Elfriede Jelinek was born in 1946. A gifted musician, she studied piano and composition at the Vienna Conservatory before turning to languages, theatre studies and history of art. As novelist, poet and dramatist she is one of Austria's most highly regarded and versatile authors. She has received many prizes for her work, including the Georg Büchner Prize in 1998. Her novels have been translated into eighteen languages. Previous novels include: Die Liebhaberinnen, 1975 (Women as Lovers, Tr. M. Chalmers, Serpent's Tail, 1990); Die Ausgesperrten, 1980 (Wonderful, Wonderful Times, Tr. M. Chalmers, Serpent's Tail, 1994); Die Klavierspielerin, 1983 (The Piano Teacher, Tr. J. Neugroschel, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, New York, 1988, Serpent's Tail, London 1989); Lust, 1989 (Lust, Tr. M. Hulse, Serpent's Tail, 1992); Totenauberg, 1991; Die Kinder der Toten, 1995; Ein Sportstück, 1998. Translation rights available from Rowohlt Verlag GmbH Hamburger Strasse 7 D-21465 Reinbek Tel: 0049 40 7272 0 Fax: 0049 40 7272 319 Applications for assistance with translation costs - Austria Rowohlt Verlag was founded by Ernst Rowohlt in 1908. This house with its various divisions - Rowohlt Verlag, Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, Wunderlich Verlag and Rowohlt Berlin - is now part of the Holtzbrinck group. Rowohlt publishes both literary and popular fiction, non-fiction and children's books. Authors include Wolfgang Borchert, Friedrich Christian Delius, Rolf Hochhuth, Imre Kértesz, Helmut Krausser, Klaus and Erika Mann, Robert Musil, Péter Nádas, Angela Sommer-Bodenburg, Peter Schneider and Kurt Tucholsky.