Jenny Erpenbeck Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Jenny Erpenbeck Biography

Jenny Erpenbeck was born in East Berlin in 1967. Erpenbeck is the daughter of the physicist, philosopher and writer John Erpenbeck and the Arabic translator Doris Kilias. Her grandparents are the authors Fritz Erpenbeck and Hedda Zinner. In Berlin she attended an Advanced High School, where she graduated in 1985. She then completed a two-year apprenticeship as a bookbinder before working at several theaters as props and wardrobe supervisor.

From 1988 to 1990 Erpenbeck studied theatre at the Humboldt University of Berlin. In 1990 she changed her studies to Music Theater Director at the Hanns Eisler Music Conservatory. After the successful completion of her studies in 1994 she spent some time at first as an assistant director at the opera house in Grazthen, then as a freelance director.

In the 1990s Erpenbeck started a writing career in addition to her directing. She is the author of several works of fiction, including The Book of Words and Visitation (2010), both translated by Susan Bernofsky. The End of Days won the prestigious Hans Fallada Prize in 2014.

Erpenbeck currently lives in Berlin.

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