Gunter Preuss

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Gunter Preuss

Gunter Preuss (born September 15, 1940 in Leipzig ) is a German writer.

Life

Gunter Preuss is the second son of a Saxon domestic worker and a Silesian butcher. After fleeing from the approaching chaos of war from Silesia , Preuss spent his childhood in his native Leipzig and at times in a meadow village near Halle (Saale) . After completing elementary school, he trained as a telecommunications mechanic from 1954 to 1957. Then he tried to break out of family and professional tightness into various activities (goods floor and warehouse workers) and competitive sports (judo) at the DHfK Leipzig . From 1960 to 1962 he studied at the East Berlin Technical School for Artistry. For health reasons he had to break off his studies, returned to Leipzig and worked at the Karl Marx University as a telecommunications engineer.

After first publishing short stories in journals and magazines, Preuss became a member of the youth organization of the GDR writers' association AJA . From 1970 to 1974 he studied at the "Johannes R. Becher" literature institute in Leipzig and then lived as a freelance writer. As a member of the GDR Writers' Association , he was responsible for workshop work on the Leipzig board. From 1986 to 1988 he taught prose as a senior assistant at the Literature Institute and then worked as a freelancer again. Preuss lives in Lützschena near Leipzig.

Preuss was repeatedly reprimanded for his criticism of the GDR - and above all, he called for more openness and individual freedom - and was subjected to state reprisals with his family. On the other hand, he admits to having received a lot of support and attention in the GDR, which solidified his opinion of an increasingly schizophrenic society. Nevertheless, he was of the opinion for a long time that social conditions could be improved on their own. Preuss and three other writers were the only signatories of a Leipzig protest against Wolf Biermann's expatriation. With Werner Heiduczek , Preuss voted against the expulsion of Erich Loest from the Writers ' Union , which was demanded by the Leipzig board . Confident in Gorbachev and with an unbroken will for social renewal, Preuss, who had previously resisted any party affiliation, joined the SED . Membership was short-lived. Before the fall of the Wall, Preuss' hopes for a liberal and thus cosmopolitan socialist society had been exhausted.

Gunter Preuss has spoken out in almost every genre of literature. From the beginning he also wrote for children and young people. Some of his books have been translated into many languages. Since his youth he has been accompanied by the novel And If I Should Die ... (Volume 1, 2005), in which autobiographical and invented things mix in the post-war decades of German contemporary history. The volumes Calls to the Desert - Essays and Interviews from Yesterday and Today (2009) and Pyrrhic Victories - Contemplation and Dialogue (2013) provide an undisguised insight into Preuss' biography and show his committed critical stance in two social systems. He counts himself among those fools who are responsible for their crookedness. In his prose works, as well as in plays and a large number of radio plays, outsiders often come to the fore: "People who move out to learn to fear (life)". With tricks his fifth band is since 2011 meaning and nonsense sayings before.

Preuß is a member of the PEN Center Germany and belongs to the Association of German Writers .

Works (selection)

Novellas

  • Mrs. Butzmann and her sons , novella, 1987
  • Grauer , novella, 2001

Stories and novels

  • Letters to the Beloved , novel in five stories, 1989
  • The 884th Monday , novel by a rebel, 1999
  • Faces and masks , conversations from the darkroom, 1999
  • From your own skin , stories, 2000
  • From poor pig , A German-German grotesque, 2003
  • And if I should die ... a youth novel. Self publication. Engelsdorfer Verlag, Leipzig 2004
  • I will leave footprints behind , texts for radio plays, theater and television. Self publication. Engelsdorfer Verlag, Leipzig 2009

