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'''Gert Hofmann''' (29 January 1931 – 1 July 1993) was a German writer and professor of German literature.

==Life==
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2018}}
Hofmann was born and grew up in [[Limbach-Oberfrohna|Limbach]], [[Saxony]] which, after [[World War II]], became part of [[East Germany]]. In 1948, he moved with his family to [[Leipzig]]. There, he attended a school for translators and interpreters, studying English and [[Russian language|Russian]]. In 1950, he enrolled to [[Leipzig University]], where he studied [[Romance languages]] and [[Slavic languages]]. In 1951, he fled from the [[German Democratic Republic]] and settled in [[Freiburg im Breisgau]], where he continued his studies. In 1957, he graduated with a thesis on [[Henry James]].

Hofmann began his writing career as a writer of radio plays. After one year as a research assistant at the [[University of Freiburg]], he left Germany in 1961 for [[Bristol]] to teach [[German literature]]. Over the next ten years he taught at universities in Europe in [[Toulouse]], [[Paris]], [[Edinburgh]], and in the [[United States]] at [[New Haven]], [[Berkeley, California]] and [[Austin, Texas|Austin]].

From 1971 to 1980 he lived in the southern [[Austria]]n town of [[Klagenfurt]], while teaching at the [[University of Ljubljana]] in [[Slovenia]], [[former Yugoslavia]].

In 1980, aged 49, he returned to Germany, moving to [[Erding]] near [[Munich]], becoming a novelist. He died there in 1993 after suffering a stroke.<ref>[http://www.lyrikwelt.de/autoren/hofmanngert.htm Gert Hofmann] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117011811/http://www.lyrikwelt.de/autoren/hofmanngert.htm |date=2018-01-17 }} Lyrikwelt.de in GermaNn, n.d., retrieved 16 January 2018</ref>

==Works==
A number of Hofmann's works have been translated by his son, the poet [[Michael Hofmann]] (born 1957 in Freiburg). ''Die Denunziation'' (1979) and ''Veilchenfeld'' (1986) are concerned with [[The Holocaust]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Schlant |first=Ernestine |date=1999 |title=The Language of Silence: West German Literature and the Holocaust |url=https://archive.org/details/languageofsilenc00schl|url-access=registration |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-92220-8 }}</ref>

* ''Interpretationsprobleme bei Henry James'' (1957)
* ''Der Bürgermeister'' (1963). ''The Burgomaster'', trans. Donald Watson (1968)
* ''Der Sohn'' (1966)
* ''Kündigungen'' (1969)
* ''Unser Mann in Madras'' (written 1965, published 1969). Adapted as a short film, ''Our Man in Madras'', in 2014.
* ''Advokat Patelin'' (1976)
* ''Die Denunziation'' (1979)
* ''Die Fistelstimme'' (1980)
* ''Fuhlrotts Vergeßlichkeit. Portrait eines uns bekannten Kopfes'' (1981)
* ''Gespräch über Balzacs Pferd: Vier Novellen'' (1981). ''Balzac's Horse and Other Stories'', trans. Christopher Middleton (1989)
* ''Die Überflutung'' (1981)
* ''Auf dem Turm'' (1982). ''The Spectacle at the Tower'', trans. Christopher Middleton (1989)
* ''Die Rückkehr des verlorenen Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz nach Riga'' (1984)
* ''Unsere Eroberung'' (1984). ''Our Conquest'', trans. Christopher Middleton (1991)
* ''[[Der Blindensturz]]'' (1985). ''The Parable of the Blind'', trans. Christopher Middleton (1989)
* ''Veilchenfeld'' (1986). ''Our Philosopher'', trans. Eric Mace-Tessler (CB Editions, 2020; New York Review Books, 2023)
* ''Die Weltmaschine'' (1986)
* ''Casanova und die Figurantin'' (1987)
* ''Unsere Vergeßlichkeit'' (1987)
* ''Vor der Regenzeit'' (1988). ''Before the Rainy Season'', trans. Edna McCown (1992)
* ''Der Kinoerzähler'' (1990). ''The Film Explainer'', trans. Michael Hofmann (1996)
* ''Tolstois Kopf'' (1991)
* ''Das Glück'' (1992). ''Luck'', trans. Michael Hofmann (2004)
* ''Das Thema kommt, verbeugt sich, sagt: Wie wär's?'' (1992)
* ''Die kleine Stechardin'' (1994). ''Lichtenberg and the Little Flower Girl,'' trans. Michael Hofmann (2004)

== Awards and honors ==
Hofmann received several literary awards during his lifetime including the [[Ingeborg-Bachmann-Preis]] for ''Die Fistelstimme'' (1979), the [[Alfred-Döblin-Preis]] (1982), and the [[Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden]] for ''Die Brautschau des Dichters [[Robert Walser (writer)|Robert Walser]] im Hof der Anstaltswäscherei von Bellelay, Kanton Bern'' (1983).
In 1987, he became a member of the [[Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung]] in [[Darmstadt]].
He received the [[Literaturpreis der Stadt München]] in 1993.
In 1995, Hofmann and his son Michael won the [[Independent Foreign Fiction Prize]] for ''The Film Explainer''.

==See also==
* [[The Holocaust in popular culture]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hofmann, Gert}}
[[Category:Leipzig University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Freiburg alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Toulouse]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Paris]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley faculty]]
[[Category:University of Texas at Austin faculty]]
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:Ingeborg Bachmann Prize winners]]
[[Category:20th-century German novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century German male novelists]]

Gert Hofmann - Revision history

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