On the 90th Anniversary of the Birth of Uwe Johnson
News10.07.2024
© SUHRKAMP_VERLAG
On 20 July 2024, Uwe Johnson would have turned 90.
Uwe Johnson was born on 20 July 1934 in what is now Kamień Pomorski in Poland, but was then part of Prussia, and passed away in February 1984 in Sheerness-on-Sea in England, where he spent the last decade of his life. He grew up in the town of Anklam, fleeing with his mother and sister in 1945 as the Red Army encroached on the town, first to Recknitz and then to Güstrow, in Mecklenburg. During his studies at the University of Leipzig he began working on drafts of his first novel, Ingrid Babendererde, which was not published until after his death. In 1959, he published Speculations About Jakob with Suhrkamp Verlag. That same year, he left East Germany for the West, settling in Berlin, where his mother had fled to three years earlier. From 1966 to 1968, Uwe Johnson lived in New York, where on 29 January 1968 he wrote the first lines of his magnum opus Anniversaries.
He received numerous awards and accolades for his work, including the Georg Büchner Prize in 1971. In 1994, the Uwe Johnson Prize was established in his memory. His literary remains are held at the Uwe Johnson Archive at Rostock University.
To coincide with this anniversary, Suhrkamp Verlag has published the book If You Knew What I Know, an homage to Uwe Johnson by the German actor and director Charly Hübner.
For more information on any of Uwe Johnson’s works, please contact the foreign rights manager for your region.
Uwe Johnson was born on 20 July 1934 in what is now Kamień Pomorski in Poland, but was then part of Prussia, and passed away in February 1984 in Sheerness-on-Sea in England, where he spent the last decade of his life. He grew up in the town of Anklam, fleeing with his mother and sister in 1945 as the Red Army encroached on the town, first to Recknitz and then to Güstrow, in Mecklenburg. During his studies at the University of Leipzig he began working on drafts of his first novel, Ingrid Babendererde, which was not published until after his death. In 1959, he published Speculations About Jakob with Suhrkamp Verlag. That same year, he left East Germany for the West, settling in Berlin, where his mother had fled to three years earlier. From 1966 to 1968, Uwe Johnson lived in New York, where on 29 January 1968 he wrote the first lines of his magnum opus Anniversaries.
He received numerous awards and accolades for his work, including the Georg Büchner Prize in 1971. In 1994, the Uwe Johnson Prize was established in his memory. His literary remains are held at the Uwe Johnson Archive at Rostock University.
To coincide with this anniversary, Suhrkamp Verlag has published the book If You Knew What I Know, an homage to Uwe Johnson by the German actor and director Charly Hübner.
For more information on any of Uwe Johnson’s works, please contact the foreign rights manager for your region.