Durs Grünbein (Dresden, 1962) lives in Berlin and Rome. He has won several prizes for the many collections he has published since his debut at age 26, most notably the Friedrich Nietzsche Prize in 2004. Grünbein is one of the most prominent German poets today; after the fall of the Wall, he was one of the first to write from the perspective of reunification. His work is political on a personal level, without labeling him as a political poet; his work reaches too far for that. The poems are modern, cosmopolitan and layered, while also containing references to literature, mythology and history that ensure their significance will transcend our current time. Grünbein has also written several essays and an opera libretto. His poetry has been translated into several languages.

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