Günter Grass

Günter Grass (Danzig 1927) German writer, poet, sculptor and printmaker. In 1999 he was awarded the Nobel Prize. His works includes 25 books. His first novel was The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel), 1959.

Among Grass' several awards are Gruppe 47 Prize (1958), Critics' Prize (1960, Germany), Foreign Book Prize (1962, France), Bühner Prize (1965), Fontane Prize (1968), Heuss Prize (1969), Mondello Prize (1977, Palermo), Carl von Ossiersky Medal (1977), Viareggio-Versilia Prize (1978), Majakowski Medal (1977), Feltrinelli Prize (1982), Leonhard Frank Ring (1988).

"You can begin a story in the middle and create confusion by striking out boldly, backward and forward. You can be modern, put aside all mention of time and distance and, when the whole thing is done, proclaim, or let someone else proclaim, that you have finally, at the last moment, solved the space-time problem. Or you can declare at the very start that it's impossible to write a novel nowadays, but then, behind your own back so to speak, give birth to a whopper, a novel to end all novels." (from The Tin Drum)

External links

• Günter Grass Encyclopædia Britannica.
• Günter Grass Books and Writers.