Arnon Grunberg

Grunberg was born Arnon Yasha Yves Grünberg on 22 February 1971 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He grew up in a family of Jewish immigrants, originally from Germany.G.J. van Bork, "[http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/bork001schr01_01/bork001schr01_01_0405.php Grunberg, Arnon]" (in Dutch), [http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/bork001schr01_01/ Schrijvers en dichters]. Retrieved 25 March 2012.Arnon Grunberg, "[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/opinion/the-dutch-should-ditch-the-king-and-hire-an-actor.html Ditch the King. Hire an Actor.]", The New York Times, 2013. His mother was a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp."[http://www.ikonrtv.nl/uitzending.aspx?lIntType=2&lIntEntityId=124 Paul Rosenmöller en Arnon Grunberg] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210013334/http://www.ikonrtv.nl/uitzending.aspx?lIntType=2&lIntEntityId=124 |date=10 February 2008 }}" (in Dutch), IKON. Retrieved 25 March 2012.Roderick Nieuwenhuis, "[http://www.nrc.nl/boeken/2015/02/10/moeder-arnon-grunberg-overleden/ Moeder Arnon Grunberg overleden]" (in Dutch), NRC Handelsblad, 2015. Grunberg attended the Vossius Gymnasium in Amsterdam, but was expelled from the school in 1988."[http://www.grunberg.nl/auteur/grunberg/info/bio/main.html Biografie] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122123520/http://www.grunberg.nl/auteur/grunberg/info/bio/main.html |date=22 January 2010 }}" (in Dutch), [http://www.grunberg.nl Grunberg.nl] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831013417/http://www.grunberg.nl/ |date=31 August 2018 }}. Retrieved 25 March 2012. Before publishing his first novel, he held various odd jobs, and tried his hand at acting in a short film by Dutch avant-garde film maker Cyrus Frisch. From 1990 to 1993, Grunberg ran his own publishing house, Kasimir, which was financially unsuccessful.[http://www.arnongrunberg.com/work/318 Marek Hłasko – Ik zal jullie over Esther vertellen] (in Dutch), Website Arnon Grunberg. Retrieved 15 June 2016."[http://www.volkskrant.nl/recensies/grunberg-wil-uitgeverij-oprichten~a686172/ Grunberg wil uitgeverij oprichten]" (in Dutch), de Volkskrant, 2005. Retrieved 15 June 2016.

Grunberg made his literary debut in 1994 with the novel Blue Mondays (Blauwe maandagen), which won the Anton Wachter Prize for best debut novel.[http://www.kb.nl/webexposities/nederlandse-literatuur/blauwe-maandagen Blauwe maandagen] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419020741/http://www.kb.nl/webexposities/nederlandse-literatuur/blauwe-maandagen |date=19 April 2014 }} (in Dutch). Critics hailed it as a "grotesque comedy, a rarity in Dutch literature.""[http://www.nrc.nl/handelsblad/van/2014/november/08/informatief-opium-tv-arnon-grunberg-1433769 Opium TV: Arnon Grunberg]" (in Dutch), NRC Handelsblad, 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014. In 2000, he was the first to win this debut prize again, but this time under his heteronym Marek van der Jagt, for the novel The Story of My Baldness (De geschiedenis van mijn kaalheid).Karin de Mik, "[http://retro.nrc.nl/W2/Nieuws/2000/10/23/Vp/06.html 'Van der Jagt is pseudoniem van Grunberg']" (in Dutch), NRC Handelsblad, 2000. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

The much-acclaimed novel Tirza, about a father's obsessive love for his graduating daughter, was Grunberg's first novel to be made into a movie, Tirza, in 2010,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/books/review/tirza-by-arnon-grunberg.html|title=The Graduate|first=Scott|last=Hutchins|newspaper=The New York Times|date=10 May 2013}} after winning the Dutch Libris Prize and the Belgian Golden Owl in 2007.[http://www.nlpvf.nl/ Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature] This book has been translated into fourteen languages and has received critical acclaim in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Le Figaro, among others. A 2010 national poll of literary critics, academics and writers held by the magazine De Groene Amsterdammer elected Tirza as the "most important novel of the 21st century," over Jonathan Littell's The Kindly Ones and Ian McEwan's Saturday. In 2009, Grunberg won the Constantijn Huygens Prize for his entire body of work"[http://nrcboeken.vorige.nrc.nl/nieuws/constantijn-huygens-prijs-2009-voor-arnon-grunberg Huygens-prijs 2009 voor Arnon Grunberg]" (in Dutch), NRC Handelsblad, 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2014. and in 2011 he received the Frans Kellendonk-prijs.[https://kellendonkfonds.nl/kellendonklezing/ Lezing & Prijs], Frans Kellendonk Fonds. Retrieved 15 June 2016.

