Reinhard Jirgl
(born 16.01.1953 in Berlin), author
Reinhard Jirgl studied electronics in Berlin at first, and then worked in a research institute at the GDR Academy of Sciences, following which he became a lighting and service technician at the Berlin People's Theatre. Reinhard Jirgl lived as a freelance author from 1996. His first novel Mutter Vater (i.e. Mother Father) was published in 1990, after being turned down in 1985 on ideological grounds. He received the Alfred Döblin Prize in 1993 for the manuscript of his book Abschied von den Feinden (A Farewell to Enemies; 1995). His work, which is characterised by experimental forms and is primarily dedicated to the German-German past, has been awarded many prizes. These include the Marburg Literature Prize (1994), the Joseph Breitbach Prize (1999) and the Georg Büchner Prize in 2010. Reinhard Jirgl, who withdrew from the public literature scene in 2017, lives in Berlin.