Uwe Johnson facts for kids
Uwe Johnson (born July 20, 1934 – died February 22, 1984) was a German writer, editor, and scholar. He is known for his unique writing style and for exploring themes related to the division of Germany during the Cold War.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Uwe Johnson was born in Kammin, a place in Pomerania that is now part of Poland. His father was a farmer with Swedish family roots, and his mother was from Pomerania. In 1945, his family had to leave their home and moved to Anklam. A year later, in 1946, his father died in a camp run by the Soviet Union.
The family eventually settled in Güstrow. Uwe went to the John Brinckman-Oberschule from 1948 to 1952. After school, he studied the German language and literature. He first studied in Rostock from 1952 to 1954, then in Leipzig from 1954 to 1956. His final project for his degree was about a famous artist named Ernst Barlach.
In 1953, Uwe Johnson faced a challenge. He was temporarily suspended from the university because he didn't agree with the government's ideas in East Germany, which was a communist country at the time. However, he was later allowed to return to his studies.
Starting His Writing Career
Uwe Johnson began working on his first novel, Ingrid Babendererde, in 1953. Sadly, many publishers turned it down, and it was not printed during his lifetime.
In 1956, Johnson's mother moved to West Berlin. Because of this, he was not allowed to have a regular job in East Germany. Since he was unemployed for political reasons, he spent his time translating a book by Herman Melville. This translation was published in 1961. During this period, he also started writing his novel Mutmassungen über Jakob, which was published in 1959.
Around this time, Johnson himself moved to West Berlin. He quickly became involved with a group of writers called Gruppe 47. This group was described as a central meeting place for writers who didn't have a main literary capital.
Travels and Major Works
In the early 1960s, Johnson continued to write and publish his stories. He also earned money by translating books, mostly from English, and by working as an editor. He traveled to America in 1961. The next year was very busy for him: he got married, had a daughter, received a scholarship to study in Rome, Italy, and won an international writing award called the Prix International.
In 1964, he wrote reviews of television shows from East Germany for a newspaper. These reviews were later published as a book called Der 5. Kanal (The Fifth Channel). That same year, he also published a collection of stories. Two years later, he released another book titled Zwei Ansichten (Two Views).
Johnson visited the United States again in 1965. He then edited a book by the famous writer Bertolt Brecht. From 1966 to 1968, he worked in New York City as a textbook editor. He lived there with his wife and daughter. In 1967, he started working on his most important work, a huge novel called Jahrestage. He also edited a German language textbook for students learning German.
In 1969, Johnson returned to West Germany. He became a member of important art and writing groups there. In 1970, the first part of his Jahrestage novel was published. Two more parts came out in the next three years, but the fourth part wasn't published until 1983.
In 1972, Johnson became a Vice President of the Academy of the Arts. He also edited a diary by another well-known writer, Max Frisch.
Life in England and Later Years
In 1974, Uwe Johnson, his wife, and their daughter moved to Sheerness, a town in Southeast England, living in a house by the sea. Soon after, he paused his work on Jahrestage. This was partly because of health issues and partly because he was having trouble writing new material, a condition sometimes called "writer's block."
Even though he faced challenges, his ten years in Sheerness were not completely wasted. He published some shorter pieces and continued to work as an editor. In 2020, a book was published about Johnson's time living in Sheerness, focusing on his life there.
In 1977, he was accepted into a special academy for language and writing in Darmstadt, Germany. However, he quietly left the group two years later.
In 1979, he gave a series of lectures at the University of Frankfurt. These talks were published after his death as Begleitumstände. Frankfurter Vorlesungen.
The fourth and final part of Jahrestage was published in 1983. Johnson had to stop a book tour because of his health. He passed away from heart disease in Sheerness on February 22, 1984. His body was found on March 13. At the time of his death, he had been planning to live in New York City for a year.
Honors and Awards
Uwe Johnson received many awards for his writing:
- 1960 – Fontane Prize, West Berlin
- 1962 – Prix International
- 1971 – Georg Büchner Prize
- 1975 – Wilhelm Raabe Prize, Braunschweig
- 1978 – Thomas Mann Prize, Lübeck
- 1983 – Literature prize from the city of Cologne
Works
- Mutmassungen über Jakob (1959). Speculations About Jakob
- Das dritte Buch über Achim (1961). The Third Book About Achim
- Karsch, und andere Prosa (1964). Karsch and Other Prose
- Includes "Eine Reise wegwohin" (written in 1960). An Absence
- Zwei Ansichten (1965). Two Views
- Jahrestage. Aus dem Leben von Gesine Cresspahl (1970–83). Anniversaries: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl
- Eine Reise nach Klagenfurt (1974). A Trip to Klagenfurt: In the Footsteps of Ingeborg Bachmann
- Berliner Sachen, Aufsätze (1975). Berlin Things: Essays
- Max Frisch Stich-Worte (1975). Max Frisch Reference
- Skizze eines Verunglückten (1982). Sketch of an Accident Victim
- Begleitumstände. Frankfurter Vorlesungen (1980). Attendant Circumstances: Frankfurt Lectures
- Ingrid Babendererde. Reifeprüfung 1953 (1985). Ingrid Babendererde: Final Exam 1953
- Inselgeschichten (1995). Island Stories: Writings from England
As a Translator
Uwe Johnson also translated several books from other languages into German:
- A book by Herman Melville called Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile (1961)
- Das Nibelungenlied, an old German epic poem (1961)
- John Knowles's A Separate Peace (1959), translated as In diesem Land (1963)
As an Editor
Johnson helped prepare and publish several other works:
- Bertolt Brecht's Me-ti. Buch der Wendungen. Fragmente 1933-1956 (Me-ti: the Book of Changes. Fragments, 1933-1956) (1965)
- Das neue Fenster, a textbook for students learning German (1967)
- A textbook for a documentary film called "A Summer in the City" (around 1968)
- He co-edited Das Werk von Samuel Beckett. Berliner Colloquium (The Work of Samuel Beckett: Berlin Colloquium) with Hans Mayer (1975)
Short Pieces
He also wrote shorter stories and essays:
- Von dem Fischer un syner Fru (Of the Fisherman and His Wife): a fairy tale with pictures and his own retelling (1976)
- "Ein Schiff" ("A Ship") in a collection of essays (1979)
- "Ein unergründliches Schiff" ("An Unfathomable Ship") in a magazine called Merkur 33 (1979)
