Ror Wolf

{{Short description|German writer (1932–2020)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{infobox person | name = Ror Wolf | image = Ror Wolf.jpg | caption = Ror Wolf in 1988, receiving the Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden | birth_name = Richard Georg Wolf | birth_date = {{birth date|1932|06|29|df=y}} | birth_place = Saalfeld, Thuringia, Germany | death_date = {{death date and age|2020|02|17|1932|06|29|df=y}} | death_place = Mainz, Rhineland-Palatine, Germany | other_names = Raoul Tranchirer | education = {{plainlist| * University of Frankfurt * University of Hamburg }} | occupation = {{plainlist| * Writer * Poet * Artist }} | known for = | organizations = {{plainlist| * Hessischer Rundfunk * Schöffling & Co. }} | awards = {{plainlist| * Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden * Friedrich-Hölderlin-Preis * Schiller Memorial Prize * Rainer-Malkowski-Preis }} }} '''Ror Wolf''' (born '''Richard Georg Wolf'''; 29 June 1932 – 17 February 2020) was a German writer, poet, and artist who also published under the pseudonym '''Raoul Tranchirer'''. He wrote audio plays, novels, and poems and made collages.<ref name="FAZ" /><ref name="Munzinger" /><ref name="Federman" />

== Life == Richard Georg (Ror) Wolf was born in Saalfeld, Thuringia. He grew up without his father, who was drafted into the army when the boy was six and only returned ten years later.<ref name="NZZ" /> The child enjoyed his father's library, reading the books of Wilhelm Busch at an early age.<ref name="NZZ" /> Following World War II, the new government socialized the family's shoe shop, and his mother was imprisoned for one year.<ref name="NZZ" /> After his Abitur in 1951, he applied for a place to study at university but was not successful.<ref name="Munzinger" /> He worked for two years in construction.<ref name="Kassel" /> After his application to university was rejected again, Wolf left the German Democratic Republic in July 1953 to live in West Germany. He first stayed in Stuttgart, making a living as an unskilled laborer. Later he studied literature, sociology and philosophy at the University of Frankfurt,<ref name="Wasner" /> with Theodor W. Adorno, Walter Höllerer and Max Horkheimer.<ref name="Munzinger" /> Wolf soon published prose, poetry, reviews of literature, theatre and jazz as well as artistic collages in the student magazine ''Diskus''.<ref name="NZZ" /><ref name="Kosler" /> 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]."<ref name="NZZ" /><ref name="Federman" /> Cutting would become an important technique both in Wolf's literary and visual work. Wolf continued his studies at the University of Hamburg in 1958, and graduated from the University of Frankfurt in 1961.<ref name="Munzinger" />

Wolf worked as contributing editor of literature for the Hessischer Rundfunk, a public radio station, for two years.<ref name="NZZ" /> After 1963 he became a freelance writer and artist.<ref name="Wasner" /> His first novel, ''Fortsetzung des Berichts'', was published by Suhrkamp in 1964.<ref name="Leipzig" /> It shows influences of Franz Kafka,<ref name="EN24" /> Samuel Beckett and Peter Weiss. His first radio play was broadcast in 1971.<ref name="Leipzig" /> His radio collages often focus on soccer and keep being aired.<ref name="NZZ" /> The play ''Leben und Tod des Kornettisten Bix Beiderbecke aus Nord-Amerika'', about the life and death of jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, was awarded the prestigious Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden in 1988. The 2007 audio play ''Raoul Tranchirers Bemerkungen über die Stille'' -- ''R T's Comments on Silence'' received the award "Radio Play of the Year" from the German Academy of Performing Arts.<ref name="Leipzig" />

Wolf settled in Mainz where he lived for 30 years.<ref name="FAZ" /><ref name="Wasner" /> He died there on 17 February 2020.<ref name="FAZ" /><ref name="Wasner" />

== Works == Wolf's texts often begin in simple everyday-life situations, changing abruptly to the grotesque in a combination of comical and horrible aspects.<ref name="Kosler" /> He worked last on an autobiography in the form of a collage.<ref name="EN24" /> His works have been published by Schöffling & Co.<ref name="Schöffling" /> The publisher plans a complete edition of his works, not only those already published, entitled ''Ror Wolf Werke'' (RWW):<ref name="BW" />

* Vol. 1: {{ill|Friedmar Apel|de}} (ed.): ''Im Zustand vergrößerter Ruhe. Die Gedichte.'' 2009. * Vol. 2: {{ill|Kai U. Jürgens|de}} (ed.): ''Prosa I: {{ill|Fortsetzung des Berichts|de}}''. 2010, {{ISBN|978-3-89561-921-2}}. * Vol. 3: {{ill|Kay Sokolowsky|de}} (ed.): ''Prosa II: Pilzer und Pelzer.'' 2010. * Vol. 4: Jürgens (ed.): ''Prosa III: Die Gefährlichkeit der großen Ebene.'' 2012, {{ISBN|978-3-89561-922-9}}. * Vol. 5: Jürgens (ed.): ''Prosa IV: Nachrichten aus der bewohnten Welt.'' 2014, {{ISBN|978-3-89561-924-3}}. * Vol. 7: Hans Burkhard Schlichting (ed.): ''Die Einsamkeit des Meeresgrunds. Die Hörspiele.'' 2012, {{ISBN|978-3-89561-917-5}}. * 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 9 ''Raoul 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. {{ISBN|1934824704}}. * "A Discovery Behind the House" (''Asymptote'', 2018 ), translated by Barbara Thimm.

=== French ===

* ''Le terrible festin'' (Gallimard, 1970), translated by Lily Jumel. {{ISBN|2070274330}}

=== Italian ===

* ''Tentativi di mantenere la calma'' (Mobydick, 2001), translated by Giovanni Nadiani. {{ISBN|88-8178-201-4}}

== Awards == Wolf was the recipient of numerous awards for his poetry, including the 2008 Friedrich-Hölderlin-Preis,<ref name="Hölderlin" /> the 2004 Kassel Literary Prize, the {{ill|Georg-K.-Glaser-Preis|de}} of Rhineland-Palatine and the SWR, the {{ill|Günter Eich Prize|de|Günter-Eich-Preis (Hörspiel}} in Leipzig<ref name="SWR" /> in 2015,<ref name="Leipzig" /> the Schiller Memorial Prize from the {{ill|Ministry of Culture (Baden-Württemberg)|de|Ministerium für Kultus, Jugend und Sport Baden-Württemberg|lt=Ministry of Culture}} in Baden-Württemberg in 2016,<ref name="BW" /> and the Rainer-Malkowski-Preis in 2018.<ref name="SWR" /> The Schiller Memorial Prize's jury wrote in 2016: {{blockquote|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.<ref name="EN24" />}}

==References== {{Reflist | refs =

<ref name="Federman">{{cite book | last = Federman | first = Raymond | title = Surfiction: fiction now--and tomorrow | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eykIAAAAIAAJ | accessdate = 21 May 2012 | date = 1981 | publisher = Swallow Press | isbn = 978-0-80-400652-1 | page = 146 }}</ref>

<ref name="Kosler">{{cite web | last = Kolser | first = Hans Christian | url = https://www.munzinger.de/search/portrait/Ror+Wolf/0/15468.html | title = Ror Wolf - Essay | website = Munzinger Biographie | date = 15 May 2013 | language = de | accessdate = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>

<ref name="Wasner">{{cite web | last = Wasner | first = Alexander | url = https://www.br.de/nachrichten/amp/kultur/der-schriftsteller-unnd-fussballdichter-ror-wolf-ist-tot,Rqpi5HC | title = Der Schriftsteller unnd Fußballdichter Ror Wolf ist tot | website = BR | date = 18 February 2020 | language = de | accessdate = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>

<ref name="BW">{{cite web | url = http://www.baden-wuerttemberg.de/de/service/presse/pressemitteilung/pid/ror-wolf-erhaelt-schiller-gedaechtnispreis-2016/ | title = Ror Wolf erhält Schiller-Gedächtnispreis 2016 | website = Baden-Württemberg | date = 14 July 2016 | language = de | accessdate = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>

<ref name="EN24">{{cite web | url = https://www.en24.news/A/2020/02/ror-wolf-writer-died-at-the-age-of-87.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200218191629/https://www.en24.news/A/2020/02/ror-wolf-writer-died-at-the-age-of-87.html | url-status = usurped | archive-date = 18 February 2020 | title = Ror Wolf: writer died at the age of 87 | website = en24.news | date = 18 February 2020 | accessdate = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>

<ref name="FAZ">{{cite news | url = https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buecher/autoren/schriftsteller-ror-wolf-im-alter-von-87-jahren-in-mainz-gestorben-16639994.html | title = Romane, Gedichte, Collagen : Schriftsteller Ror Wolf gestorben | newspaper = FAZ | date = 18 February 2010 | language = de | accessdate = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>

<ref name="Hölderlin">{{cite news  | title = Friedrich-Hölderlin-Literaturpreis: Ror Wolf wird ausgezeichnet | date = 26 February 2008 | newspaper = Frankfurter Rundschau | language = de  }}</ref>

<ref name="Kassel">{{cite web | url = https://brueckner-kuehner.de/ror-wolf-2004/ | title = Ror Wolf – Preisträger 2004 | website = brueckner-kuehner.de | date = 2020 | language = de | accessdate = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>

<ref name="Leipzig">{{cite web | url = https://www.leipziger-medienstiftung.de/en/medienpreis-en/g%C3%BCnter-eich-preis-en/preistr%C3%A4ger-en/richard-wolf-en/ | title = Laureate 2015 / Ror Wolf | website = Leipziger Medienstiftung | date = 18 February 2020 | accessdate = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>

<ref name="Munzinger">{{cite web | url = https://www.munzinger.de/search/portrait/Ror+Wolf/0/15468.html | title = Ror Wolf | website = Munzinger Biographie | date = | language = de | accessdate = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>

<ref name="NZZ">{{cite news | url = https://www.nzz.ch/abenteuer_eines_pedanten-1.518633 | title = Abenteuer eines Pedanten | newspaper = Neue Zürcher Zeitung | date = 5 July 2007 | language = de | accessdate = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>

<ref name="Schöffling">{{cite web | url = https://www.schoeffling.de/autoren/ror-wolf | title = Ror Wolf | website = Schöffling & Co. | date = | language = de | accessdate = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>

<ref name="SWR">{{cite web | url = https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/mainz/Ror-Wolf-ist-tot,ror-wolf-tot-100.html | title = Mainzer Schriftsteller / Ror Wolf ist tot | website = SWR | date = 18 February 2020 | language = de | accessdate = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>

}}

== External links == {{commons category}} * {{official website|http://www.wirklichkeitsfabrik.de/index.php/Biographie/Zeittafel.html}} in German) * {{DNB portal|118769901}} * {{IMDb name|nm0937921}} * {{discogs artist}} * [https://www.lyrikline.org/de/gedichte/wetterverhaeltnisse-8251 Ror Wolf / ''wetterverhältnisse''] lyrikline.org 2020 (in German) * [http://www.am-erker.de/int19.php "Das ist eigentlich alles"] (interview, in German, with Joachim Feldmann and Rudolf Gier) in the literary journal ''{{ill|Am Erker|de}}'', Münster, 1988 * Kay Sokolowsky: ''[http://www.taz.de/index.php?id=archiv&dig=2002/06/29/a0085 Ein ziemlich unsichtbarer Mann]'' in ''taz'', 29 June 2002, on the occasion of Wolf's 70th birthday (in German)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, Ror}} Category:1932 births Category:2020 deaths Category:German male writers Category:German poets Category:University of Hamburg alumni Category:Goethe University Frankfurt alumni