Juli Zeh
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| Born | (1974-06-30) 30 June 1974 (age 49) Bonn, West Germany |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Notable awards | Solothurner Literaturpreis (2009) |
Juli Zeh (pronounced [ˈjuː.li ˈt͡seː] ⓘ, Julia Barbara Finck, née Zeh; born 30 June 1974 in Bonn) is a German writer and former judge. She is known for novels such as The Method (2009), Unterleuten (2016) and About People [de] (2021).
Juli Zeh is the daughter of the lawyer Wolfgang Zeh [de]. She studied law in Passau and Leipzig, passing the Zweites Juristisches Staatsexamen – comparable equivalent to the U.S. bar exam – in 2003, and holds a doctorate in international law from Saarland University.[1] She also has a degree from the Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig.[2]
Zeh's first published novel was Eagles and Angels, which received the 2002 Deutscher Bücherpreis for best debut novel. She travelled through Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2001, which became the basis for the book Die Stille ist ein Geräusch.[1] Among her other books are Das Land der Menschen, Dark Matter, Kleines Konversationslexikon für Haushunde, Gaming Instinct, Ein Hund läuft durch die Republik, Decompression and The Method.
Since January 2019, Zeh is an honorary judge at the constitutional court of the state of Brandenburg.[3][4] She was one of the first signers of the Open letter on the German position regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine in April 2022, who demanded not to support Ukraine with arms in order to "prevent a third world war".[5]
Zeh lived in Leipzig from 1995, and currently resides outside Berlin. She is married and has two children.[1]
| Year | English title | Original title | ISBN | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Eagles and Angels | Adler und Engel | 3-442-72926-2 | |
| 2004 | Gaming Instinct | Spieltrieb | 3-89561-056-9 | |
| 2007 | Dark Matter | Schilf | 3-89561-431-9 | US title: In Free Fall |
| 2009 | The Method | Corpus Delicti | 978-3-89561-434-7 | |
| 2012 | Decompression | Nullzeit | 978-3-89561-436-1 | First English translation in 2014 by Harvill Secker. Translated by John Cullen |
| 2016 | (not yet translated) | Unterleuten. Roman | 978-3-630-874876 | lit. 'Amongpeople' (a fictional place name) |
| 2017 | Empty Hearts | Leere Herzen. Roman | 978-3-630-87523-1 | |
| 2018 | New Year[6] | Neujahr. Roman | 978-3-630-87572-9 | Translated by Alta L. Price |
| 2021 | About People [de] | Über Menschen[7][8] | 978-3-630-87667-2 | |
| 2023 | (not yet translated) | Zwischen Welten [de] | 978-3-630-87741-9 | With Simon Urban; lit. 'Between Worlds' |
| Year | English title | Original title | ISBN | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | (not yet translated) | Die Stille ist ein Geräusch. Eine Fahrt durch Bosnien | 3-442-73104-6 | lit. 'Silence Is a Sound. A Journey through Bosnia' |
| 2004 | (not yet translated) | Ein Hund läuft durch die Republik | 3-89561-057-7 | Editor; lit. 'A Dog Runs through the Republic' |
| 2005 | (not yet translated) | Kleines Konversationslexikon für Haushunde | 3-89561-058-5 | lit. 'Little Conversation Lexicon for Household Dogs' |
| 2006 | (not yet translated) | Alles auf dem Rasen | 3-89561-059-3 | lit. 'Everything on the Lawn'; roughly 'The Full Monty' |
| 2008 | (not yet translated) | Das Land der Menschen | 978-3-89561-432-3 | lit. 'The Land of Humans' |
| 2009 | (not yet translated) | Angriff auf die Freiheit. Sicherheitswahn, Überwachungsstaat und der Abbau bürgerlicher Rechte[9] | 978-3-423-34602-3 | With Ilija Trojanow; lit. 'Attack on Freedom. Security Madness, Surveillance State and the Dismantling of Civil Rights'; excerpt in English in German Studies Review, 38, no. 2, (2015): 271–284 ISSN 0149-7952[10] |
| 2012 | (not yet translated) | Die Diktatur der Demokraten. Warum ohne Recht kein Staat zu machen ist | 978-3-89684-095-0 | lit. 'The Dictatorship of Democrats. Why no State Can Be Made Without Law' |
| 2013 | (not yet translated) | Good Morning, Boys and Girls. Theaterstücke | 978-3-89561-438-5 | lit. 'Good Morning, Boys and Girls. Plays' |
| 2013 | (not yet translated) | Treideln. Frankfurter Poetikvorlesungen | 978-3-89561-437-8 | lit. 'Towing. Frankfurt Poetics Lectures' |
| 2014 | (not yet translated) | Nachts sind das Tiere. Essays | 978-3-89561-440-8 | lit. 'At Night Are the Beasts. Essays' |
| 2015 | (not yet translated) | Dein Erfolg | 978-3442839421 | lit. 'Your Success'. Written under the pseudonym Manfred Gortz, a fictitious business consultant. The fictitious author and the book were mentioned later in Zeh's novel Unterleuten[11] |
| 2018 | (not yet translated) | Das Turbo-Ich. Der Mensch im Kommunikationszeitalter | lit. 'The Turbo-I: Man in the Communication Age' | |
| 2019 | (not yet translated) | Gebrauchsanweisung für Pferde | 978-3-492-27762-4 | lit. 'User Guide for Horses' |
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List of Solothurner Literaturpreis winners
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| People |
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