Günter Kunert

Günter Kunert
Kunert in 2008
Born(1929-03-06)6 March 1929
Berlin
Died21 September 2019(2019-09-21) (aged 90)
Kaisborstel, Germany
Occupations
  • Writer
  • Poet
  • Graphic artist
Organization
Awards

Günter Kunert (German: [ˈɡʏn.tɐ ˈkʊ.nɐt] (audio speaker iconlisten); 6 March 1929 – 21 September 2019) was a German writer and political commentator. Born in Berlin, he left the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) to live in the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). He joined the main political party of East Germany, the Socialist Unity Party (SED) in 1948.

A poet, Kunert also wrote short stories, essays, autobiographical works, aphorisms, satires, fairy tales, science fiction, radio plays, speeches, travel writing, movie scripts, a novel, and a drama.[1]

In the 1970s, he was a writing lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2009, Kunert won the America Award in Literature.


Life

Kunert was born in Berlin.[2] Kunert died in Kaisborstel on 21 September 2019 at the age of 90.[3]

Awards

Kunert was an honorary doctor of several universities in Italy and the United States. He was awarded the Heinrich Heine Prize of Düsseldorf in 1985, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2012[4] and the Kunstpreis of Schleswig-Holstein in 2014.[5][3]

References

  1. ↑ "Günter Kunert [Germany]". International Literature Festival Berlin. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  2. ↑ "Kunert, Günter". bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de (in German). Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Schriftsteller Günter Kunert ist tot". ndr.de (in German). NDR. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  4. ↑ Mohr, Peter (6 March 2019). "Heimat in der Kunst / Zum 90. Geburtstag des Lyrikers Günter Kunert". titel-kulturmagazin.net (in German). Titel-Kulturmagazin. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "Günter Kunert (Germany)". literaturfestival.com (in German). International Literature Festival Berlin. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2019.

Other websites

Media related to Günter Kunert at Wikimedia Commons