Thea Dorn (pseudonym; Christiane Scherer, born 23 July 1970 in

Offenbach am Main Offenbach am Main () is a city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It has a population of 138,335 (December 2018). ...

) is a German writer of

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

and TV host. She lives and works in Berlin. Born in

, Dorn was initially trained as a singer, and later studied philosophy and theatrical sciences in

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 its ...

and

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. She graduated (''Magistra'') in philosophy with a work on

self-deception Self-deception is a process of denying or rationalizing away the relevance, significance, or importance of opposing evidence and logical argument. Self-deception involves convincing oneself of a truth (or lack of truth) so that one does not reveal ...

. She worked as scientific assistant at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in poli ...

, then as

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and printed programmes (or helps others with these tasks), consults auth ...

and writer at the

Staatstheater Hannover Hanover State Opera (german: Staatsoper Hannover) is an opera company in Hanover, the state capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. The company is resident in the Hanover Opera House (), and is part of a publicly-funded umbrella performing arts orga ...

. Thea Dorn's

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

alludes to

Theodor Adorno Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor. List of people with the given name Theodor * Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher * Theodor Aman, Romanian painter * Theodor Blu ...

, whose works she read and found hard to understand
(See the interview on Adorno.)
After receiving her M. A. in philosophy, she became a freelance writer. In 1995 she released her first book, ''Berliner Aufklärung'', for which she received the

Marlowe Prize Marlowe may refer to: Name * Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593), English dramatist, poet and translator * Philip Marlowe, fictional hardboiled detective created by author Raymond Chandler * Marlowe (name), including list of people and characters ...

. For her third book, ''Die Hirnkönigin'', she received the German Crime Fiction Prize 2000. The same year she wrote the theatrical piece ''Marleni'', a staged meeting of

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

and

Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, photographer and actress known for her role in producing Nazi propaganda. A talented swimmer and an artist, Riefenstahl also became in ...

. This

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

premiered on 15 January 2000 in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

at the ''

Deutsches Schauspielhaus The Deutsches Schauspielhaus is a theatre in the St. Georg quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany. It was established in 1901 by the renowned stage actress Franziska Ellmenreich. Theatre managers Notable actors Marco Albrecht, Ingrid ...

''. In 2003 she wrote the script to the episode ''Der schwarze Troll'' (lit. ''The black troll'') of the German TV series ''

Tatort ''Tatort'' ("Crime scene") is a German language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with some 30 feature-length episodes per year, which makes it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by ...

''. The next year, with the book ''Die Brut'', she left the genre of crime fiction and concentrated on characterisations of the milieu. ? Beginning with 2003 together with ''Dirk Schümer'' she was host of the TV show ''Schümer und Dorn – Der Büchertalk'', broadcast by

Südwestrundfunk Südwestrundfunk (SWR; ''Southwest Broadcasting'') is a regional public broadcasting corporation serving the southwest of Germany , specifically the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The corporation has main offices ...

. Since 2004 she hosts the TV show ''Literatur im Foyer'', presenting new books and talking to writers. She lives in Berlin, has a brother and parents.Eintrag ''Dorn, Thea''. In: Munzinger Online/Personen – Internationales Biographisches Archiv, 27/2004 3 July 2004, ergänzt um Nachrichten durch MA-Journal bis KW 05/2011, retrieved 12 July 2011.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorn, Thea 1970 births Living people People from Offenbach am Main German women dramatists and playwrights 21st-century German dramatists and playwrights German crime fiction writers German television personalities Women mystery writers 21st-century German women writers ZDF people