Volker Braun
Germany
Born in Dresden in 1939, Volker Braun was one of the most important playwrights of the GDR and even before reunification was celebrated as an author in both parts of Germany. Along with dramatic works, he writes novels, poems, short stories, and radio plays. He lives in Berlin.
Volker Braun always followed the formation and development of the GDR critically—enthusiastically at first then with ever more resignation. Starting in the early 1970s, he was ever more closely surveilled by the Stasi and had to fight for permission to publish his work. Nevertheless, he was awarded the National Prize of the GDR. Volker Braun, who sees himself as a political writer, also won many awards in the West. For his 85th birthday, MDR Kultur observed: “And yet, a thinker like Braun, senses that his writing—politically shaded and influenced by Brecht and contemporary poetry—now resonates only with a small, exclusive audience. Braun, as politically relevant as ever, has recently tackled Germany’s colonial past and the increasing dangers of climate catastrophes. For decades, Braun has been continuing the project he began as a young man in the spirit of Brecht: writing as an element of enlightenment and as the practice of personal freedom.”
30th Leukerbad International Literary Festival:
