Frank Witzel
Frank Witzel (* 1955 in Wiesbaden ) is a German writer , illustrator, radio presenter and musician. He lives in Offenbach am Main .
life and work
After finishing school, Witzel first completed a musical training at the Wiesbaden Conservatory . Already in his childhood he learned the piano, cello and classical guitar. From 1975 Witzel published poems in alternative literary magazines such as Die Gießkanne , Das Nachtcafé , TJA or Machwerk . His first volume of poetry, Stille Tage in Cliché , was published by Nautilus in 1978.
In his novel Bluemoon Baby (2001) Witzel tells the story of the high school teacher Hugo Rhäs, who lives in Central Hesse, which overlaps with other storylines - for example the bizarre appearance of the boneless spy Douglas Douglas Jr. in Wisconsin. Witzel combines modern conspiracy theories with elements of the espionage novel , interspersed with allusions to pop culture and literature: Jacques Derrida's deconstructivist theory is also featured, as is Heinrich Böll or William S. Burroughs .
In the following novel Revolution and Heimarbeit (2003), Witzel also combined conspiracy theories - such as the allegedly simulated moon landing in 1969 - with grotesque events, criticism of capitalism and elements of freak shows . There are: a Cambodian Teletubbie actress, a Mennonite woman, a petty criminal, a relic dealer, a copywriter and a journalist who tries to construct a story and thereby reduces the principle of facticity and objectivity to absurdity. With these thematic and figure constellations, Witzel is in the tradition of Thomas Pynchon , who has significantly influenced the combination of pop culture, paranoia and philosophical discourses in literature.
For his novel project The Invention of the Red Army Fraction by a manic-depressive teenager in the summer of 1969 , Witzel received the Robert Gernhardt Prize in 2012 . In 2015, the completed novel was awarded the German Book Prize for the following reason :
“Frank Witzel's work is a novel construct that is immeasurable in the best possible sense. It tells the story of a boy from the Hessian province, who at the age of thirteen and a half is on the threshold of growing up. Woven into this story is the political awakening of the old Federal Republic, which is beginning to free itself from the mustiness of the immediate post-war period. This era of upheaval is evoked in disparate episodes that play through a wide variety of literary forms, from the inner monologue to the action scene or the minutes of the conversation to the philosophical treatise. The novel “The Invention of the Red Army Fraction by a manic-depressive teenager in the summer of 1969” is unique in German-language literature in its mixture of madness and wit, formal daring and contemporary historical panoramas. Frank Witzel embarks on the unsecured terrain of speculative realism. The German Book Prize honors an ingenious work of language art that is a big quarry, a hybrid compendium of pop, politics and paranoia. "
In 2018, Witzel wrote Stahnke , a 15-part radio play series for Bayerischer Rundfunk . In a pilot episode of 50 minutes, the beginning of which alludes to the beginning of the novel by Robert Musil's Man without Qualities , and 14 episodes of just under half an hour each, she tells about the architect Stahnke, who drives through the province of the Federal Republic on behalf of the IGWT company to explore opportunities for construction projects in small towns. He not only analyzes the structural conditions of the respective locations, but also the social structure and political power relations. Stahnke suspects that these construction projects will fail in a row and sometimes even drive the communities into ruin. When a series of mysterious murders rocked the area that he recently visited for his site evaluations, the investigating commissioner targeted him.
Together with Uwe Timm , Witzel attended the Tübingen poetics lectureship in 2018 . Witzel read in his diary Uneigentliche Desperflung , published in 2019, and The Invention of the Red Army Faction by a manic-depressive teenager in the summer of 1969 as audio books . His unclear pronunciation was criticized by listeners .
Publications
Poetry and prose
- Quiet days in Cliché. Edition Nautilus , Hamburg 1978, ISBN 3-921523-42-7 . (with poems and illustrations by the author).
- Days without End A Poème Cinématique. Edition Nautilus, Hamburg 1980, ISBN 3-921523-47-8 . (With poems, 249 photos and an afterword by the author; dedicated to Rolf Dieter Brinkmann )
- as editor and editor: The death instinct. Life report of an enemy of the state. Autobiography by Jacques Mesrine (original title = L'instinct de mort, translated by Angela Schmidt and Pierre Gallissaires). Nautilus Nemo Press, Hamburg 1980, ISBN 3-922513-03-4 .
- Bluemoon baby. Novel. Edition Nautilus, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-89401-376-1 . (Paperback edition by dtv, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-423-20652-7 )
- Revolution and homework. Novel. Edition Nautilus, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-89401-376-1 .
- with Thomas Meinecke , Klaus Walter : record player. Edition Nautilus, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-89401-451-2 .
- as author of an afterword: Ludwig Tieck: The seven women of bluebeard . (= Ghost Library. Volume 1). Edited by Nora Sdun, Jan-Frederik Bandel and BMW. Textem, Hamburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-938801-31-4 .
