Ror Wolf

Ror Wolf
Ror Wolf in 1988, receiving theHörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden
Born	Richard Georg Wolf (1932-06-29)29 June 1932 Saalfeld,Thuringia,Germany
Died	17 February 2020(2020-02-17)(aged 87) Mainz,Rhineland-Palatine,Germany
Other names	Raoul Tranchirer
Education	University of Frankfurt University of Hamburg
Occupations	Writer Poet Artist
Organizations	Hessischer Rundfunk Schöffling & Co.
Awards	Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden Friedrich-Hölderlin-Preis Schiller Memorial Prize Rainer-Malkowski-Preis

Ror Wolf(bornRichard Georg Wolf;29 June 1932 – 17 February 2020) was a German writer, poet, and artist who also published under the pseudonymRaoul Tranchirer.He wrote audio plays, novels, and poems and madecollages.

Life

Richard Georg (Ror) Wolf was born inSaalfeld,Thuringia.He grew up without his father, who was drafted into the army when the boy was six and only returned ten years later.The child enjoyed his father's library, reading the books ofWilhelm Buschat an early age.Following World War II, the new government socialized the family's shoe shop, and his mother was imprisoned for one year.After hisAbiturin 1951, he applied for a place to study at university but was not successful.He worked for two years in construction.After his application to university was rejected again, Wolf left theGerman Democratic Republicin July 1953 to live in West Germany. He first stayed inStuttgart,making a living as an unskilled laborer. Later he studied literature, sociology and philosophy at theUniversity of Frankfurt,withTheodor W. Adorno,Walter HöllererandMax Horkheimer.Wolf soon published prose, poetry, reviews of literature, theatre and jazz as well as artistic collages in the student magazineDiskus.His name as an artist ( "Ror" ) combines letters from his given names. His pseudonym ( "Tranchirer" ) is his first name, Richard, spelled backward and turned into "Tranchirer," someone who "carves up [meat]."Cutting would become an important technique both in Wolf's literary and visual work. Wolf continued his studies at theUniversity of Hamburgin 1958, and graduated from the University of Frankfurt in 1961.

Wolf worked ascontributing editorof literature for theHessischer Rundfunk,a public radio station, for two years.After 1963 he became a freelance writer and artist..His first novel,Fortsetzung des Berichts,was published bySuhrkampin 1964.It shows influences ofFranz Kafka,Samuel Beckett and Peter Weiss. His first radio play was broadcast in 1971.His radio collages often focus on soccer and keep being aired.The playLeben und Tod des Kornettisten Bix Beiderbecke aus Nord-Amerika,about the life and death of jazz cornetistBix Beiderbecke,was awarded the prestigiousHörspielpreis der Kriegsblindenin 1988. The 2007 audio playRaoul Tranchirers Bemerkungen über die Stille--R T's Comments on Silencereceived the award "Radio Play of the Year" from the German Academy of Performing Arts.

Wolf settled inMainzwhere he lived for 30 years.He died there on 17 February 2020.

Works

Wolf's texts often begin in simple everyday-life situations, changing abruptly to the grotesque in a combination of comical and horrible aspects.He worked last on an autobiography in the form of a collage.His works have been published bySchöffling & Co..The publisher plans a complete edition of his works, not only those already published, entitledRor Wolf Werke(RWW):

• Vol. 1:Friedmar Apel(ed.):Im Zustand vergrößerter Ruhe. Die Gedichte.2009.
• Vol. 2:Kai U. Jürgens(ed.):Prosa I:Fortsetzung des Berichts.2010,ISBN978-3-89561-921-2.
• Vol. 3:Kay Sokolowsky(ed.):Prosa II: Pilzer und Pelzer.2010.
• Vol. 4: Jürgens (ed.):Prosa III: Die Gefährlichkeit der großen Ebene.2012,ISBN978-3-89561-922-9.
• Vol. 5: Jürgens (ed.):Prosa IV: Nachrichten aus der bewohnten Welt.2014,ISBN978-3-89561-924-3.
• Vol. 7: Hans Burkhard Schlichting (ed.):Die Einsamkeit des Meeresgrunds. Die Hörspiele.2012,ISBN978-3-89561-917-5.
• Vol. 9: Thomas Schröder (ed.):Raoul Tranchirers Enzyklopädie für unerschrockene Leser.Vol. II. 2009.

Volume 1 contains the poems, volumes 2 to 5 prose works, volume 7 the audio plays, and volume 9Raoul Tranchirers Enzyklopädie für unerschrockene Leser,an encyclopedia for "intrepid readers".

Translations

English

• Two Or Three Years Later: Forty-Nine Digressions(Open Letter Books,2012), translated by Jennifer Marquart.ISBN1934824704.
• "A Discovery Behind the House" (Asymptote,2018 ), translated by Barbara Thimm.

French

• Le terrible festin(Gallimard,1970), translated by Lily Jumel.ISBN2070274330

Italian

• Tentativi di mantenere la calma(Mobydick, 2001), translated by Giovanni Nadiani.ISBN88-8178-201-4

Awards

Wolf was the recipient of numerous awards for his poetry, including the 2008Friedrich-Hölderlin-Preis,the 2004Kassel Literary Prize,theGeorg-K.-Glaser-PreisofRhineland-Palatineand theSWR,theGünter Eich PrizeinLeipzigin 2015,theSchiller Memorial Prizefrom theMinistry of CultureinBaden-Württembergin 2016,and theRainer-Malkowski-Preisin 2018.The Schiller Memorial Prize's jury wrote in 2016:

For the fragmented present in which we live, Ror Wolf has developed literary forms like no other that have nothing to do with the comforting obligations of conventional storytelling.

External links

• Official websitein German)
• Literature by and about Ror Wolfin theGerman National Librarycatalogue
• Ror WolfatIMDb
• Ror Wolfdiscography atDiscogs
• Ror Wolf /wetterverhältnisselyrikline.org 2020 (in German)
• "Das ist eigentlich alles"(interview, in German, with Joachim Feldmann and Rudolf Gier) in the literary journalAm Erker,Münster, 1988
• Kay Sokolowsky:Ein ziemlich unsichtbarer Mannintaz,29 June 2002, on the occasion of Wolf's 70th birthday (in German)