Copyright© Lillian Birnbaum

 

Born Dec 19, 1952, in Santa Monica, California as the son of Robert Jungk & Ruth Suschitzky.

Lived in Vienna, Austria, from 1957 until 1968 and then in West-Berlin until 1970...

Graduated from High School in Salzburg, Austria in 1972 and started writing fiction...

In 1974 moved to Los Angeles and studied at UCLA and the American Film Institute (screenwriting);

The first book of prose, "Stechpalmenwald", a collection of short stories about Hollywood, was published in 1978...

1977: assisted Peter Handke during the making of his movie "The Lefthanded Woman", in Paris, France...

1980: in Jerusalem, studies at a Torah School. Wrote the novel "Rundgang"...

1981: moved back to Vienna...

1983 - 1987 wrote the biography of the writer Franz Werfel, published by S.Fischer in 1987, by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, in 1990, by Grove Press, New York, in 1990

1988 scripted and directed a television documentary about Werfel, ORF/ZDF-coproduction/moved to Paris, France, where I have been living since

1989  writing of the novel "Tigor", published 1991 by S.Fi­scher (translated by Michael Hofmann, published by Faber and Faber, London, in 2002, “The Snowflake Constant”, finalist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. American edition October 2004, published by Handsel Books, New York)

1989 scripted and directed a television documentary about the writer Leo Perutz, ORF/ ZDF coproduc­tion

1990 scripted the documentary film „The Pied Piper of Hamelin“ with Hanna Schygulla

1991 adapted Robert Musil’s novella „Grigia" for the screen (Arthur Cohn producer)

1992 adaptation of the novel „The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman”, by Andrzej Szczypiorski for the producer Arthur Cohn

1992 scripted and directed the television documentary „Dark Light", ORF/ZDF, about  the blin­d photographer und writer Eugen Bavcar

1993 -1996 worked on the novel “Die Unruhe der Stella Feder­spiel”, published by List Verlag, Munich, in 1996

1994 birth of our daughter Adah Dylan

1996/97 worked on a screen adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s "Bel Ami", with the theatre and film director Luc Bondy

1998/99 wrote the novel "Die Erbschaft", published in 1999, by List Verlag

2000/2001  wrote the novel “Der König von Amerika”, about Walt Disney, published by Klett Cotta Verlag, in 2001 (American edition Spring 2004, published by Handsel Books, New York, translated by Michael Hofmann)

2003 started writing „Die Brücke über den Hudson“ (“Crossing the Hudson”),

2003 Writer-in-Residence at Oberlin College, Ohio

2004 translation and script doctor on the screenplay “The Last Train”, for Artur Brauner, director: Armin Mueller-Stahl; adaption of the novel “Oblomov” by Ivan Gontsharov for the Zurich Schauspielhaus; “Die Reise über den Hudson” published in September 2005

2005 "Oblomov" by Ivan Gontscharov performed in Zurich, April through July

2005/06 Documentary film with Lillian Birnbaum on Sir André Previn for German & Austrian television 'ANDRÉ PREVIN - A BRIDGE BETWEEN TWO WORLDS'; DVD can be found on Amazon.

2006 began research and work on “Edith Tudor-Hart”  

2007/09 work on the novel ‘The Electric Heart’, published by Zsolnay Verlag, Vienna, in February 2011

2010 Co-writing with Wolfgang Petritsch of a biography on Bruno Kreisky, published in October 2010

2011 Visiting professor at Washington University, St.Louis, teaching Contemporary German Literature

 

Married to Lillian Birnbaum