Rainald Goetz

Rainald Maria Goetz (born 24 May 1954, in Munich) is a German author, playwright and essayist.

Rainald Goetz, 2012

Biography

After studying History and Medicine in Munich and earning a degree (PhD and M.D) in each, he soon concentrated on his writing.

His first published works, especially his novel Insane (German: Irre), published in 1983, made him a cult author of the intellectual left. To the delight of his fans and the dismay of some critics, he mixed neo-expressionist writing with social realism in the vein of Alfred Döblin and the fast pace of British pop writers such as Julie Burchill. During a televised literary event in 1983, Goetz slit his own forehead with a razor blade and let the blood run down his face until he finished reading.^[1]

Goetz has the reputation of an enthusiastic observer of media and pop culture. He has embraced avant-garde ^{[citation needed]} philosophers such as Foucault and Luhmann as well as the DJs of the techno movement, especially Sven Väth.^[2]

He kept a blog in 1998–99 called Abfall für alle ("rubbish for everybody"), which was later published as a book.

Goetz has won numerous literary awards.

Awards and honors

• 1983 Kranichsteiner Literaturpreis
• 1988 Mülheimer Dramatikerpreis
• 1991 Heinrich-Böll-Preis
• 1993 Mülheimer Dramatikerpreis
• 1999 Else Lasker-Schüler Dramatist Prize
• 2000 Wilhelm Raabe Literature Prize
• 2000 Mülheimer Dramatikerpreis
• 2012 Berliner Literaturpreis
• 2013 Schiller-Gedächtnispreis
• 2013 Marieluise-Fleißer-Preis
• 2015 Georg Büchner Prize^[3]
• 2018 Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Selected works

• Irre (1983), the novel which made him famous. English translation by Adrian Nathan West published in 2018 by Fitzcarraldo Editions under the title Insane.
• Krieg ("War") (1986). Three plays.
• Kontrolliert ("Controlled") (1988).
• Festung (1993). Plays.
• 1989 (1993), a collage of media from the years of the German Reunification, 1989–90.
• Rave (1998).
• Jeff Koons (1998).
• Abfall für alle ("Rubbish for everyone") (1999).
• Klage ("Complaint") (2008).
• Johann Holtrop (2012).