Monika Maron

German-born Monika Maron is a novelist, essayist, short story writer, and playwright. In 1951 she moved with her family from West to East Berlin, where, years later, she studied theater and art history. She then worked as a director’s assistant and as a journalist. Unable to publish her early works in East Berlin, Maron moved to Hamburg on a temporary visa, returning in 1992 to a unified city. She was awarded the Kleist Prize in 1992 and the Friedrich Hölderlin Prize in 2003.