Wolf Haas is an Austrian

Austrians

Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....

 writer. He is most widely known for his crime fiction

Crime fiction

Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...

 novels featuring detective Simon Brenner, three of which were made into films. He has won several prizes for his works, including the German prize for crime fiction (Deutscher Krimipreis).

Life

Wolf Haas was born in 1960 in Maria Alm

Maria Alm

Maria Alm am Steinernen Meer is a municipality in the district of Zell am See , in the state of Salzburg in Austria, located about east of Saalfelden...

 am Steinernen Meer, which is part of the Austrian province of Salzburg

Salzburg (state)

Salzburg is a state or Land of Austria with an area of 7,156 km2, located adjacent to the German border. It is also known as Salzburgerland, to distinguish it from its capital city, also named Salzburg...

. After university he worked as an advertising copywriter

Copywriting

Copywriting is the use of words and ideas to promote a person, business, opinion or idea. Although the word copy may be applied to any content intended for printing , the term copywriter is generally limited to promotional situations, regardless of the medium...

. Between 1996 and 2003 he wrote seven detective stories, of which six featured detective Simon Brenner. Three were made into films: Komm, süßer Tod

Komm, süßer Tod (film)

Komm, süßer Tod is a 2000 Austrian darkly humorous crime film based on the novel by Wolf Haas of the same name. It is one of the Brenner detective stories, which tell of the luckless life of ex-policeman and unsuccessful private investigator Simon Brenner, who tramps throughout Austria and...

(Come Sweet Death), Silentium! and Der Knochenmann (The Boneman). He has won several prizes for his works, including winning the German prize for crime fiction (Deutscher Krimipreis) three times (1997, 1999, 2000).

Works

Novels

• Brenner detective stories (and where they are set):
  • Auferstehung der Toten (Zell am See), Rowohlt, Reinbek 1996, ISBN 3499228319
  • Der Knochenmann (Klöch in Styria), Rowohlt, Reinbek 1997, ISBN 3499228327
  • Komm, süßer Tod (Vienna), Rowohlt, Reinbek 1998, ISBN 3499228149
  • Silentium! (Salzburg), Rowohlt, Reinbek 1999, ISBN 3499228300
  • Wie die Tiere (Vienna), Rowohlt, Reinbek 2001, ISBN 3499233312
  • Das ewige Leben (Graz), Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 349224095X
  • Der Brenner und der liebe Gott, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-455-40189-9

• Ausgebremst - Der Roman zur Formel 1, Rowohlt, Reinbek 1998, ISBN 3499228688
• The weather fifteen years ago (Das Wetter vor 15 Jahren, 2006), Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 3455400043, translated version by Stephanie Gilardi and Thomas S. Hansen, Ariadne Press, Riverside California 2009, ISBN 9781572411661

Non-Fiction

• Sprachtheoretische Grundlagen der Konkreten Poesie. Akademischer Verlag Heinz, Stuttgart 1990 ISBN 3880992371
• Die Liebe in den Zeiten des Cola-Rauschs, Verlag Tauschzentrale, Wien 1993, ISBN 3901352015

Children's Books

• Die Gans im Gegenteil. Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2010 ISBN 3455402860

Further reading

• Helga Schreckenberger, "Wolf Haas's Brenner Novels - Austrian Adaptations and Transformations of the American Detective Story", in Internet-Zeitschrift für Kulturwissenschaften, Number 17, Februar 2010.

External links

• Interview with Wolf Haas in the newspaper Welt am Sonntag from Januar 2, 2011