Contemporary German Authors in English Translation

The success of The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch and other books by German writers, including the Inkworld trilogy for young readers by Cornelia Funke, has highlighted the talents of contemporary writers from Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland.

The cover of the English edition (THE HANGMAN’S DAUGHTER) of DIE HENKERS TOCHTER by Oliver Pötzsch.

Many of these works have been translated into English. German-language authors cover a wide range of literature, from science-fiction (The Swarm by Frank Schätzing) to historical novels (The Reader by Bernhard Schlink) and historical mystery thrillers (The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch).

A number of recent books in German have been turned into popular films by Hollywood and European studios. The Reader (Der Vorleser) became an award-winning 2008 film drama starring Kate Winslet, David Kross and Ralph Fiennes. Schätzing’s The Swarm was supposed to be a Hollywood film. After that fell through, the German TV broadcaster ZDF wanted to make a mini-series of the eco-thriller in 2018, but so far… nothing. (But you can read the book!) Young readers enjoyed watching the 2006 film version of Funke’s The Thief Lord, set in Venice.

Below you will find brief bios of several contemporary German writers, plus links to their books. Please pay attention to the language (German or English) and the Amazon country you are ordering from (Germany or the USA). Some of the titles in German are also available from Amazon.com in the US.

Jurek Becker (1937-1997)

Jacob der Lügner (1996)
Jacob the Liar (1996/2002) > Buy it from Amazon.com (paperback, Kindle, hardcover)
FILM: Jakob the Liar (1999) > Get the DVD or watch on Prime from Amazon.com

Cornelia Funke

Cornelia Funke is the author of many popular books for children and teens. She was born in Dorsten, North Rhine-Westphalia in 1958. She lived with her husband and children in Hamburg for 24 years before moving to Los Angeles in 2005. Often referred to as “the J.K. Rowling of Germany,” Funke’s Tintenwelt/Inkworld trilogy and other works have become very popular in German and English. She has sold over 10 million books worldwide. In the early 1980s, Funke began writing fantasy books for children, drawing on her experience as a social worker dealing with disadvantaged children. The first of her books to be translated into English was Herr der Diebe, first published by Scholastic in the US as Thief Lord in 2002 – with a new edition in 2010. The German author often travels to book fairs and other publishing events around the world.
Cornelia Funke online > corneliafunke.com

ENGLISH
The Thief Lord (2002, Scholastic) Buy it from Amazon.com

GERMAN
Herr der Diebe (2000, Dressler) > Buy it in German from Amazon.de (Germany) – paperback, Kindle, hardcover, audio

FILM: The Thief Lord (2006) > Get the DVD from Amazon.com – Set in Venice, Italy. Actors: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jasper Harris, Carole Boyd, Bob Goody, Jim Carter

ENGLISH – C. Funke’s INKWORLD series (3 books)
Inkheart (2004, Scholastic) > Buy it from Amazon.com (paperback, Kindle, hardcover)
Inkspell (2005, Scholastic) > Buy it from Amazon.com (paperback, Kindle, hardcover, audio)
Inkdeath (2006, Scholastic) > Buy it from Amazon.com (paperback, Kindle, hardcover, audio)

DEUTSCH (3 Bücher)
Tintenherz (2010, Oetinger) > Buy it in German from Amazon.de (paperback, Kindle, hardcover)
Tintenblut (2011, Oetinger) > Buy it in German from Amazon.de (paperback, Kindle, hardcover)
Tintentod (2012, Oetinger) > Buy it in German from Amazon.de (paperback, Kindle, hardcover)

FILM: Inkheart (2009) > Get the Blu-ray, DVD, or Prime Video version from Amazon.com – Actors: Brendan Fraser, Andy Serkis, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren

Oliver Pötzsch

Born in Munich in 1970, Pötzsch had a career as a radio and television journalist before turning to writing. In 2008, Ullstein published his first historical novel entitled Die Henkerstochter, based in part on real people from his own ancestral background. After an e-book English translation became a bestseller, The Hangman’s Daughter was first published in the US as an ebook by AmazonCrossing in 2010, and in 2011 as a print book by Mariner Books, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Pötzsch has now completed seven titles in the Hangman’s Daughter series. Most are available in English. The author published another historical novel in 2011. Based on the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the Bavarian King Ludwig II, Die Ludwig-Verschwörung (“The Ludwig Conspiracy”) revolves around the discovery of a fictional diary that reveals some of the mysteries surrounding Ludwig’s drowning 125 years ago.

