Michael Lentz was born in 1964 in Düren in Germany. He has been awarded several major prizes, including the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize in 2001. He lives and works in Berlin. Previous works include: Muttersterben (S. Fischer Verlag, 2002); oder.prosa (Fischer Taschenbuchverlag, 2003); aller ding (S. Fischer Verlag, 2003) 'written with a curt, tender and urgent immediacy that is unsurpassed in contemporary German literature' Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Translation rights available from S. Fischer Verlag GmbH Hedderichstr. 114 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Tel: +49 69 60 62 0 E-mail:kerstin.Schuster@s-fischer.de Contact: Kerstin Schuster Applications for assistance with translation costs - Germany S. Fischer Verlag was founded in 1886 in Berlin by Samuel Fischer. Many of the authors that Samuel Fischer published are now modern German classics, including Franz Kafka, Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo von Hoffmannsthal and Thomas Mann. The S. Fischer Verlag and Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag both focus on literature, psychology and history. Contemporary authors writing in German include Marlene Streeruwitz, Christoph Ransmayer and Wolfgang Hilbig. The firm's distinguished list also includes many leading international authors in translation.