Ilse Aichinger

Ilse Aichinger, born in Vienna in 1921, became famous in the early 1950s with her stories, after her novel "Die grössere Hoffnung" was published in 1948. Her narratives were described as "tales in a language never heard before, subversive to the core" (Brita Steinwendtner). Over the following decades, she received numerous awards for her stories, poems, scenes, dialogues, and radio plays, starting with the Group 47 Prize in 1952. However, during the 1970s, Ilse Aichinger wrote less and less, becoming increasingly abstract, until she eventually fell silent for a time. It was not until 15 years later that she began writing again: columns and essays in a completely transformed language. "Never was her writing so confrontational, even aggressive, never so light and free," summarizes Simone Fässler. The volume includes diary notes from 1945 and a radio essay.