Walter Georg Alfred Hasenclever (8 July 1890 – 22 June 1940) was a German Jewish Expressionist poet and playwright.

In 1910 he published his first volume of poems, Towns, nights and people (Städte, Nächte und Menschen).

In 1930, he wrote scripts for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for Greta Garbo; at this time he lived in Berlin in an "artists' colony".

In the early hours of 22 June 1940 he killed himself with an overdose of the barbiturate Veronal,[1] so as not to fall into the hands of the Nazis.

Winners have included Peter Rühmkorf (1996), George Tabori (1998), Oskar Pastior (2000), Marlene Steerewitz (2002) and Friedrich Christian Delius (2004).