Steidlville

Günter Grass

Günter Grass, born in 1927 in Gdansk Poland (formerly Danzig, Germany), studied art in Düsseldorf and Berlin after a period of military service and subsequent captivity by American forces. From 1956-1960, he worked as a graphic artist, writer and sculptor in Paris before his novel The Tin Drum brought him international acclaim. Grass moved to West Berlin and became active in politics, ghost-writing for Willy Brandt, the Social Democrat leader, who was elected chancellor in 1969. In From the Diary of a Snail (1972), Grass recounts his experiences as a political campaigner, and interweaves this account with the story of Hermann Ott, a snail collector. Grass has published many books, and has often produced the graphic art for them himself. His awards include the Gruppe 47 Prize (1958), the Büchner Prize (1965), Fontaine Prize (1968), Mondello Prize (1977), the Alexander-Majakowski Medal, Gdansk (1979), Antonio Feltrinelli Prize (1982), and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1999).