reiner Kunze (born 16 August 1933 in

Oelsnitz, Erzgebirge Oelsnitz () is a town in the district Erzgebirgskreis, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated 14 km east of Zwickau, and 20 km southwest of Chemnitz. Between 1844 and 1971 hardcoal was mined in Oelsnitz and the surrounding towns. The major ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

) is a German writer and GDR dissident. He studied media and journalism 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 ...

. In 1968, he left the GDR state party

SED sed ("stream editor") is a Unix utility that parses and transforms text, using a simple, compact programming language. It was developed from 1973 to 1974 by Lee E. McMahon of Bell Labs, and is available today for most operating systems. sed w ...

following the communist

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...

countries invasion of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in response to the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...

. He had to publish his work under various pseudonyms. In 1976, his most famous book ''The Lovely Years'', which contained critical insights into the life, and the policies behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

, was published in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

to great acclaim. In 1977, the GDR regime expatriated him, and he moved to

(FRG). He now lives near

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's popu ...

in Bavaria. His writings consists mostly of poetry, though he wrote prose as well, including essays. He is also a translator of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

poetry and prose. Kunze was a victim of the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...

's psychological warfare program. In 2009, he was awarded the Thüringer Literaturpreis.

Works

* ''Die Zukunft sitzt am Tische''. 1955 (with Egon Günther) * ''Vögel über dem Tau''. Liebesgedichte und Lieder. 1959 * ''Fragen des lyrischen Schaffens''. 1960 (Beiträge zur Gegenwartsliteratur, Issue 18) * ''Widmungen''. 1963 * ''Die guten Sitten''. 1964 (with Heinz Knobloch) * ''Sensible Wege''. 1969 * ''Der Löwe Leopold, fast Märchen, fast Geschichten''. 1970 * ''Zimmerlautstärke''. 1972 * ''Briefe mit blauem Siegel''. 1973 * ''Die Wunderbaren Jahre''. 1976 * ''Das Märchen vom Dis'' (The Tale of Dis). 1976 * ''Die Wunderbaren Jahre''. 1979 ovie script* ''Auf eigene Hoffnung''. 1981 * ''Gespräch mit der Amsel''. 1984 * ''Eines Jeden Einziges Leben''. 1986 * ''Zurückgeworfen auf sich Selbst''. Interviews (1984–1988), 1989 * ''Das weiße Gedicht''. 1989 * ''Deckname Lyrik''. 1990 * ''Wohin der Schlaf sich Schlafen Legt''. 1991 * ''Am Sonnenhang, Tagebuch eines Jahres''. 1993 * ''Steine und Lieder: Namibische Notizen und Fotos''. 1996 * ''Ein Tag auf Dieser Erde''. 1998 * ''Nocturne in E''. 2001 (with Andreas Felger) * ''Die Aura der Wörter''. 2002 * ''Der Kuß der Koi''. 2002 * ''Wo wir zu Hause das Salz haben''. 2003 * ''Bleibt Nur Die Eigne Stirn''. 2005 * ''Lindennacht''. 2007 * ''Die Stunde mit dir selbst''. Gedichte. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2018, .

Awards

Source: * 1968 Übersetzerpreis des Tschechoslowakischen Schriftstellerverbandes * 1971 Deutscher Jugendbuchpreis * 1973

Großer Literaturpreis der Bayerischen Akademie der Schönen Künste Großer Literaturpreis der Bayerischen Akademie der Schönen Künste (in English: Literature Award of the Bavarian Academy of the Fine Arts) was a Bavarian literary prize by the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste. In 2010, it merged with the ...

and Mölle Literature Prize, Sweden * 1977 , Austria, Andreas-Gryphius-Preis and

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'' ...

* 1979

Bavarian Film Awards The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the German Film Awards, these are the ...

, Best ScreenplayBayerischer Filmpreis – "Pierrot"
/ref> * 1981

Geschwister Scholl-Preis The Geschwister-Scholl-Preis is a literary prize which is awarded annually by the Bavarian chapter of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels and the city of Munich. Every year, a book is honoured, which "shows intellectual independence and s ...

* 1984

Eichendorff-Literaturpreis Eichendorff-Literaturpreis is a literary prize of Germany. It was first awarded in 1956 and was created in honour of Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff. The prize, endowed with 5,000 euros, has been awarded annually by the Wangener Kreis – Societ ...

* 1988

Bavarian Order of Merit The Bavarian Order of Merit (german: Bayerischer Verdienstorden) is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria ...

* 1989 Kulturpreis Ostbayerns * 1990 Herbert und Elsbeth Weichmann-Preis and

Hanns Martin Schleyer Prize The Hanns Martin Schleyer Foundation (German: ''Hanns Martin Schleyer-Stiftung'') is a German Foundation (nonprofit), foundation that promotes research in economics, law and cultural sciences. It was established in 1977 by the Confederation of Ger ...

* 1993 Commander's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

, Kulturpreis deutscher Freimaurer and Honorary doctorate

Technische Universität Dresden TU Dresden (for german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...

* 1995 Honorary citizenship of the city of

Greiz Greiz () is a town in the state of Thuringia, Germany, and is the capital of the district of Greiz. Greiz is situated in eastern Thuringia, east of state capital Jena, on the river ''White Elster''. Greiz has a large park in its center (Fürstl ...

and Culture award of the district of Passau * 1997 * 1999

Friedrich-Hölderlin-Preis Friedrich-Hölderlin-Preis is a German literary prize. It was established in 1983. In June, the City of Bad Homburg vor der Höhe annually awards the prize. It is endowed with 20,000 euros and is awarded as a general literary award for outstanding ...

* 2000 Christian Ferber-Ehrengabe der Deutschen Schillerstiftung * 2001 and

Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art The Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art (german: Bayerischer Maximiliansorden für Wissenschaft und Kunst, links=no) was first established on 28 November 1853 by King Maximilian II von Bayern. It is awarded to acknowledge and reward exc ...

* 2002 * 2003 Ján Smrek Prize and honorary citizenship of the city of

* 2004 STAB-Preis der Stiftung für Abendländische Besinnung and Czech translation prize Premia Bohemica * 2006 Guest of Honor of the Heinrich-Heine-Haus Lüneburg * 2008 Order of Merit of the Free State of Thuringia * 2009 and Thüringer Literaturpreis * 2013

Robert Schuman Medal, EPP Group Robert Schuman Medal named after Robert Schuman is awarded to several people annually by the European People's Party group in the European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one ...

* 2013 America Award for a lifetime contribution to international writing

British/American editions

* ''The Lovely Years'' * ''In Time of Need: A Conversation about Poetry, Resistance & Exile'' (with Mireille Gansel) * ''Zimmerlautstarke With the Volume Down Low (Swamp Press, 1981)

References

External links

*
Tabellarische Kurzbiografie zu Reiner Kunze (bis 1999)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunze, Reiner 1933 births Living people People from Erzgebirgskreis Socialist Unity Party of Germany members Dissidents East German writers Writers from Saxony Translators from Czech Translators to German German poets 20th-century German translators German male poets German-language poets Leipzig University alumni Georg Büchner Prize winners Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony