Marie Luise Kaschnitz

Vocation

German short story writer, novelist, essayist and poet. She is considered to be one of the leading post-war German poets. She married archaeologist Guido Freiherr Von Kaschnitz-Weinberg (the author ofThe Mediterranean Foundations of Ancient Art) in 1925, and travelled with him on archaeological expeditions. She received high praise for her short stories, many of which were inspired by events in her life, complemented by her personal reminiscences. These stories were collected in books such as Orte andEngelsbrücke. She enjoyed travel greatly and her tales make use of diverse settings. They are thoughtful in nature, rather than eventful, often dealing with particular stages in a woman's life or a relationship. Her main collection is Lange Schatten ("Long Shadows"). Her favorite story was 1961's "Das dicke Kind". Her post-war essay collection in Menschen und Dinge 1945 established her reputation in Germany. Her poems dealt with the war and the early post-war period, often expressing a yearning for a peaceful past, but also hope for the future. In the volume Dein Schweigen - meine Stimme she dealt with the death of her husband. After 1960 she became influenced by Pablo Neruda. She briefly taught poetics at the University of Frankfurt. She was a member of PEN. She won many prizes, including the Georg Büchner Prize in 1955 and the Roswitha Prize in 1973. She died on 10 October 1974 in Rome. The Marie Luise Kaschnitz Prize is named in her honor. Link to Wikipedia biography