Peter Handke
Austrian playwright and author Peter Handke was the winner of the 2014 International Ibsen Award.
Peter Handke was born in Kärnten. He studied law at the University of Graz from 1961 to 1965, but decided to leave his studies when his first novel manuscript was accepted in 1965 (Die Hornissen, 1966). The same year, the legendary play Publikumsbeschimpfung (Offending the Audience) premiered in Frankfurt, directed by Claus Peymann. Handke has since published more than thirty novels and works. He has also written a number of plays and screenplays, including Wim Wenders’ well-known, award winning Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire or The Sky Above Berlin, 1987). Handke has won a number of international awards for his literary work, and is today regarded one of the most important writers in modern European literature. Handke lives in Chaville outside Paris.