1927- . German writer. Born in Danzig, he
studied at the art academies of Dusseldorf
and Berlin, worked as a writer and sculptor
(first in Paris and later in Berlin), and in
1958 won the coveted `Group 47' prize. The
grotesque humour and socialist feeling of his
novels Die Blechtrommel/The Tin Drum 1959 and
Der Butt/The Flounder 1977 are also
characteristic of many of his poems.