Marlen Haushofer

Marie Helene Frauendorfer was born in Frauenstein, Municipality Moln in Upper Austria. She attended Catholic boarding school in Linz, 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.^[2] They divorced in 1950, only to remarry each other in 1958.

Haushofer began her writing career in 1946, publishing short stories in newspapers and magazines. 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.^[3] The novel was written out four times in longhand between 1960 and 1963.^[4] 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.^[4]

Haushofer commented a year later in a letter to the same friend:

I am extremely industrious. My novel is completed in its first draft. I have already completed one hundred pages of the rewrite. Altogether there will be 360 pages. Writing strains me a great deal and I suffer from headaches. But I hope that I will be finished by the beginning of May (I must allow at least four weeks for the typing)... And the household must keep on running also. All that is very difficult for me because I can only concentrate on one thing and forcing me to be versatile makes me extremely nervous. I have the feeling as if I were writing into the air.^[4]

Her autobiographical account of a childhood, Nowhere Ending Sky, was published in 1966. Her overall addition to Austrian literature, as well as her last short story collection, Terrible Faithfulness, earned her the Österreichische Förderungspreis für Literatur a second time in 1968.^[5] Her last novel, The Loft, was published in 1969.^[4]

In 1970, she died of bone cancer at a clinic in Vienna. Her writing has influenced authors like Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek, who dedicated one of her Princess Plays to Haushofer.^[6] She was cremated at Feuerhalle Simmering, after which her ashes were buried in Steyr City Cemetery.

• Eine Handvoll Leben (1955). A Handful of Life
• Die Tapetentür (1957). The Jib Door, trans. by Jerome Carlton Samuelson (1998)
• Die Wand (1963). The Wall, trans. by Shaun Whiteside (1990)
• Himmel, der nirgendwo endet (1966). Nowhere Ending Sky, trans. by Amanda Prantera (2013)^[7]
• Die Mansarde (1969). The Loft, trans. by Amanda Prantera (2011)^[8]

• Das fünfte Jahr. Novelle (1952). The Fifth Year
• Die Vergißmeinnichtquelle. Erzählungen (1956). The Forget-Me-Not Spring
• Wir töten Stella. Erzählung (1958). Killing Stella, trans. Shaun Whiteside (2025)
• Lebenslänglich. Erzählungen (1966). Life Sentence
• Schreckliche Treue. Erzählungen (1968). Terrible Faithfulness

• Brav sein ist schwer (1965). Being Good Is Hard
• Müssen Tiere draußen bleiben? (1967). Do Animals Have to Stay Outside?
• Wohin mit dem Dackel? (1968). What to Do with the Dachshund?
• Schlimm sein ist auch kein Vergnügen (1970). Being Bad Is No Fun Either

• 1953: Österreichische Förderungspreis für Literatur for Das fünfte Jahr
• 1956: Preis des Theodor-Körner-Stiftungsfonds for Die Vergißmeinnichtquelle
• 1962: Schnitzler-Stipendium des Unterrichtsministeriums^[9]
• 1965: Kinderbuchpreis der Stadt Wien for Brav sein ist schwer^[10]
• 1967: Kinderbuchpreis der Stadt Wien for Müssen Tiere draußen bleiben?^[11]
• 1968: Österreichische Förderungspreis für Literatur for Schreckliche Treue
• 1970: Kinderbuchpreis der Stadt Wien (posthumously awarded)^[12]
• 2007: Literaturpreis der Stadt Steyr was renamed to Marlen-Haushofer-Literaturpreis
• 2019: Marlen-Haushofer-Weg in Donaustadt was named after her

• Strigl, Daniela (2007). "Wahrscheinlich bin ich verrückt ... " Marlen Haushofer – die Biographie [I'm Probably Crazy] (in German). Berlin. ISBN 978-3-548-60784-9. OCLC 188189780.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

• Marlen Haushofer im WWW (in German)
• Marlen Haushofer – Ihre Wurzeln in Molln (in German)
• Marlen Haushofer author page by Euro Journal (in German)