Gabriele Wohmann


Gabriele Wohmann was a German novelist, and short story writer.

Life

Wohmann was born in Darmstadt, the daughter of Paul Daniel Guyot, a minister, and Luise Guyot. She completed her final year of high school at the Nordseepädagogium, a boarding school on the island Langeoog. She studied at the university in Frankfurt am Main from 1951 to 1953, leaving without a degree, upon her marriage to Reiner Wohmann, a fellow student. The couple accepted teaching positions on Langeoog for one year, before settling in Darmstadt. She worked as a teacher at her former school on Langeoog, and later at a community college, and a business school.
In 1956, Wohmann's story "Ein unwiderstehlicher Mann" was accepted for publication by the prestigious Munich-based literary magazine Akzente; it was the first work she had ever submitted anywhere. In 1957 she quit teaching in order to write full time.
Wohmann died on June 23, 2015, after struggling for a long time with serious illness in the place of her birth, Darmstadt.

Career

Wohmann authored short stories, novels, poems, radio plays, television plays, and essays. She attended meetings of the Group 47. She was a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts since 1975, and the German Academy for Language and Literature in Darmstadt since 1980. She was a member of the PEN Centre of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1960 to 1988.

Works

  • Jetzt und Nie, Luchterhand, Darmstadt/Neuwied, 1958
  • Abschied für länger, Walter, Olten/Freiburg im Breisgau, 1965
  • Ernste Absicht, Luchterhand Verlag, Berlin/Neuwied, 1970
  • Paulinchen war allein zu Haus, Luchterhand, Darmstadt/Neuwied, 1974
  • Schönes Gehege, Luchterhand, Darmstadt/Neuwied, 1975
  • Ausflug mit der Mutter, Luchterhand, Darmstadt/Neuwied, 1976
  • Frühherbst in Badenweiler, Luchterhand, Darmstadt, 1978
  • Ach wie gut daß niemand weiß, Luchterhand, Darmstadt/Neuwied, 1980
  • Das Glücksspiel, Luchterhand, Darmstadt/Neuwied, 1981
  • Der Flötenton, Luchterhand, Darmstadt/Neuwied, 1987
  • Bitte nicht sterben, Piper, München, 1993
  • Aber das war noch nicht das Schlimmste, Piper, München, 1995
  • Das Handicap, Piper, München, 1996
  • Das Hallenbad, Piper, München, 2000
  • Abschied von der Schwester, Pendo, Zürich/München, 2001
  • Schön und gut, Piper, München, 2002
  • Hol mich einfach ab, Piper, München, 2003

    Works in English

  • Selected Translations of Gabriele Wohmann, Steven Walter Eau Claire, University of Iowa, 1984
  • A Sea Resort, Translator Steven W. Eau Claire, The Journal of Literary Translation, Volume XVI, Spring 1986
  • The Piano Lesson, Translator Steven W. Eau Claire, The Amherst Review, Volume XIV, 1986
  • A Party in the Country, Translator Steve Eau Claire, The Antioch Review, Volume 45, Number 3, Summer 1987
  • The cherry tree, Translator Jeanne Willson, Dimension, 1994,