Werner Bräunig born in Chemnitz in 1934, was regarded as the great hope of GDR literature – until an extract from Rummelplatz was read at the eleventh plenum of the censoring central committee of the SED and met with a ferocious opposition that sealed its fate. He had started writing in the mid-1950s after various short-term jobs including a stint at the Wismut-AG uranium mine. Regarded as a ‘worker-writer’, he was encouraged to play an active role in the Bitterfeld Conference in 1964, aimed at bringing artists and writers to the factories and workplaces under the slogan: ‘Take up your pen, pal, socialist national literature needs you!’ Bräunig studied at the Johannes R. Becher Institute of Literature (now the Leipzig Institute for German Literature – see nbg autumn 2006). He died in Halle in 1976 at the young age of forty-two, but left behind one of the most important works of post-war German literature. ‘Rummelplatz is a major German post-war novel. Had Werner Bräunig continued to write, he would without doubt have taken his place beside Günter Grass, Heinrich Böll and Martin Walser.’ – Süddeutsche Zeitung ‘One of the best novels of post-war Germany… the narrative force and the emotional punch are sensational…’ – Die Zeit ‘An event in literary history and one helluva novel.’ – Der Spiegel Among his most important publications: In diesem Sommer (Short stories; Mitteldeutscher Verlag; 1960); Prosa schreiben (Essays, 1968); Gewöhnliche Leute (Short stories, Mitteldeutscher Verlag;1969): Ein Kranich am Himmel. Unbekanntes und Bekanntes (Mitteldeutscher Verlag; 1981) Translation rights available from: Aufbau Media GmbH, Neue Promenade 6 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel:+49 30 25792314 E-mail: lehlbach@aufbaumedia.de; lehmkuhl@aufbaumedia.de Contact: Dorothee Lehlbach and Carolina Lehmkuhl Applications for assistance with translation costs - Germany International film rights to Rummelplatzsold to teamWorx Television & Film GmbH Aufbau Besides focusing on German and international classics, exile and resistance literature and East German literature, Aufbau has a strong list of contemporary world literature. Recent major successes include the diaries of Victor Klemperer, novels by Dave King, Matthew Sharpe, DBC Pierre, Yasmina Khadra, Vikram Chandra, Fred Vargas, Thomas Lehr and Polina Daschkowa. The original Aufbau- Verlag was founded in 1945 and became the leading cultural and literary publishing house in East Germany. Today, it is an imprint of Aufbau Verlagsgruppe GmbH.