Books by Oliver Pötzsch > Web (oliver-poetzsch.de in English and German)

ENGLISH (all titles from Amazon.com)
There are seven books in the “Hangman’s Daughter” series. These are the first four titles:
The Hangman’s Daughter (2011, Mariner) > Buy it in English from Amazon.com – paperback, Kindle, hardcover, audio
…and the Dark Monk (2011, Mariner) > Buy it in English from Amazon.com – paperback, Kindle, hardcover, audio
…and the Beggar King (2011, Mariner) > Buy it in English from Amazon.com – paperback, Kindle, hardcover, audio
…and the Poisoned Pilgrim (2011, Mariner) > Buy it in English from Amazon.com – paperback, Kindle, hardcover, audio

GERMAN (all titles from Amazon.de; also available from Amazon.com in the US)
Die Henkerstochter (2008, Ullstein) > Buy it in German from Amazon.de (Germany) – paperback, Kindle, audio editions
Die Henkerstochter und der schwarze Mönch (2009, Ullstein) > Buy it in German from Amazon.de (Germany) – paperback, Kindle, audio editions
Die Henkerstochter und der König der Bettler (2010, Ullstein) > Buy it in German from Amazon.de (Germany) – paperback, Kindle, audio editions
Der Hexer und die Henkerstochter (2012, Ullstein) > Buy it in German from Amazon.de (Germany) – paperback, Kindle, audio editions

Frank Schätzing

The author was born in Cologne, Germany in 1957. Schätzing studied communications and worked in advertising before beginning his literary career. Although he has written many books, mostly crime stories and science-fiction, he is best known for Der Schwarm, a science-fiction novel, first published in Germany in 2004. The English version, The Swarm, was published in 2007. There are rumors of a planned film version of The Swarm. His latest book is another sci-fi novel, the 1328-page (!) Limit (2009). Several of Schätzing’s stories have already been made into German TV movies. He and his wife live in Cologne.

Frank Schätzing > frank-schaetzing.com

ENGLISH (from Amazon.com, USA)
The Swarm (2007, William Morrison) > Buy it in English from Amazon.com (paperback, Kindle, hardcover)
AMAZON: “Whales begin sinking ships. Toxic, eyeless crabs poison Long Island’s water supply. The North Sea shelf collapses, killing thousands in Europe. Around the world, countries are beginning to feel the effects of the ocean’s revenge as the seas and their inhabitants begin a violent revolution against mankind. At stake is the survival of the Earth’s fragile ecology—and ultimately, the survival of the human race itself.”

GERMAN (from Amazon.de, Germany)
Der Schwarm (2005, Kiepenheuer & Witsch) > Buy it in German from Amazon.de (paperback, Kindle, hardcover, audio)
Limit (2009, Kiepenheuer & Witsch) > Buy it – Amazon.de (paperback, Kindle, hardcover, audio)

Die Tyrannei des Schmetterlings (2019, Fischer Taschenbücher) > Buy it in German from Amazon.com (USA) – paperback, Kindle, hardcover, audio
AMAZON: “Der neue Roman von Bestsellerautor Frank Schätzing Die Tyrannei des Schmetterlings führt den Leser bis an die Grenzen des Vorstellbaren. Kalifornien, Sierra Nevada. Luther Opoku, Sheriff der verschlafenen Goldgräberregion Sierra in Kaliforniens Bergwelt, hat mit Kleindelikten, illegalem Drogenanbau und steter Personalknappheit zu kämpfen. Doch der Einsatz an diesem Morgen ändert alles. Eine Frau ist unter rätselhaften Umständen in eine Schlucht gestürzt. Unfall? Mord? Die Ermittlungen führen Luther zu einer Forschungsanlage, einsam gelegen im Hochgebirge und betrieben von der mächtigen Nordvisk Inc., einem Hightech-Konzern des zweihundert Meilen entfernten Silicon Valley. Zusammen mit Deputy Sheriff Ruth Underwood gerät Luther bei den Ermittlungen in den Sog aberwitziger Ereignisse und beginnt schon bald an seinem Verstand zu zweifeln. Die Zeit selbst gerät aus den Fugen. Das Geheimnis im Berg führt ihn an die Grenzen des Vorstellbaren – und darüber hinaus.”