In September 2008, Grunberg published his seventh novel, Onze Oom (Our Uncle). The story is about a girl who is like a dead person among the living and a major who tries to overcome his shame by leading an insurgent army. Grunberg incorporated his experiences in the army in Afghanistan into this book. Since then, Grunberg has published various novels, including Skin and Hair in 2010 (Huid en Haar), The Man without Illness (De Man Zonder Ziekte) in 2012 and Birthmarks (Moedervlekken) in 2016, which were translated into French and German, among other languages. These books also received considerable acclaim. Le Monde called The Man without Illness 'a wonderful gateway to the work of Arnon Grunberg, [who is] one of the most fascinating writers of his generation'. His work is also available in Portugal, Hungary, Israel, Turkey and Brazil.

In addition to his many novels, he has written newspaper and magazine columns, essays, poetry, scenarios and plays. Through his essays, opinion articles and lectures, Arnon Grunberg has made a major contribution to the public debate in international media about issues such as migration policy, discrimination, racism and human trafficking. His essays have appeared in The New York Times,{{Cite news |last=Grunberg |first=Arnon |date=2013-12-04 |title=Opinion {{!}} Why the Dutch Love Black Pete |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/opinion/why-the-dutch-love-black-pete.html |access-date=2022-08-13 |issn=0362-4331}} Le Monde, Liberération, The Times, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Courrier International, Revista Contexto and Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Grunberg is also known for his literary journalism and periods of complete immersion into diverse aspects of society."[http://www.literairnederland.nl/kamermeisjes-en-soldaten-arnon-grunberg/ Kamermeisjes en soldaten – Arnon Grunberg]" (in Dutch), Literair Nederland. Retrieved 15 Juni 2016. He has been embedded with Dutch troops in Afghanistan and Iraq,"[http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4492/Nederland/article/detail/1234344/2008/02/03/Grunberg-embedded-naar-Irak.dhtml Grunberg 'embedded' naar Irak]" (in Dutch), Trouw, 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2016. and visited Guantánamo Bay. He has spent time with and written about masseurs at a Romanian resort, patients in a Belgian psychiatric ward, dining-car waiters on a Swiss train, and an ordinary Dutch family on vacation. In 2009 his reports were published in a book called Chambermaids and Soldiers (Kamermeisjes en Soldaten), followed by Slaughters and Psychiatrists (Slachters en Psychiaters) in 2021. The latter contains his reports from 2009 until 2020. Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant praised the book: “Grunberg can not only sketch an unknown world with a few sharp strokes of the pen, but also bring it to vivid life."{{Cite web |last=Hovius |first=Ranne |date=2021-02-19 |title=Met een paar rake pennestreken maakt Grunberg een onbekende wereld invoelbaar ★★★★☆ |url=https://www.volkskrant.nl/gs-bb3c74fc |access-date=2022-08-13 |website=de Volkskrant |language=nl-NL}}

Grunberg states he writes because he wants to know ‘how people do something like living their life’: "Everything is field research: friendship, sex, love, and work. It is only by writing about it that you can escape from it."

In 2008 Grunberg became a writer-in-residence and guest lecturer at the Leiden University and Wageningen University and Research Centre. In October 2014, he became an honorary fellow at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Amsterdam. His lectures focused on issues related to privacy and surveillance, and together with his students, he developed a video game.Dirk Wolthekker, "[http://www.foliaweb.nl/cultuur/arnon-grunberg-honorary-fellow-aan-de-uva/ Arnon Grunberg honorary fellow aan de UvA]" (in Dutch), Folia, 2014. The lecture series coincided with an exhibit on the author's life and work, the materials for which were sourced from his literary archives, which were on loan to the university library's Special Collections department, making them a unique, "living" archive.{{cite web|url=http://www.folia.nl/nieuws/archief-arnon-grunberg-naar-bijzondere-collecties-1766.html |title=Folia.nl | Nieuws / Archief Arnon Grunberg naar Bijzondere Collecties |accessdate=27 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319093645/http://www.folia.nl/nieuws/archief-arnon-grunberg-naar-bijzondere-collecties-1766.html |archivedate=19 March 2011 }}

File:ArnonGrunberg-jan2015-1.JPG

In an attempt to understand the creative process, Grunberg wrote his latest novel Het Bestand (which, in Dutch, can refer to both a computer file and a truce) while scientists were measuring his brain activity, emotions, and subjective feelings. Using screen capture and physiological measurements such as EEG, GSR and ECG, and subjective questionnaires for the author, scientists correlated the writing of emotionally charged passages with physiological activity. The second stage of the experiment took place in October and November 2015 in the GrunbergLab at the University of Amsterdam, where volunteers' brain activity was measured while they were reading the novel in a controlled environment.[http://www.noldus.com/grunberg What is creativity?], Noldus.{{cite web|url=http://www.hetbestand.nl/web/Ik-heb-geen-code.htm |title=Het bijzondere experiment van Arnon Grunberg! - Het bestand |accessdate=27 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150311194658/http://www.hetbestand.nl/web/Ik-heb-geen-code.htm |archivedate=11 March 2015 }}Jennifer Schuessler, "[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/30/books/arnon-grunberg-is-writing-while-connected-to-electrodes.html?pagewanted=all Wired: Putting a Writer and Readers to a Test]", The New York Times, 2013.

