Matthias Politycki

Matthias Politycki (born 20 May 1955 in Karlsruhe, Germany) is a German writer. He has published novels, stories, poems, essays and audio books and is known as the globetrotting German author. His rise to fame was primarily due to his novel Weiberroman and his cruise ship satire In 180 Tagen um die Welt. Some of his articles, in which he entered into or provoked debates in the newspaper feature pages, similarly attracted a great deal of attention.
Life
Matthias Politycki grew up in Munich, Bavaria, where he attended the Maria-Theresia-Gymnasium grammar school. After attaining his school-leaving qualification, the Abitur, in 1974, he was conscripted into national service in the Jägerbataillon 541 in Neuburg/Donau. After his first military exercise, however, he decided to object retroactively and was recognised as a conscientious objector on 21 December 1977. He studied modern German literature, philosophy, theatre studies and communications at the Universities of Munich and Vienna from 1975 to 1987. He obtained his master's degree in 1981 and was awarded his PhD in 1987 under Walter Müller-Seidel in Munich for a thesis entitled Umwertung aller Werte? Deutsche Literatur im Urteil Nietzsches. After three semesters as an assistant professor (Akademischer Rat) at the Münchner Institut für Deutsche Philologie (Munich Institute of German Philology), he began his career as a freelance writer in 1990, although he continued to work as a regular freelance editor for the Munich publishing house Verlag C.H. Beck until 1999. Matthias Politycki is a member of the P.E.N. (the German P.E.N. Centre). He lives in Hamburg and Munich.
Literary work
Politycki's widely noticed debut novel AusFälle / Zerlegung des Regenbogens'. Ein Entwickelungsroman published in 1987 earned critical acclaim as a highly reflective prose work in the tradition of Arno Schmidt and James Joyce. As early at the start of the 1990s, the "form-fixated avantgardist" (Killy-Literaturlexikon) repeatedly and vehemently protested against this ascription, demanding that "literature should be like rock music", advocating a "new readability" in German literature and igniting a broad debate in the feature pages. Weiberroman published in 1997 ultimately became a best seller and a "cult novel" (Munzinger) and is considered a central text in Germany's literary postmodern movement. It was this novel which established Politycki's reputation as an "eminent humorist" (Reinhard Baumgart, Die Zeit, 5 September 1997) and "memory acrobat" (Verena Auffermann, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 19 and 20 July 1997). At the same time, Weiberroman sparked a debate about the so-called "Generation 78" (Reinhard Mohr), which Politycki sees as the successor to Generation 68 and at strict variance with the latter's ethos-laden culture. With his Cuban novel Herr der Hörner published in 2005, Politycki then produced an "exuberant Dionysian mammoth novel" (Wolfgang Schneider, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 21 February 2008), which told of an enlightened European's struggle for survival in a culture steeped in archaic rituals. But he was unable to match the popular success of his Weiberroman until his picaresque novel In 180 Tagen um die Welt came out in 2008. In this work, he describes "the rituals of the rich and the super-rich to a contemporary Simplicius Simplicissimus" (Uwe Wittstock, Die Welt, 21 June 2008). Politycki counts Laurence Sterne, Diderot, Gottfried Benn and Vladimir Nabokov and, in recent years, Ernest Hemingway among his literary influences. He has produced extensive body of lyrical work and frequently presented it on stage: in 1996/97, he teamed up with Robert Gernhardt in the lyrical programme Wein, Weib und Gesang, in 2004/05, he joined Hellmuth Opitz and Steffen Jacobs in the programme Frauen. Naja. Schwierig. Between 2000 and 2005, Politycki, who continually seeks an aesthetic and poetic dialogue with contemporaries, also organised the Ohne-Titel conferences for authors, editors and critics at Schloss Elmau. In 2011, he was curating the Literaturfest München (Munich literature festival).
Politycki, having been appointed writer-in-residence at Queen Mary, London, in 2009, fell in love with the city immediately. After having returned to the East End for several times in 2010 and 2011, he issued “London, Signale aus der Weltmaschine” (London, Signals from the World-Machine), a highly acclaimed compilation of texts and photographs on the contemporary London, and above all a bestselling epos on English beer, “London für Helden. The Ale Trail - Expedition ins Bierreich” (London for Heroes. The Ale Trail - an Ale Tale). The story is about two Germans trying to test all the real ales they can face during one long London night, always in desperate search of the first sip to taste like proper stuff.
Awards
Among other awards, Matthias Politycki received the Civitas-Literaturpreis in 1987, for his first novel AusFälle / Zerlegung des Regenbogens. Ein Entwickelungsroman and the Bayerischen Staatsförderpreis für Literatur in 1988. He has been awarded numerous grants in Germany and abroad, for instance in Denmark, Austria and the US. The shipping company Hapag-Lloyd appointed Matthias Politycki as the very first ship's writer on its cruise ship MS Europa in 2006, giving him the opportunity to take a six-month world tour as a writer-in-non-residence. In 2009, he won the Ernst-Hoferichter-Preis, becoming the Writer in Residence at Queen Mary, University of London. In 2010, he was awarded the Preis der LiteraTour Nord. 2012 Next World Novella was listed for the prestigious Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. Twice he received a grant of Deutscher Literaturfonds for his novels Herr der Hörner (2005) and Samarkand Samarkand (2012/13).