Children's and young people's literature

  • The carnation , short stories, 1973
  • Julia , novel, youth novel, 1976
  • Tschomolungma , children's book, 1981
  • Great love wanted , novel, 1984
  • Fairies Don't Die , Tale for Children, 1985
  • Shards of mirrors , stories, 1986
  • Annabella and the Great Wizard , children's book, 1986
  • Little Witch Toscanella , children's book, 1993
  • Stone in my fist , novel, 1993
  • Deadly Green , novel, 1997
  • Like a bird from an egg , youth novel, 1998
  • The trap , children's book, 2000
  • Enter at your own risk! , School Stories, 2004
  • Two in a cobweb , novel, 2006
  • Niccolò and the three beautiful ones . Novel for children. Self publication. Engelsdorfer Verlag, Leipzig 2006
  • Witches' sayings for human children . Self publication. Engelsdorfer Verlag, Leipzig 2007
  • Lilli under a red hat , children's book, 2007
  • Toscanella at Edelstein Castle , children's book, 2010
  • The violence of summer , novel, 2011
  • Toscanella sells her pig to the devil , children's book, 2011
  • Flying without wings , children's book, 2011
  • Toscanella travels to Scotland , children's book, 2012
  • Three Come Through the World , children's book, 2014
  • The Little Witch Toscanella and the Zeitgeist , children's book, 2014
  • His Majesty is asking! A Carnival of Animals , children's book, 2014
  • If you can read, you have a good laugh, children's book, 2015, Leiv Leipzig, ISBN 978-3896034656 .
  • Our Dear Children: Little Black Book, 2015
  • Die Struwwelpetra - drama with prelude, nine disasters and one end , children's book, 2016, illustrations: Egbert Herfurth , Lychatz Verlag, Leipzig, ISBN 978-3942929424 .

Aphorisms

  • Driftwood , 1990
  • Pebbles , 1998
  • Bird feathers , 2003
  • Clown Tears , 2007
  • Tricks , 2011

Poems

  • If I were a white steamer , 2000
  • With the eyes of the night , 2003
  • Catch me! , 2006
  • Have a nice dream , 2007
  • Witches' Sayings , 2008
  • Moments , 2011

Plays

  • Muzelkopp , 1977
  • The great magician's house , 1996 (with Felicitas Loewe )
  • On the torture stake, short circuit, Vom Kater ... , 1999
  • Stone in my fist , 2008

Television films

  • It was a hell of a day , 1976
  • Honeymoon , 1979
  • Great love wanted , 1989
  • several cartoons

Radio plays

  • Chomolungma , 1980
  • Margit with the snub nose , 1982 - Director: Uwe Haacke (Children's radio play / short radio play - Broadcasting of the GDR)
  • Restless Maui , 1994
  • The knife , 1997
  • The collision , 1998
  • Everything paletti , 2008

Essays

  • Calls to the desert , essays and interviews, 2009
  • Pyrrhic victories, contemplation and dialogue, essays and interviews, 2013, Peter Segler, Freiberg, ISBN 978-3931445201 .

Awards

literature

  • Brigitte Böttcher (Ed.): Inventory. Literary profiles . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 1976, Gunter Preuß, p. 78 f .
  • Richard Zipser: Questionnaire: Censorship - On literature before and after the end of the GDR. (Reclam Library Volume 1541) Reclam Verlag, Leipzig 1995, ISBN 3-379-01541-5 . (Gunter Preuss "The picture in front of the mirror"; letter from January 1, 1993)
  • Regine Möbius: Authors in the new federal states; Writer portraits. Edited by Börsenblatt for the German book trade. Thom Verlag, Leipzig 1995, ISBN 3-930383-11-X .
  • Ulrich Kiehl: The literature in the Leipzig district 1945-1990; A bibliography of books and magazines. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2002, ISBN 3-447-04563-9 .
  • Alfred C. Baumgärtner, Heinrich Pleticha (Hrsg.): Children's and youth literature - a lexicon. Corian-Verlag Heinrich Wimmer, Meitingen 2005, ISBN 3-89048-150-7 . ( Franz-Josef Payrhuber about Gunter Preuß)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Preuss, Gunter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig