Gert Jonke
Encyclopedia
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and novelist.
Life
Jonke was born and educated in KlagenfurtKlagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
, Austria. He attended the Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
(university preparatory school) and the Conservatory. After he served his mandatory military service, he continued his studies at the College of Music and Representative Art in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in the Film and Television Department. He did not, however, complete his studies there, nor his studies of History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, Music Theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
, or German Studies
German studies
German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents, and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German history, and German politics in addition to the...
at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
which followed. Despite this, in 1971 he received a scholarship to study in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
, where he stayed for five years. He then lived for a year in London, followed by extensive travels through the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, after which he settled again in Austria.
Jonke died of cancer at the age of 62 on 4 January 2009 in Vienna. He was given a grave of honor
Ehrengrab
An Ehrengrab is a distinction granted by certain German, Swiss and Austrian cities to one of their citizens for extraordinary services or achievements in their lifetime. If there are no descendants or institutions to care for the gravesite, the communities or cities will take responsibility for...
("Ehrengrab") in the Zentralfriedhof
Zentralfriedhof
The Zentralfriedhof is one of the largest cemeteries in the world, largest by number of interred in Europe and most famous cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries.-Name and location:...
, the central cemetery in Vienna.
Recognition
- 1977 Ingeborg Bachmann PrizeIngeborg Bachmann PrizeThe Festival of German-Language Literature, formerly Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, is a literary competition which takes place yearly in Klagenfurt, Austria...
- 1980 Literature Prize of the University City of Marburg
- 1988 Prize of the Frankfurt Authors Foundation
- 1991 International Bodensee-Culture Prize
- 1993 Appreciation Prize of the City of Vienna
- 1994 Anton Wildgans PrizeAnton Wildgans PrizeThe Anton Wildgans Prize of Austrian Industry is a literary award that was endowed in 1962 by the Federation of Austrian Industry. The prize is worth 10,000 Euro and is granted by an independent jury to a young or middle-aged writer of Austrian citizenship....
- 1997 Erich Fried PrizeErich Fried PrizeThe Erich Fried Prize is a literary prize in honour of the Austrian poet Erich Fried, and is awarded annually by the International Erich Fried Association for Literature and Language, based in Vienna. The value of the prize, endowed by the office of the Chancellor of Austria, is 14,600 euros...
- 1997 Franz Kafka Literature Prize
- 1998 Berlin Literature Prize
- 2001 Grand Austrian State PrizeGrand Austrian State PrizeThe Grand Austrian State Prize is a decoration given annually by Austria to an artist for exceptional work. The recipient must be an Austrian citizen with a permanent residence in Austria....
- 2003 Nestroy Theater Prize Best Author for Chorphantasie
- 2005 Kleist PrizeKleist PrizeThe Kleist Prize is an annual German literature prize. The prize was first awarded in 1912, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist. The Kleist Prize was the most important literary award of the Weimar Republic, but was discontinued in 1933.In 1985 the prize...
- 2006 Arthur Schnitzler Prize
- 2006 Nestroy Theater Prize Best Author for Die versunkene Kathedrale (The Sunken Cathedral)
Novels (translated into English)
- 2000 Geometric Regional Novel (Champaign: Dalkey ArchiveDalkey ArchiveDalkey Archive may refer to:#the novel The Dalkey Archive by Flann O'Brien, or#the not-for-profit publisher called Dalkey Archive Press....
) - 2008 Homage to Czerny: Studies in Virtuoso Technique (Champaign: Dalkey ArchiveDalkey ArchiveDalkey Archive may refer to:#the novel The Dalkey Archive by Flann O'Brien, or#the not-for-profit publisher called Dalkey Archive Press....
) - 2009 Blinding Moment: Four Pieces About Composers (Riverside: Ariadne Press)
- 2009 System of Vienna: From Heaven Street to Earth Mound Square (Champaign: Dalkey ArchiveDalkey ArchiveDalkey Archive may refer to:#the novel The Dalkey Archive by Flann O'Brien, or#the not-for-profit publisher called Dalkey Archive Press....
) - 2010 The Distant Sound (Champaign: Dalkey ArchiveDalkey ArchiveDalkey Archive may refer to:#the novel The Dalkey Archive by Flann O'Brien, or#the not-for-profit publisher called Dalkey Archive Press....
) June 2010.
Theatreplays
- At that time, Graz, Forum Stadtpark Graz 1989
- The Perfidy of the Wind Machines
- Gentle Rage or the Ear Engineer, Theater Sonata, Styriate Graz 1990
- Opus 111, Volkstheater Vienna 1993
- The Presence of Memory, Volkstheater Vienna 1995
- There sing the Stones, Stadttheater Klagenfurt 1998
- Insektarium, Volkstheater Vienna 1999
- The Birds, UA Volkstheater Wien 2002
- Choir Phantasy, Schauspielhaus Graz, 2003
- Speaker around the Clock, Semper-Depot Vienna, 2004
- Strange Case, Ruhrtriennale, 2005
- The Sunken Cathedral, BurgtheaterBurgtheaterThe Burgtheater , originally known as K.K. Theater an der Burg, then until 1918 as the K.K. Hofburgtheater, is the Austrian National Theatre in Vienna and one of the most important German language theatres in the world.The Burgtheater was created in 1741 and has become known as "die Burg" by the...
Vienna 2005 - Gentle Rage or The Ear Engineer, First Performance in Sign LanguageSign languageA sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
with the deaf actor Werner Mössler by ARBOS - Company for Music and Theatre Vienna 2006 - Free Fall, UA Akademietheater Vienna 2008
- Bursting Suddenly, aktionstheater ensemble at the FestspielhausFestspielhausA Festspielhaus or Festival Theatre is a German language term describing a theatre designed for opera or music festivals.There are several examples of Festival Theatres in the German-speaking world:...
BregenzBregenz-Culture:The annual summer music festival Bregenzer Festspiele is a world-famous festival which takes place on and around a stage on Lake Constance, where a different opera is performed every second year.-Sport:* A1 Bregenz HB is a handball team....
and Semper Depot Vienna 2008