Curriculum Vitae

An overview of my life and career

Personal Information

Date of Birth: February 25, 1944

Place of Birth: Neidenburg, East Prussia

Education and Career

1950-1963

Attended primary and secondary school in Berlin, graduated with Abitur

1964-1965

Various temporary jobs

1965-1970

Studied philosophy in Leipzig and Berlin

1971-1975

Assistant at the Institute of Philosophy at the Academy of Sciences of the GDR in Berlin

1975

PhD on G. F. W. Hegel: "The Science of Logic and the Socio-Historical Background of its Categorical Development" (Dr. phil.)

1975-1981

Research associate at the Academy of Sciences

1981-1990

Freelance writer

1987

Visiting professor of philosophy and literature at the University of Buffalo, Faculty of Social Sciences

1991

Visiting professor of literature in Chile

1998-Present

Freelance journalist primarily for the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”

Awards and Fellowships

  • 1993: Work grant for Berlin writers from the Berlin Senate
  • 1994: Grant from the German Cultural Fund
  • 1995: Author support from the Berlin Artists' Support Program
  • 1998: Literature grant from the Prussian Sea Trade Foundation
  • 2002: Literature prize from the newspaper “China-Time” Taiwan
  • 2008: Senior Fellow at Johns Hopkins University