Jenny Erpenbeck facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jenny Erpenbeck
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Erpenbeck in 2018
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| Born | 12 March 1967 East Berlin, East Germany |
| Language | German |
| Alma mater | Humboldt University of Berlin Hanns Eisler Music Conservatory |
| Notable awards | Independent Foreign Fiction Prize International Booker Prize |
Jenny Erpenbeck (born on March 12, 1967) is a famous German writer and director for operas. She won the prestigious Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2015 for her book The End of Days. In 2024, she also won the International Booker Prize for her novel Kairos.
Contents
About Jenny Erpenbeck
Jenny Erpenbeck was born in East Berlin. Her parents were also very creative: her father, John Erpenbeck, was a physicist, philosopher, and writer. Her mother, Doris Kilias, translated books from Arabic. Her grandparents, Fritz Erpenbeck and Hedda Zinner, were also authors.
Jenny went to a special high school in Berlin and finished in 1985. After school, she learned to be a bookbinder for two years. Then, she worked in different theaters, helping with props and costumes.
Her Journey in Theater and Writing
From 1988 to 1990, Jenny studied theater at the Humboldt University of Berlin. Later, she decided to focus on directing music theater at the Hanns Eisler Music Conservatory. She learned from famous directors like Ruth Berghaus and Heiner Müller.
In 1994, she finished her studies by directing an opera called Duke Bluebeard's Castle. After that, she worked as an assistant director at an opera house in Graz. By 1997, she was directing her own shows there. She directed operas like Schoenberg's Erwartung and her own play, Cats Have Seven Lives.
From 1998, Jenny became a freelance director. This meant she worked for different opera houses in Germany and Austria. She directed well-known operas such as Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Zaide.
In the 1990s, Jenny started writing in addition to her directing work. She once said that the end of the political system she grew up in made her want to write. Her first novella, Geschichte vom alten Kind (The Old Child), came out in 1999. She also wrote a collection of stories called Tand (Trinkets) in 2001 and another novella, Wörterbuch (The Book of Words), in 2004. Her novel Heimsuchung (Visitation) was published in 2008.
In 2015, her novel Aller Tage Abend, translated into English as The End of Days, won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. This was a big achievement!
In 2023, the English translation of her novel Kairos was considered for the National Book Award for Translated Literature. Then, in 2024, Jenny Erpenbeck made history by becoming the first German writer to win the International Booker Prize for Kairos. It was also the first time a novel originally written in German won this award. She explained that it took 30 years after her home country disappeared for her to look back and write about what she lived through.
Jenny's books have been translated into many languages around the world, including English, French, Spanish, and Japanese. She lives in Berlin with her husband, Wolfgang Bozic, who is a conductor, and their son.
Her Published Works
Jenny Erpenbeck has written many different kinds of books and plays.
Novels
- Heimsuchung (2008). This was translated as Visitation.
- Aller Tage Abend (2012). This was translated as The End of Days.
- Gehen, ging, gegangen (2015). This was translated as Go, Went, Gone.
- Kairos (2021).
Novellas and Short Story Collections
- Geschichte vom alten Kind (1999). This was translated as The Old Child.
- This book was also published with some stories from Tand as The Old Child and Other Stories.
- Tand (2001). This collection is called Trinkets in English.
- Wörterbuch (2004). This was translated as The Book of Words.
Plays
- Katzen haben sieben Leben (2000). This means Cats Have Seven Lives.
- Leibesübungen für eine Sünderin (2003). This means Physical Exercises for a Sinner.
- Schmutzige Nacht (2015)
- Lot (2017)
Other Writings
- Dinge, die verschwinden (2009). This means Things That Are Disappearing.
- Kein Roman: Texte 1992 bis 2018 (2018). This was translated as Not a Novel: A Memoir in Pieces.
Audiobooks
You can also listen to some of Jenny Erpenbeck's novels as audiobooks:
- 2016: Heimsuchung (read by Jenny Erpenbeck)
- 2021: Kairos (read by Jenny Erpenbeck)
Awards and Recognitions
Jenny Erpenbeck has received many awards and honors for her writing:
- 2001: Jury Prize at the Ingeborg Bachmann Competition
- 2004: GEDOK literature prize
- 2008: Solothurner Literaturpreis
- 2008: Heimito von Doderer Literature Prize
- 2013: Joseph Breitbach Prize
- 2014: Hans Fallada Prize
- 2015: Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, for The End of Days
- 2016: Thomas Mann Prize
- 2017: Strega European Prize
- 2017: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (a special honor from her country)
- 2018: Her book Go, Went, Gone was on the New York Times Notable Book List
- 2019: The Guardian newspaper listed Visitation as one of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century.
- 2022: Uwe Johnson Prize for Kairos
- 2024: The International Booker Prize for Kairos
