Bio
Tanja Dückers was born on 25 September 1968 to art historian parents in West Berlin. She lives with her family in Berlin.
After an extended stay in the United States, she read German studies, Dutch studies, American studies and art history at Berlin’s Free University and at Amsterdam University, graduating with an interdisciplinary dissertation on “The aesthetic of the sublime in modern painting, as seen in the work of Barnett Newman”.
During her studies, she worked for three years as a copywriter for news and weather broadcasts on Deutsche Welle TV in Berlin and as an editorial assistant for various publishers. Her first two books, twin volumes of poetry, were published while she was still studying, her first novel shortly after she graduated. Since her studies, Tanja Dückers has made her living as a freelance writer and journalist. She also teaches on German studies and Creative Writing programmes outside Germany.
Scholarships and teaching jobs have taken her, among other places, to Los Angeles, Meadville/Pennsylvania, Hanover/New Hampshire, Flanders and Brussels, Bristol (UK), Barcelona, Paris, Prague, Krakow, Bucharest, Sibiu, Sylt and Ahrenshoop, Gotland/Sweden, Cyprus and Salzburg.
As a journalist Tanja Dückers writes for various newspapers and magazines, including Die Zeit, Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Welt, National Geographic, Brigitte, taz, Emma, Frankfurter Rundschau, Berliner Zeitung, Berliner Morgenpost, Jungle World … From 2008 on she is writing a monthly essay on challenging political questions for ZEIT Online.
Books include
Novels and short stories:
- Hausers Zimmer (2011)
- Hotel mit Seeblick
- Der Schokoladenbrunnen
- Der längste Tag des Jahres
- Portola Drive
- Himmelskörper
- Café Brazil
- Spielzone
Poetry and essay:
- Morsezeichen
- Fireman
- Luftpost. Gedichte Berlin-Barcelona
- Mehrsprachige Tomaten
- Morgen nach Utopia
- Über das Erinnern
- Fundbüros und Verstecke
Children’s books:
- Jonas und die Nachtgespenster
- Grün, grün, grün sind alle meine Kleider (planned for 2015)
Theater plays:
- Spielzone
- Grüße aus Transnistrien