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• 1994 Anton Wachter Prize for Blauwe maandagen
• 1996 Gouden Ezelsoor for Blauwe maandagen{{in lang|nl}} G.J. van Bork, "[http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/bork001schr01_01/bork001schr01_01_0405.php Grunberg, Arnon]", Schrijvers en dichters, 2005. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
• 2000 Anton Wachter Prize for De geschiedenis van mijn kaalheid as Marek van der Jagt
• 2000 AKO Literature Prize for Fantoompijn
• 2002 Golden Owl Literature Prize for De mensheid zij geprezen
• 2004 AKO Literature Prize for The Asylum Seeker (De Asielzoeker)
• 2004 Ferdinand Bordewijk Prize for The Asylum Seeker (De Asielzoeker)
• 2007 Golden Owl Literature Prize for Tirza
• 2007 Libris Prize for Tirza
• 2009 Constantijn Huygens Prize for his entire oeuvre
• 2017 Gouden Ganzenveer{{Cite web |date=2017-01-09 |title=Arnon Grunberg wint Gouden Ganzenveer: 'Ongekend productief en steeds unieker' |url=https://www.volkskrant.nl/cultuur-media/arnon-grunberg-wint-gouden-ganzenveer-ongekend-productief-en-steeds-unieker~b1d28638/ |access-date=2023-02-05 |website=volkskrant.nl / De Volkskrant}}
• 2021 P.C. Hooft Award for "his enormous contribution to Dutch Literature"{{Cite web |date=2021-12-13 |title=Schrijver Arnon Grunberg wint P.C. Hooftprijs |url=https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/nederland/artikel/5273754/schrijver-arnon-grunberg-wint-pc-hooft-prijs |access-date=2023-02-05 |website=rtlnieuws.nl / RTL Nieuws}}
• 2022 {{Ill|Johannes Vermeer Award|nl|Johannes Vermeerprijs}}{{Cite web |date=2022-09-27 |title=Arnon Grunberg wint Johannes Vermeer Prijs 2022 |url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2446180-arnon-grunberg-wint-johannes-vermeer-prijs-2022 |access-date=2023-02-05 |website=nos.nl / Nederlandse Omroep Stichting}}

;Novels

• (1994) Blauwe maandagen; English translation: Blue Mondays (1997)
• (1997) Figuranten; English translation: Silent Extras (2001)
• (1998) De heilige Antonio (The Saint of the Impossible)
• (2000) Fantoompijn; English translation: Phantom Pain (2004)
• (2000) De geschiedenis van mijn kaalheid as Marek van der Jagt; English translation: The Story of My Baldness (2004)
• (2001) De Mensheid zij geprezen, Lof der Zotheid 2001 (Praised be Mankind, Praise of Folly 2001)
• (2002) Gstaad 95–98 as Marek van der Jagt
• (2003) De asielzoeker (The Asylum Seeker)
• (2004) De joodse messias; English translation: The Jewish Messiah (2008)
• (2006) Tirza; English translation: Tirza (2013)
• (2008) Onze oom (Our Uncle)
• (2010) Huid en Haar (Tooth and Nail)
• (2012) De man zonder ziekte (The Man Without Illness)
• (2015) Het bestand (The Cache)
• (2016) Moedervlekken (Birthmarks)
• (2018) Goede Mannen
• (2020) Bezette Gebieden
• (2021) De dood in Taormina

;Stories

• (2001) Amuse-Gueule; English translation: Amuse-Bouche (2008)
• (2004) Grunberg rond de wereld (Grunberg Around the World)
• (2009) Kamermeisjes & Soldaten: Arnon Grunberg onder de mensen (Chambermaids & Soldiers: Arnon Grunberg Among the People)
• (2013) Apocalyps

;Essays

• (1998) Troost van de slapstick (The Comfort of Slapstick)
• (2001) Monogaam (Monogamous), as Marek van der Jagt
• (2001) Otto Weininger Of bestaat de jood? (Otto Weininger or Does the Jew Exist?), as Marek van der Jagt
• (2013) Buster Keaton lacht nooit (Buster Keaton Never Laughs)
• (2013) Why the Dutch Love Black Pete

;Filmscript

• (1998) Het 14e kippetje (The 14th Chicken)

;Plays

• (1998) You are also very attractive when you are dead
• (2005) De Asielzoeker (The Asylum Seeker), adapted by Koen Tachelet
• (2015) Hoppla, wir sterben, premiere 29. April 2015, Münchner Kammerspiele

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• {{official|http://www.arnongrunberg.com }}
• [http://www.nlpvf.nl/basic/auteur1.php?Author_ID=203 Arnon Grunberg] at the website of the Dutch Foundation for Literature

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Category:1971 births

Category:20th-century Dutch novelists

Category:20th-century Dutch male writers

Category:21st-century Dutch novelists

Category:Constantijn Huygens Prize winners

Category:Dutch columnists

Category:Dutch male dramatists and playwrights

Category:Jewish Dutch writers

Category:Ferdinand Bordewijk Prize winners

Category:Libris Prize winners

Category:Living people

Category:Dutch male novelists

Category:Writers from Amsterdam

Category:20th-century Dutch essayists

Category:21st-century essayists

Category:21st-century Dutch male writers

Category:20th-century Dutch dramatists and playwrights

Category:21st-century Dutch dramatists and playwrights