Peter Handke
Austrian Nobel Prize-winning playwright, novelist, and controversialist whose early plays attacked theatrical convention with radical aggression. Offending the Audience told audiences there was no play; Kaspar dramatized language acquisition as violence. His later work became lyrical and mythological, and his defense of Serbia during the Balkan wars made him deeply controversial.
Works
- A Sorrow Beyond DreamsAutobiographical meditation on mourning and the death of the author's mother
- The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty KickPsychological novella about a goalkeeper's mental breakdown during a penalty kick
- Short Letter Long FarewellEpistolary novel following a man's cross-country journey and romantic obsession
- RepetitionJourney through Slovenia exploring memory and the search for lost origins
- AcrossMetaphysical novel exploring perception and being through consciousness in transition
- Offending the AudienceExperimental theater piece that directly addresses and provokes the audience
- KasparPlay about a man learning language as metaphor for social conditioning and identity
- The Ride Across Lake ConstanceTheater piece exploring communication breakdown through dialogue without content
- The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each OtherPlay consisting entirely of unconnected monologues revealing lonely human consciousness