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Durs Grünbein
(09.10.1962 in Dresden), poet, essayist, translator
Durs Grünbein studied theatre in Berlin and worked as a freelance journalist for newspapers. He is a member of various art academies and has been professor of poetry at the Düsseldorf Art Academy since 2005. His first poetry collection Grauzone morgens (i.e. Grey Area in the Morning) was published in 1988. Its follow-up Schädelbasislektion (i.e. Lesson at the Base of the Skull) brought him wider fame. He published several more poetry collections, as well as essays and travel journals. Durs Grünbein is considered one of the most important contemporary German poets and was awarded prizes including the Peter Huchel Prize, the Georg Büchner Prize and the Berlin Literature Prize. He lives in Rome.