- Vondenloh. Textem, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-938801-48-2 . New edition: Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-95757-679-8 .
- with Thomas Meinecke and Klaus Walter: The Federal Republic of Germany. Edition Nautilus, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-89401-600-5 .
- The invention of the Red Army Faction by a manic-depressive teenager in the summer of 1969. Novel. Matthes & Seitz Berlin , Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-95757-077-2 .
- With Philipp Felsch : BRD Noir . Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-95757-276-9 .
- Right after and shortly before . Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-95757-477-0 .
- Ground below ground . Brüterich Press, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-945229-15-6 .
- Inappropriate despair. Metaphysical diary I . Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-95757-780-1 .
- Humor and grace (together with Marcus Steinweg ). Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-95757-724-5 .
- Heartfelt shipwreck . Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2020, ISBN 978-3-95757-838-9 .
Translations and illustrations
- Billie Holiday : Lady sings the blues. Autobiography. Edition Nautilus, Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-89401-110-9 (translation from the American).
- Erich Kästner : Fabian, The Story of a Moralist. Book Guild Gutenberg , Frankfurt am Main / Vienna / Zurich 2007, ISBN 978-3-7632-5736-2 (illustration and afterword).
- Uli Becker : The highest of feelings - erotic poems. Maro, Augsburg 1987, ISBN 3-87512-075-2 (illustration).
- Raoul Vaneigem : The Book of Desires. Edition Nautilus, Hamburg 1984, ISBN 3-921523-71-0 (translation from the French by Pierre Gallissaires and Frank Witzel).
Phono
- with Uli Becker , Thorwald Proll : Banana Republic. Poetry & Sounds to Social Reality. Record 33 / min, Nautilus Phonographie, Hamburg 1978, DNB 891314229 .
radio play
- The invention of the Red Army Fraction by a manic-depressive teenager in the summer of 1969. With Edmund Telgenkämper , Jonas Nay , Valerie Tschplanowa, Shenja Lacher , Christiane Roßbach, Peter Fricke , Oliver Nägele , Götz Schulte. Music: Frank Witzel, radio play adaptation: Frank Witzel / Leonhard Koppelmann . Director: Leonhard Koppelmann. BR radio play and media art 2016. As a podcast / download in the BR radio play pool. First broadcast: June 25, 2016 in Bayern2 . In a making-of, Katarina Agathos portrays the author, draftsman and musician Frank Witzel and documents the development process and production of the radio play version.
- The radio play was awarded the German Audiobook Prize 2017 in the category "Best Radio Play".
- The apocalyptic lightbulb . With Peter Brombacher , Gaby Dohm , Thomas Hauser, Julia Riedler, Michael Tregor , Sophie von Kessel , Irina Wanka , Anton Winstel. Composition: Frank Witzel, Director: Leonhard Koppelmann , Production: Bayerischer Rundfunk 2017
- Stahnke . 15-part radio play series with Wiebke Puls , Martin Feifel , Nicole Heesters , Axel Milberg , Fabian Hinrichs , Jutta Speidel and others. Composition: Frank Witzel, director: Leonhard Koppelmann , production: Bayerischer Rundfunk 2018. As a podcast / download in the BR radio play pool.
Web links
- Literature by and about Frank Witzel in the catalog of the German National Library
- Short biography and reviews of works by Frank Witzel at perlentaucher.de
- Frank Witzel’s website
- Thomas Andre: German Book Prize for Frank Witzel: The old Federal Republic as an insane asylum. In: Spiegel-online , October 13, 2015.
- Biography of the International Literature Festival Berlin about Frank Witzel
Footnotes
- ↑ Best Novel 2015 - German Book Prize goes to Frank Witzel. In: Der Spiegel . October 12, 2015, accessed March 1, 2020 .
- ↑ Sandra Kegel: The existential furor of Frank Witzel. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . October 12, 2015, accessed March 1, 2020 .
- ↑ Frank Witzel receives the German Book Prize 2015 for his novel "The Invention of the Red Army Fraction by a manic-depressive teenager in the summer of 1969". Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels , October 12, 2015, archived from the original on September 11, 2015 ; Retrieved on March 1, 2020 (jury statement in press release).
- ↑ Reasons of the jury of the German Book Prize 2015 , accessed on October 12, 2015.
- ↑ Review of the Süddeutsche Zeitung October 25, 2018: '' Secret ways of a charlatan ''
- ↑ The invention of the Red Army Faction by a manic-depressive teenager in the summer of 1969. Retrieved January 10, 2020 .
- ↑ Reviews on the invention of the Red Army Fraction by a manic depressive teenager in the summer of 1969. In: perlentaucher.de. Retrieved March 5, 2016 .
- ^ BR radio play Pool - Witzel, The invention of the Red Army faction by a manic-depressive teenager in the summer of 1969
- ^ BR radio play Pool - An evening with Frank Witzel
- ^ BR radio play Pool - Witzel, Stahnke
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Witzel, Frank |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German writer |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1955 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Wiesbaden |