Peter Handke
(born 06.12.1942 in Griffen/Carinthia), author, translator
Peter Handke began studying law in Graz in 1961, at the same time he became active as a writer. His first novel "Die Hornissen" (i.e. the hornets) was published in 1966. In the same year his play "Publikumsbeschimpfung" (“Offending the Audience”) premiered in Frankfurt am Main. Subsequently, Peter Handke published a wide-ranging spectrum of work that included prose, poetry, plays, screenplays, letters and essays. As one of the best-known contemporary German-language authors he has been honoured with numerous awards, including the Georg Büchner Prize in 1973, the Franz Kafka Prize in 1979 and the Nestroy Theatre Prize for his life's work in 2018. In 2019 he was honoured with the Nobel Prize in Literature. Handke has also translated many prose works and plays into German, including works by Sophocles, Euripides, Emmanuel Bove, René Char and Walker Percy. Peter Handke lives in Chaville near Paris.