German writer and columnist
Maxim Biller (born 25 August 1960 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a German writer and columnist.
Early life
Born in Prague to Soviet Jewish parents, Rada Biller and Semjon-Jevsej Biller. He emigrated with his parents and sister to West Germany in 1970, when he was ten years old. After living for a long time in Hamburg and Munich, he now lives in Berlin, frequently writing about issues relating to Jewishs and German relations. His maternal grandfather was Armenian.
Works
In 2003 his novel Esra excited attention when its sale was prohibited shortly after its release. Two persons had a provisional order obtained, because they claimed to have seen themselves reflected in characters in the book. A German court obliged their request to take the book from circulation on these grounds.
His first works translated into English (by Anthea Bell) are the collection Love Today (2008), some of which appeared in The New Yorker.
Beliefs
Biller strongly identifies as a Zionist and is very critical of antisemitism within the anti-Zionist movement.
Publications
- Wenn ich einmal reich und tot bin: Erzählungen (Someday when I'm rich and dead: Narratives), Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1990, ISBN 3-423-11624-2 (including the narrative Harlem Holocaust)
- Die Tempojahre: Essays und Reportagen, Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-423-11427-4
- Aufbruch nach Deutschland: Sechzehn Foto-Essays
- Land der Väter und Verräter: Erzählungen, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-423-12356-7
- Harlem Holocaust (short novel), Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1998, ISBN 3-462-02761-1
- Die Tochter, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-423-12933-6
- Kühltransport, 2001
- Deutschbuch, 2001
- Esra : Roman, 2003, ISBN 3-462-03213-5 (distribution was prohibited from publishing by court)
- Der perfekte Roman: Das Maxim-Biller-Lesebuch, 2003
- Bernsteintage: Erzählungen, 2004
- Maxim Biller Tapes (CD with songs and poems), 2004
- I Love My Leid (video), 2004
- Moralische Geschichten: Satirische Kurzgeschichten, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2005 ISBN 3-462-03477-4
- Adas größter Wunsch (children's book), 2005
- Menschen in falschen Zusammenhängen (comedy), 2006
- Liebe heute (short stories), 2007
- Ein verrückter Vormittag (children's book), 2008
- Der gebrauchte Jude (self-portrait), Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-462-03703-6
- Kanalratten (theater play), Fischer 2013 ISBN 978-3-596-19007-2
- Im Kopf von Bruno Schulz: Novelle, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2013, ISBN 978-3-462-04605-2
- Jack Happy (children's book), Atlantik, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 3-455-37008-X
- Biografie: Roman, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-462-04898-8
- Mama Odessa: Roman, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2023, ISBN 978-3-462-00486-1
Awards
- 1994 Toucan Prize from the city of Munich
- 1996 Preis des Europäischen Feuilletons: "Feuilleton" are the culture pages in German speaking newspaper
- 1996 Otto Stoessl Prize [de]
- 1999 Theodor Wolff Prize
- 2008 Brothers Grimm Poetics Professorship of University of Kassel
- 2012 Würth-Literaturpreis
References
- "Maxim Biller — internationales literaturfestival berlin".
- "A Botanical Garden of Desire: 'Love Today' by Maxim Biller". The New York Sun. 26 June 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- "Partisan Songs". Die Zeit. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- "Top German court confirms ban on true-life novel". Earthtimes.org. 12 October 2007. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- Natascha Freundel (12 April 2007). "The bad German". Haaretz. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- "The Mahogany Elephant" (July 2007), "The Maserati Years" (September 2007).
- "A German-Jewish Zionist Explains Why Anti-Semitism Is All the Same". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- Press release by Universität Kassel Archived 17 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine zur Grimm-Professur, 11. Dezember 2008.
- 1960 births
- Czechoslovak emigrants to Germany
- Czech people of Armenian descent
- Czech people of Russian-Jewish descent
- German people of Czech-Jewish descent
- German people of Russian-Jewish descent
- German male writers
- Jewish Czech writers
- Living people
- Writers from Prague
- German people of Armenian descent
- German Zionists