Marlen Haushofer

Marlen Haushofer (born Marie Helene Frauendorfer; 11 April 1920 – 21 March 1970) was an Austrian author, most famous for her novel The Wall.

Life and career

Early life Marie Helene Frauendorfer was born in Frauenstein, Municipality Moln in Upper Austria. She attended Catholic boarding school in Linz from 1930 until 1939, and went on to study German literature in Vienna and in Graz. After her school years she settled in Steyr.

In 1941, she married Manfred Haushofer, a dentist, and had two sons, Christian and Manfred.

Career Haushofer began her writing career in 1946, publishing short stories in newspapers and magazines. Haushofer struggled to find time for literary work between domestic chores, family demands, and helping in her husband’s dental practice. Her commitment to writing was often ridiculed. Haushofer and her husband divorced in 1950, but remarried each other in 1958.

In 1952, she published her first book, Das fünfte Jahr, which earned her the Österreichische Förderungspreis für Literatur in 1953. She went on to publish her first novel, A Handful of Life in 1955, and, in 1956, she won the Theodor Körner Prize for her contributions to art and culture. In 1958, her novella Killing Stella was published.

The Wall, considered her finest achievement, was completed in 1963. The novel was written out four times in longhand between 1960 and 1963. In a letter written to a friend in 1961, Marlen describes the difficulty with its composition: I am writing on my novel and everything is very cumbersome because I never have much time, and mainly because I can not embarrass myself. I must continuously inquire whether what I say about animals and plants is actually correct. One can not be precise enough. I would be very happy, indeed, if I were able to write the novel only half as well as I am imagining it in my mind. Her last novel, The Loft, was published in 1969.

Reception and legacy Haushofer's work was initially in the 1950s and 1960s strictly received as women's fiction by contemporary writers, critics and mentors. In the 1980s and 1990s, the new women's movement rediscovered her work and read it from a feminist lens, noting her critique of patriarchy.

Awards and honours 1953: Österreichische Förderungspreis für Literatur for Das fünfte Jahr 1956: Preis des Theodor-Körner-Stiftungsfonds for Die Vergißmeinnichtquelle 1962: Schnitzler-Stipendium des Unterrichtsministeriums 1965: Kinderbuchpreis der Stadt Wien for Brav sein ist schwer 1967: Kinderbuchpreis der Stadt Wien for Müssen Tiere draußen bleiben? 1968: Österreichische Förderungspreis für Literatur for Schreckliche Treue 1970: Kinderbuchpreis der Stadt Wien (posthumously awarded) 2007: Literaturpreis der Stadt Steyr was renamed to Marlen-Haushofer-Literaturpreis 2019: Marlen-Haushofer-Weg in Donaustadt was named after her