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 opera director. She has won several important awards for her books. In 2015, she won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for her novel The End of Days. More recently, in 2024, she received the International Booker Prize for her book Kairos. This made her the first German writer to win this prestigious award.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Jenny Erpenbeck was born in East Berlin, which was part of East Germany at the time. Her family was very involved in writing and arts. Her father, John Erpenbeck, was a physicist, philosopher, and writer. Her mother, Doris Kilias, was an Arabic translator. Even her grandparents, Fritz Erpenbeck and Hedda Zinner, were authors.
Jenny went to an advanced high school in Berlin and finished in 1985. After school, she learned to be a bookbinder for two years. She then worked in different theaters, helping with props and costumes.
Studying Theater and Music
From 1988 to 1990, Jenny studied theater at the Humboldt University of Berlin. In 1990, she decided to focus on directing music theater. She studied at the Hanns Eisler Music Conservatory. She learned from famous directors like Ruth Berghaus and Heiner Müller.
She finished her studies in 1994. For her final project, she directed an opera called Duke Bluebeard's Castle. After graduating, she worked as an assistant director at an opera house in Graz, Austria.
Directing Opera Productions
In 1997, Jenny Erpenbeck directed her own opera shows in Graz. These included Erwartung by Schoenberg and Duke Bluebeard's Castle again. She also directed a new play she wrote called Cats Have Seven Lives.
By 1998, she was working as a freelance director. This meant she worked for different opera houses in Germany and Austria. She directed operas like L'Orfeo by Monteverdi and Acis and Galatea in Berlin. She also directed Mozart's Zaide in Nuremberg/Erlangen.
Becoming a Writer
In the 1990s, Jenny Erpenbeck started writing in addition to her directing work. She later explained that the end of the system she grew up in (East Germany) made her want to write. She writes both narrative prose (like novels and stories) and plays.
Her First Books
Her first book was a novella called Geschichte vom alten Kind (The Old Child), published in 1999. A novella is a story that is shorter than a novel but longer than a short story. In 2001, she released a collection of short stories called Tand (Trinkets).
She continued writing, publishing the novella Wörterbuch (The Book of Words) in 2004. In 2008, her novel Heimsuchung (Visitation) came out.
International Recognition
In 2007, Jenny Erpenbeck started writing a biweekly column for a German newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Her books began to be translated into English and other languages.
In 2015, the English translation of her novel Aller Tage Abend (titled The End of Days) won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. This award is given to the best translated fiction book published in the UK.
Her novel Kairos was translated into English by Michael Hofmann. In September 2023, it was considered for the National Book Award for Translated Literature. Then, in 2024, Kairos won the International Booker Prize. This was a big moment because it was the first time a German novel won this award. Jenny Erpenbeck said that it took 30 years after her home country disappeared for her to look back and write about her experiences.
Her books have been translated into many languages around the world. These include Danish, French, Greek, Japanese, Spanish, and Arabic.
Jenny Erpenbeck lives in Berlin with her husband, Wolfgang Bozic, who is a conductor, and their son.
Main Works
Jenny Erpenbeck has written several novels, novellas, short story collections, and plays.
Novels
- Heimsuchung (2008), translated as Visitation
- Aller Tage Abend (2012), translated as The End of Days
- Gehen, ging, gegangen (2015), translated as Go, Went, Gone
- Kairos (2021)
Novellas and Short Stories
- Geschichte vom alten Kind (1999), translated as The Old Child
- Tand (2001), a collection of short stories
- Wörterbuch (2004), translated as The Book of Words
Essay Collections
- Dinge, die verschwinden (2009), translated as Things That Disappear
- Kein Roman: Texte 1992 bis 2018 (2018), translated as Not a Novel: A Memoir in Pieces
Plays
- Katzen haben sieben Leben (2000)
- Leibesübungen für eine Sünderin (2003)
- Schmutzige Nacht (2015)
- Lot (2017)
Awards and Honors
Jenny Erpenbeck has received many awards for her writing. Here are some of the most notable ones:
- 2001: Jury Prize at the Ingeborg Bachmann Competition
- 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
- 2022: Uwe Johnson Prize for Kairos
- 2024: The International Booker Prize for Kairos
