Affiliated with the "Generation of '68" and the "New Subjectivity" literary movements of the late twentieth century, this German novelist and poet was the 1984 recipient of the Lower Saxony State Writers Prize, as well as the 1994 winner of the Berlin Literature Prize.
After earning a degree from Gottingen University and before beginning his literary career, he accepted a teaching position at Karlsruhe University.
His most well known literary works include the novels Kurzurlaub (1976) and Jacobs Sieg (1979); the poetry collections Ruhe Hinter Gardinen (1980) and Der Tisch unter den Wolken (1986); and the essay collection Atem Holen (2006). He became a member of such prominent literary organizations as PEN International-Germany and the German Writers' Union.
The child of an accountant, he spent his early days in Gieboldehausen, Germany, and went on to attend boarding school in Schaumburg, Lower Saxony.
He and fellow German writer Christa Wolf both rose to prominence during the twentieth century.