Volker Braun was born in Dresden in 1939. Between school and university—a period extended by the authorities to punish him for his political outspokeness—he did various labouring jobs and later read philosophy at the University of Leipzig. He worked as a dramatit and director at the Berliner Ensemble (with Bertolt Brecht's widow Helene Weigel) and the Deutsches Theater. He is the author of numerous plays, novels, volumes of poetry and essays and his prizes include the prestigious Georg Büchner Prize (2000).