Sibylle Lewitscharoff facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sibylle Lewitscharoff
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Lewitscharoff at the 2009 Leipzig Book Fair
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| Born | 16 April 1954 Stuttgart, West Germany |
| Died | 13 May 2023 (aged 69) Berlin, Germany |
| Occupation | Author |
| Education | Free University of Berlin |
| Notable awards |
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Sibylle Lewitscharoff (born 16 April 1954 – died 13 May 2023) was a German author. She started writing in her free time while working as a bookkeeper. After her first novel, Pong, became popular in 1998, she decided to become a full-time writer. She won the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize for Pong.
Sibylle Lewitscharoff wrote several other successful books, including Consummatus (2006), Apostoloff (2009), and Blumenberg (2011). She received many important German literary awards. In 2013, she won the Georg Büchner Prize. This award recognized her ability to explore "the boundaries of what we consider our daily reality." She did this with great energy, imagination, and clever language.
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Early Life and Education
Sibylle Lewitscharoff was born in Stuttgart, a city in Germany. Her father, Kristo Lewitscharoff, was an immigrant from Bulgaria. Her mother, Marianne, was German.
Sibylle studied theology and sociology at the Free University of Berlin. These subjects helped her understand people and society, which often influenced her writing.
Her Journey as a Writer
Sibylle Lewitscharoff began her writing career by creating stories for radio. These included radio plays, which are like plays you listen to. Her very first book, 36 Gerechte, was published in 1994.
Success with Pong
In 1998, she published her first novel, Pong. This book was a big success and helped her become well-known. It also earned her the famous Ingeborg Bachmann Prize.
Exploring Her Roots in Apostoloff
Her 2009 novel, Apostoloff, tells a story that is partly based on her own life. It follows two sisters who travel to Bulgaria to bury their Bulgarian immigrant father. This book won her the Leipzig Book Fair Prize and the Marie Luise Kaschnitz Prize.
Her Unique Writing Style
Sibylle Lewitscharoff was praised for her playful and skillful use of language. In 2011, a newspaper called Die Welt described her as "the most dazzling stylist of contemporary German literature." This means she was seen as one of the most brilliant writers in Germany at that time.
A literature expert, Ulrike Veder, said that Lewitscharoff's writing is like magical realism. This style mixes real-life events with magical or dream-like elements. Veder also noted that Lewitscharoff's writing combines deep knowledge with a funny and strong style. She said that Lewitscharoff not only played with language but also made it richer.
Her Personal Life
From 1990, Sibylle Lewitscharoff was married to the artist Friedrich Meckseper. He even drew pictures for a 2013 edition of her novel Pong. They lived together in Berlin, where he passed away in 2019.
Her religious beliefs were shaped by her grandmother, who lived with her family when Sibylle was a child. Even though Sibylle was a Lutheran, a type of Protestant Christian, she was also influenced by the Catholic tradition on many moral topics.
In 2010, Sibylle Lewitscharoff was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. This is a condition that affects the brain and spinal cord. She passed away in Berlin on 13 May 2023, at the age of 69.
Awards and Recognition
Sibylle Lewitscharoff received many important awards and honors for her writing:
- Ingeborg Bachmann Prize (1998)
- Member of Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (2007)
- Marie Luise Kaschnitz Prize (2009)
- Leipzig Book Fair Prize (2009)
- Ricarda-Huch-Preis (2011)
- Marieluise-Fleißer-Preis (2011)
- Wilhelm Raabe Literature Prize (2011)
- Georg Büchner Prize (2013)
- Brothers Grimm guest professor at University of Kassel (2013)
Her Novels
Here is a list of the novels written by Sibylle Lewitscharoff:
- 36 Gerechte. Steinrötter, Münster 1994, ISBN: 3-927024-00-7.
- Pong. Berlin Verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN: 3-8270-0285-0.
- Der höfliche Harald. Berlin Verlag, Berlin 1999, ISBN: 3-8270-0349-0.
- Montgomery. DVA, Stuttgart / München 2003, ISBN: 978-3-421-05680-1.
- Consummatus. DVA, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN: 3-421-05596-3.
- Apostoloff. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN: 3-518-42061-5.
- Blumenberg. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2011, ISBN: 978-3-518-42244-1; as TB: Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch 4399, Berlin 2013, ISBN: 978-3-518-46399-4.
- With Friedrich Meckseper: Pong redivivus. Insel, Berlin 2013, ISBN: 978-3-458-19383-8.
- Killmousky. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2014, ISBN: 978-3-518-42390-5.
Images for kids
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Lewitscharoff at the 2009 Leipzig Book Fair
See also
In Spanish: Sibylle Lewitscharoff para niños