Breaking News (2015, Fischer) > Buy it in German from Amazon.com (USA) – paperback, Kindle, hardcover, audio
AMAZON: “Der neue Bestsellerfolg von FRANK SCHÄTZING im Taschenbuch Wo immer die Welt brennt – Starreporter Tom Hagen ist an vorderster Front mit dabei, zu jedem Risiko bereit. Bis er in Afghanistan den Bogen überspannt. In einer einzigen mörderischen Nacht verliert er alles, Renommee, Geld, Zukunft. Drei Jahre später bietet sich in Israel die Gelegenheit zum Comeback. Doch was ein journalistischer Coup zu werden verspricht, entwickelt sich unversehens zu einer Hetzjagd durch die explosivste Region der Welt. Auf der Flucht vor Geheimagenten und Killern kämpft Hagen ums nackte Überleben – gegen eine Verschwörung, deren Anfänge ins koloniale Palästina zurück-reichen, in eine von Mythen durchzogene Epoche, als die Saat für den Nahostkonflikt gelegt wurde…. >Breaking News< ist Thriller, Politdrama und Familiensaga – hart, rasant und berührend.”

Nachrichten aus einem unbekannten Universum: Eine Zeitreise durch die Meere (2010, Fischer) > Buy it in German from Amazon.com (USA) – paperback, Kindle, hardcover, audio

Bernhard Schlink

The author was born near Bielefeld, Germany in 1944 and grew up in Heidelberg. Schlink, a judge and a professor of law (now retired), began his writing career with detective stories (translated into English as the Self series), but it was his 1995 novel, Der Vorleser, that propelled him to fame. The Reader, translated into 39 languages, became an international bestseller in 1997 and a hit Hollywood film in 2008. Schlink’s short story, Der Andere (published in the Liebesfluchten collection in 2000) was filmed as The Other Man in 2008, starring Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney.

Bernhard Schlink > Web (Wikipedia, English)

Der Vorleser (2010, Diogenes) > Buy it – in German from Amazon.de (Kindle, paperback, hardcover)
The Reader (1999, Vintage) > Buy it from Amazon.com (paperback, Kindle, hardcover, audio)

FILM: The Reader (2008) > Get the Blu-ray, DVD or Prime – Amazon.com

Other German Writers

Although works by the classic writers in German literature (Kafka, Rilke, Mann, etc.) are usually accessible in English, there are many contemporary German, Austrian and German-Swiss authors whose works are seldom if ever translated into English. But a few notable titles in the last decade that have been translated into English are Jurek Becker’s Jacob the Liar (which was also a film starring Robin Williams) and a 2008 autobiographical novel (Spaltkopf) by the Russian-born Austrian writer Julya Rabinowich, published in English as Splithead by Portobello Books, London (2011). – See the web links below for help in finding English translations of books in German.

Next | Notable People

Related Pages
ON THIS SITE

• Notable Germans, Austrians, Swiss | Brief biographical sketches
• Featured Biographies of notable Austrians, Germans and Swiss
• Germans in Hollywood – More bios
• Notable Women from Austria, Germany, Switzerland

ON THE WEB

• Ariadne Press is a US publishing house that specializes in publishing Austrian literature in English translation.
• New Books in German from www.new-books-in-german.com – books from Austria, Germany and Switzerland
• DW Culture: Books in German and English – A new series from Deutsche Welle
• Reading Shakespeare in German by Hyde Flippo at ThoughtCo.com

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