Gert Jonke

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Gert Friedrich Jonke (8 February 1946 – 4 January 2009) was an Austrian poet, playwright and novelist.^[1]

Life

Jonke was born and educated in

He became friends with the writers' circle of Graz, a centre of the Austrian literary avant garde of the time. In 1969 he published his first novel, Geometrischer Heimatroman (Geometric Regional Novel), which met with some success. The book received a positive review by Peter Handke in Der Spiegel.^[1]

In 1971 he received a scholarship to study in West Berlin, where he stayed for five years. He then lived for a year in London, followed by extensive travels throughout the Middle East and South America. In 1977, he moved with his partner to Argentina, where he met Borges.^[2] He returned to Austria in the 1980s.

Jonke died of cancer at the age of 62 on 4 January 2009, in Vienna. He was given a

• Geometrischer Heimatroman (1969). Geometric Regional Novel, trans. Johannes W. Vazulik (Dalkey Archive, 1994)
• Beginn einer Verzweiflung: Epiloge (1970, short stories). The Beginnings of a Despair: Epilogues
• Musikgeschichte (1970, short stories). Music History
• Glashausbesichtigung (1970). A Tour of Glass Houses
• Die Vermehrung der Leuchttürme (1971). The Multiplication of the Lighthouses
• Schule der Geläufigkeit: Erzählungen (1977). Homage to Czerny: Studies in Virtuoso Technique, trans. Jean M. Snook (Dalkey Archive, 2008)
• Der ferne Klang (1979). The Distant Sound, trans. Jean M. Snook (Dalkey Archive, 2010)
• Die erste Reise zum unerforschten Grund des stillen Horizonts (1980). Collection of revised versions of works written between 1965 and 1980: "Wiederholung des Festes"; Das System von Wien; Geometrischer Heimatroman; Glashausbesichtigung; Die Hinterhältigkeit der Windmaschinen; and Die Vermehrung der Leuchttürme
• Erwachen zum großen Schlafkrieg (1982). Awakening to the Great Sleep War, trans. Jean M. Snook (Dalkey Archive, 2012)
• Der Kopf des Georg Friedrich Händel (1988). The Head of George Frederick Handel, included in the English-language compilation Blinding Moment
• Stoffgewitter (1996). Thunderbolts of Cloth. Includes the novella Geblendeter Augenblick: Anton Weberns Tod (Blinding Moment) and the autobiographical essay "Individuum und Metamorphose".
• Himmelstraße – Erdbrustplatz oder Das System von Wien (1999). The System of Vienna: From Heaven Street to Earth Mound Square, trans. Vincent Kling (Dalkey Archive, 2009)
  • Reworked stories from Musikgeschichte (1970), Beginn einer Verzweiflung (1970) and Das System von Wien

Plays and poems

• Damals vor Graz, Forum Stadtpark Graz 1989
• Die Hinterhältigkeit der Windmaschinen: Tragodie in drei Akten (1971). The Deviousness of the Wind Machines
• Im Inland und im Ausland auch (1974). At Home as Well as Abroad: Poems, Radio Plays, Theatrical Plays
• Sanftwut oder Der Ohrenmaschinist: Eine Theatersonate (Gentle Rage, or The Ear Machinist), Styriarte Graz 1990
  • First performance in
    ARBOS - Company for Music and Theatre Vienna 2006^[4]
• Opus 111: Ein Klavierstuck, Volkstheater Vienna 1993
• Gegenwart der Erinnerung (Memory at Present), Volkstheater Vienna 1995
• Es singen die Steine: ein Stück Naturtheater (The Stones Are Singing: A Piece of Nature Theater), Stadttheater Klagenfurt 1998
• Insektarium, Volkstheater Vienna 1999, published 2001
• Die Vögel, UA Volkstheater Wien 2002
• Chorphantasie: Konzert fur Dirigent auf der Suche nach dem Orchester, Schauspielhaus Graz, 2003
• Redner rund um die Uhr: Eine Sprechsonate (Orator Around the Clock: A Spoken Sonata), Semper-Depot Vienna, 2004
• Seltsame Sache: Ein Melodram für Lorenzo da Ponte, Ruhrtriennale, 2005
• Die versunkene Kathedrale, Burgtheater Vienna 2005
• Freier Fall, UA Akademietheater Vienna 2008 ^[5]
• Bursting Suddenly, aktionstheater ensemble at the Festspielhaus Bregenz and Semper Depot Vienna 2008
• Alle Stücke (2008)
• Alle Gedichte (2010)

Other works

• Schwarzbuch (1984). Photos by Sepp Schmölzer, text by Jonke.
• Das Verhalten auf sinkenden Schiffen (1997). Text of a speech by Ilse Aichinger with response from Jonke.
• Klagenfurt: Ansichten in klassischen Schwarzweiß-Fotografien (2004). Photos by Siegfried Gutzelnig, text by Jonke.

Compilations in English

• Blinding Moment: Four Pieces About Composers, trans. Vincent Kling (Ariadne Press, 2009). Includes:
  • The Head of George Frederick Handel
  • "Catalogue d'oiseaux"
  • Gentle Rage, or The Ear Machinist
  • Blinding Moment

Awards and honors

• 1977
  Ingeborg Bachmann Prize
• 1980
  Literature Prize of the University City of Marburg
• 1984 Manuscripts prize of Styria
• 1987 Austrian Prize for Literature
• 1988 Prize of the Frankfurt Authors Foundation
• 1990–1993 Robert Musil scholarship
• 1991 International Bodensee-Culture Prize
• 1993 Merit Award of the City of Vienna
• 1994 Anton Wildgans Prize
• 1997 Erich Fried Prize
• 1997 Franz Kafka Literature Prize of the city of Klosterneuburg
• 1998 Berlin Literature Prize
• 2001
  Grand Austrian State Prize for Literature
• 2003 Nestroy Theatre Prize Best Author for Chorphantasie
• 2005 Kleist Prize
• 2006 Arthur Schnitzler Prize
• 2006 Nestroy Theatre Prize Best Author for Die versunkene Kathedrale (The Sunken Cathedral)
• 2008 Nestroy Theatre Prize Best Author for Free Fall

References