Rainald Goetz


Rainald Maria Goetz is a German author, playwright and essayist.

Biography

After studying History and Medicine in Munich and earning a degree in each, he soon concentrated on his writing.
With his first works, especially his novel "Irre", published in 1983, he became a cult author for the intellectual left. To the delight of his fans and the dismay of some critics he mixed neo-expressionist writing with social realism in the vein of Alfred Döblin and the fast pace of British pop writers like Julie Burchill. During a televised literary tournament in 1983, Goetz slit his own forehead with a razor blade and let the blood run down his face until he finished reading.
Goetz made his name as an enthusiastic observer of media and pop culture. He embraced avant-garde philosophers like Foucault and Luhmann as well as the DJs of the techno movement, especially Sven Väth.
He kept a written a daily diary, or blog, on the web in 1998–99 called Abfall für alle, which eventually was published as a book.
Goetz won numerous literary awards.

Awards and honors