Helga M. Novak is a German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 German-Icelandic writer.

Novak was born in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. She grew up in East Germany, studied journalism

Journalism

Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...

 and philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 at the University of Leipzig

University of Leipzig

The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...

.

She moved to Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 in 1961, where she married and had two children before her divorce.

She traveled to Spain, France, and the U.S., before returning to East Germany. When her citizenship was revoked for writing and publishing critical texts, she moved between Iceland, Germany and Bulgaria. Today she is a citizen of Iceland, but lives in Legbad, Poland since 1987.

Awards

• 1968 Literaturpreis der Stadt Bremen
• 1979/1980 Amt der Stadtschreiberin von Bergen-Enkheim
• 1985 Kranichsteiner Literaturpreis
• 1989 Roswitha Prize
  Roswitha Prize
  The Roswitha Prize is the oldest German language prize for literature that is given solely to women.The Roswitha-Medal has been given almost yearly since 1973 by the city of Bad Gandersheim....
  
  
• 1989 Ernst-Reuter-Preis
• 1990 Marburger Literaturpreis
• 1993 Gerrit-Engelke-Preis
• 1994 Ehrengabe der Deutschen Schillerstiftung
• 1997 Brandenburgischen Literaturpreis
• 1998 Ehrengabe der Bayerischen Akademie der Schönen Künste
• 2001 Ida-Dehmel-Literaturpreis

Works

• Ballade von der reisenden Anna, Neuwied 1965
• Colloquium mit vier Häuten, Neuwied 1967
• Das Gefrierhaus. Die Umgebung, Hamburg 1968 (together with Timm Bartholl)
• Geselliges Beisammensein, Neuwied 1968
• Wohnhaft im Westend, Neuwied 1970 (together with Horst Karasek)
• Aufenthalt in einem irren Haus, Neuwied 1971
• Seltsamer Bericht aus einer alten Stadt, Hannover 1973 (together with Dorothea Nosbisch)
• Die Ballade von der kastrierten Puppe, Leverkusen 1975 (together with Peter Kaczmarek)
• Balladen vom kurzen Prozess, Berlin 1975
• Die Landnahme von Torre Bela, Berlin 1976
• Margarete mit dem Schrank, Berlin 1978
• Die Eisheiligen, Darmstadt 1979
• Palisaden, Darmstadt 1980
• Vogel federlos, Darmstadt 1982
• Grünheide Grünheide, Darmstadt 1983
• Legende Transsib, Darmstadt 1985
• Märkische Feemorgana, Frankfurt am Main 1989
• Aufenthalt in einem irren Haus, Frankfurt am Main 1995
• Silvatica, Frankfurt am Main 1997
• Solange noch Liebesbriefe eintreffen, Frankfurt am Main 1999

External links

• Entry at Literary Encyclopedia
• Biography (literaturfestival.com)