Works
Politycki's books have been translated into English, French and Italian. Available in English:
* Next World Novella (= Jenseitsnovelle). Translator: Anthea Bell, Peirene Press Ltd, London 2011,
* Sphärenmusik - Music of the Spheres - Ceol na Sféar. Ausgewählte Gedichte - Selected Poems - Rogha Dánta. Translator: Hans-Christian Oeser (English) agus Gabriel Rosenstock (Gaeilge/Irish). Coiscéim, Dublin 2011
In German
Novels and volumes of stories
* Samarkand Samarkand, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2013, .
* Freischwimmer. Drei Erzählungen, Svato Verlag, Hamburg 2011. Mit 11 farbigen Linolschnitten von Svato Zapletal.
* Jenseitsnovelle, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2009, .
* In 180 Tagen um die Welt. Das Logbuch des Herrn Johann Gottlieb Fichtl, marebuchverlag, Hamburg 2008
* Herr der Hörner. Roman, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2005
* Das Schweigen am andern Ende des Rüssels, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2001
* Ein Mann von vierzig Jahren, Luchterhand Literaturverlag, München 2000
* Weiberroman, Luchterhand Literaturverlag, München 1997
* Der böse Einfluß der Bifi-Wurst. Ein End- und ein Nachspiel, Verlag Ulrich Keicher (= Roter Faden 44), Warmbronn 1996
* Taifun über Kyoto, Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Hamburg 1993
* Sonnenbaden in Sibirien. Dreiseitige Geschichten, Verlag Ulrich Keicher (= Roter Faden 30), Warmbronn 1991
* Aus Fälle / Zerlegung des Regenbogens. Ein Entwickelungsroman, Weismann Verlag, München 1987
Volumes of poetry
* Dies irre Geglitzer in deinem Blick. 111 Gedichte. Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2015,
* Ägyptische Plagen. Gebirg und Wüste Sinai. 13 Gedichte. Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2015,
* Dieser schwüle Nachmittag damals. Vier Sorten Schmerz. Dreizehn Gedichte mit dreizehn Knipsels ("Schokoküsse") von Felix Droese, limitierter Privatdruck Carl-Walter Kottnik, Hamburg 2015
* London für Helden. The Ale Trail - Expedition ins Bierreich, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2011,
* Die Sekunden danach. 88 Gedichte, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2009,
* Ratschlag zum Verzehr der Seidenraupe. 66 Gedichte, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2003
* Die zwei Arten, den Caipirinha zu bestellen. Ein Gedicht, Verlag Ulrich Keicher (limitierter Sonderdruck), Warmbronn 2000
* Jenseits von Wurst und Käse. 44 Gedichte, Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Hamburg 1995
* Die Wahrheit über Kaffeetrinker. Ein Gedicht, Verlag Ulrich Keicher (limitierter Sonderdruck), Warmbronn 1993
* Im Schatten der Schrift hier. 22 Gedichte, Weismann Verlag, München 1988
Volumes of essays
* Schrecklich schön und weit und wild. Warum wir reisen und was wir dabei denken. Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2017
* 42,195. Warum wir Marathon laufen und was wir dabei denken. Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2015
* Vom Verschwinden der Dinge in der Zukunft. Bestimmte Artikel 2006-1998. Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2007
* Marietta - die Idee, der Datensatz und der Strohhut. Schreiben und Schreiben-Lassen im Internet. Franz Steiner Verlag (= Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz, Abhandlung Nr.1/2000 der Klasse der Literatur), Stuttgart 2000
* Die Farbe der Vokale. Von der Literatur, den 78ern und dem Gequake satter Frösche. Luchterhand Literaturverlag, München 1998
Editorship and other
* DAS GEDICHT No 20. Das Beste aus 20 Jahren - und für die nächsten 20 Jahre, Jubiläumsausgabe, mit A. Leitner, Weßling 2012,
* London, Signale aus der Weltmaschine, Gastgeber: Matthias Politycki, Corso Verlag, Hamburg 2011,
* Marietta / Ein Mann von vierzig Jahren, Dokumentation des ZDF-Projekts „Novel in Progress“ auf der Homepage von Aspekte; ZDF.Online / Luchterhand Literaturverlag (CD-ROM), München 1999
* Hundert notwendige Gedichte. Und ein überflüssiges, Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Hamburg-Zürich 1992
Specialist books
* Umwertung aller Werte? Deutsche Literatur im Urteil Nietzsches, De Gruyter, Berlin 1989
* Der frühe Nietzsche und die deutsche Klassik. Studien zu Problemen literarischer Wertung, Münchner Hochschulschriften, Straubing 1981
Audio books
* London Für Helden. The Ale Trail (mit Peter Lohmeyer und Colin Soleman), Verlag Antje Kunstmann, München 2011
* Jenseitsnovelle, (mit Nina Petri), Radioropa/Technisat, Daun 2009
* Das Schiff. Erlebnisse einer Weltreise mit Matthias Politycki, Hörbuch von Wolfgang Stockmann, Logbuchtexte und Erzähler: Matthias Politycki, Verlag Antje Kunstmann, München 2008
* Des Teufels Amulett, MünchnerFrühlingVerlag (in der Reihe "einmaleingedicht"), München 2007
* Frauen. Naja. Schwierig, (mit Hellmuth Opitz und Steffen Jacobs), Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2005
* Das Schweigen am andern Ende des Rüssels, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2001
* Ein Mann von vierzig Jahren, Hörbuch Hamburg/Deutschlandradio, Hamburg 2000

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu