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Walter Kappacher

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Walter Kappacher
Kappacher in 2009
Kappacher in 2009
Born(1938-10-24)24 October 1938
Salzburg, Gau Salzburg, Germany
Died24 May 2024(2024-05-24) (aged 85)
Salzburg, Austria
OccupationWriter
LanguageGerman
NationalityAustrian
Years active1964–2024
Notable worksMorgen, Rosina, Silberpfeile, Selina oder das andere Leben, Die irdische Liebe, Wer zuerst lacht
Notable awardsGeorg Büchner Prize (2009)
Hermann-Lenz-Preis (2004)
Großer Kunstpreis des Landes Salzburg (2006)
Honorary Doctorate from the University of Salzburg (2008)
Website
www.walter-kappacher.at

Walter Kappacher (24 October 1938 – 24 May 2024) was an Austrian writer. In 2009 he was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize.[1]

Biography

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Raised in Salzburg, after finishing his schooling at elementary school and then Hauptschule, Kappacher completed an apprenticeship and became a journeyman motorcycle mechanic. For a number of years, he was quite enthusiastic about motorcycle racing. After doing his compulsory year of military service, he developed a keen interest for the theatre, going as far as to begin training at a Munich drama school, although he later gave this up. By and by, reading and writing were becoming Kappacher's foremost interests, although he chose to be a travel agency salesman as his main job.

Kappacher began writing in 1964. His first publications were a few short stories that appeared in the Stuttgarter Zeitung in 1967. His first longer published works, like Nur Fliegen ist schöner and Die Werkstatt, followed in the 1970s. In 1978, after his fortieth birthday, he decided – with a screenplay project in his hand – to quit his day job and become a full-time writer. He composed a whole series of stories and novels, together with radio dramas and teleplays, too.

Erwin Chargaff showed his appreciation of Walter Kappacher's style by saying "He writes a kind of Hochquellprosa.[2] An endless amount of work goes into a style that at first goes unnoticed."[3]

Another of Kappacher's admirers was Peter Handke, who was successful in his efforts to get Kappacher awarded the Hermann-Lenz-Preis. Within the contemporary Austrian literary scene, which is characterized mainly by groupings of authors, Kappacher stood out as one who held a lone position in this world. Kappacher was long said to be a "sleeper" in contemporary German-language literature, and he only became better known to the broader public once he was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 2009.[4]

Kappacher long lived together with his mother, who had been widowed early, in their flat in Salzburg and was her caregiver for years until her death. in the mid-1990s, he and his wife, a teacher, moved to Obertrum. He was a member of the PEN Club Austria [de] (which belongs to PEN International) and the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung in Darmstadt, as well as being the recipient of major prizes and an honorary doctorate.[5] Beginning in 2014, he once again lived in Salzburg. Kappacher's last published work, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, was a volume of prose entitled Ich erinnere mich ("I Remember"). Kappacher died in Salzburg on 24 May 2024, at the age of 85.[6][7][8]

Works

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  • Nur fliegen ist schöner. Salzburg 1973.
  • Morgen. Salzburg 1975.
  • Die Werkstatt. Salzburg 1975.
  • Rosina. Stuttgart 1978, with an afterword by Armin Ayren, Deuticke, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-552-06147-7.
  • Die irdische Liebe. Stuttgart 1979.
  • with Peter Keglevic: Die Jahre vergehen. screenplay, Salzburg 1980.
  • Der lange Brief. Stuttgart 1982.
  • Gipskopf. Graz 1984.
  • Cerreto. Aufzeichnungen aus der Toscana. with author's drawings, Salzburg 1989.
  • Touristomania oder Die Fiktion vom aufrechten Gang. Vienna 1990.
  • Ein Amateur. Vienna 1993.
  • Wer zuerst lacht. Vienna 1997.
  • Silberpfeile. Vienna 2000.
  • Selina oder Das andere Leben. Vienna 2005.
  • Hellseher sind oft Schwarzseher. Erinnerungen an Erwin Chargaff. Verlag Ulrich Keicher, Warmbronn 2007, ISBN 978-3-938743-52-2.
  • Der Fliegenpalast. Residenz Verlag, St. Pölten Salzburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7017-1510-7. English translation Palace of Flies. New Vessel Press, New York, 2022, translated by Georg Bauer, ISBN 978-1-954404-02-1.
  • Schönheit des Vergehens. photograph book, Salzburg 2009.
  • Marilyn Monroe liest Ulysses. Notizen, Fundstücke und dreizehn Fotografien. Afterword by Matthias Bormuth. Verlag Ulrich Keicher, Warmbronn 2010, ISBN 978-3-938743-86-7.
  • Land der roten Steine. Hanser Verlag, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-446-23861-9. (March 2012: ORF-Bestenliste [de])
  • Die Amseln von Parsch and other prose. Müry Salzmann, Salzburg/Vienna 2013, ISBN 978-3-99014-073-4.
  • Der vierundzwanzigste Mai. Verlag Ulrich Keicher, Warmbronn 2013.
  • Trakls letzte Tage & Mahlers Heimkehr. Müry Salzmann, Salzburg/Vienna 2014, ISBN 978-3-99014-104-5.
  • Ich erinnere mich und andere Prosa. Müry Salzmann, Salzburg/Vienna 2018, ISBN 978-3-99014-167-0.

Awards and honours

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Further reading

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  • Christina Höfferer: Ein Seltener. Walter Kappacher. ORF-Radiofeature 2009, 40 Min.[14]
  • Manfred Mittermayer und Ulrike Tanzer (publishers): Walter Kappacher. Person und Werk. Müry Salzmann, Salzburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-99014-080-2.

References

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  1. ^ "Urkundentext für Walter Kappacher" (PDF). Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2012.(in German)
  2. ^ The expression Hochquellprosa – literally "high-spring prose" – means something like "prose from the finest". It is a play on the German name for the First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline ("I. Wiener Hochquellenleitung"), which is considered something of a "gold standard" in Austria for drinking water.
  3. ^ "Internationaler Preis für Kunst und Kultur — Dr. h.c. Walter Kappacher" (PDF). kulturfonds.at. Kulturfonds der Stadt Salzburg. 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2024. Er schreibt eine Art Hochquellprosa. Unendlich viel Arbeit geht in einen Stil, den man zuerst nicht wahrnimmt.(in German)
  4. ^ Mohr, Peter (November 2018). "Liebenswerter Außenseiter — Zum 80. Geburtstag des Georg-Büchner-Preisträgers Walter Kappacher". literaturkritik.de. Retrieved 20 July 2023.(in German)
  5. ^ Kospach, Julia (24 January 2019). "Die Schönheit des Vergehens". fr.de. Frankfurter Rundschau. Retrieved 20 July 2023.(in German)
  6. ^ Kappacher, Walter (2024). "Walter Kappacher — Biographie". walter-kappacher.at. Walter Kappacher. Retrieved 20 July 2023.(in German)
  7. ^ Flieher, Bernhard (24 May 2024). "Zum Tod von Walter Kappacher ein Porträt vom Tag, als er den Büchner-Preis bekam: Ein Wanderer in der Stille". sn.at. Salzburger Nachrichten. Retrieved 24 May 2024.(in German)
  8. ^ APA. "Schriftsteller Walter Kappacher 85-jährig gestorben". apa.at (in German). Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Promotional award" is used here to translate the German "Förderpreis".
  10. ^ Georg-Büchner-Preis bei deutscheakademie.de
  11. ^ Walter Kappacher erhält Georg-Büchner-Preis. In: NZZ. 26 May 2009.
  12. ^ Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste – Literatur: Korrespondierende Mitglieder at the Wayback Machine (archived 11 October 2015)
  13. ^ Ring der Stadt Salzburg für Büchner-Preisträger Walter Kappacher. 27 October 2018, retrieved 28 October 2018.
  14. ^ "Ein Seltener". oe1.orf.at. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
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