Volker Braun

His works include Provokation für mich (Provocation for me) – a collection of poems written between 1959 and 1964 and published in 1965, a play, Die Kipper (The Dumpers) (1972; written 1962–1965), and Das ungezwungene Leben Kasts (The Unrestrained Life of Kast) (1972).

After completing his Abitur, Volker Braun worked for a time in construction before going on to study philosophy at Leipzig.

Nevertheless, he was regarded as critical of the GDR state, and often succeeded in getting his prose and poetry published only through the application of tactical skill.

From 1965 to 1967, Braun worked as artistic director at the Berliner Ensemble at the invitation of Helene Weigel.

His Hinze-Kunze-Roman, based on Diderot's Jacques le fataliste et son maître, received approval for publication in 1985.

In this connection, he undertook work with the west-Marxist journal, "Das Argument," edited by Wolfgang Fritz Haug.

In 1996, he received the Deutschen Kritikerpreis (German Critic Prize), became a member of the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung, the Sächsische Akademie der Künste (Saxon Academy of the Arts) and held the post of Poet-lecturer at the University of Heidelberg.