Raoul Schrott

Raoul Schrott, born in 1964 in Landeck, Tyrol, is an Austrian writer, literary scholar, translator and essayist. He grew up in Landeck, Tunis and Zurich. He studied literature and linguistics in Innsbruck, Norwich, Paris and Berlin. In 1986/87 he worked as secretary to the French writer Philippe Soupault. He wrote his dissertation on Dadaism in Tyrol at the University of Innsbruck in 1988. In 1996 he habilitated at the Institute for Comparative Literature at the University of Innsbruck. From 1990 to 1993 he was a lecturer in German Studies at the Istituto Orientale in Naples. Since then he has worked as a freelance writer. He currently lives in the Bregenzerwald region of Vorarlberg.
Schrott’s literary work includes novels, poems, essays and translations. His well-known works include ‘Finis Terrae’, ‘Tristan da Cunha’, ‘The Silent Child’ and ‘The Art of Believing in Nothing’. He has translated important ancient texts such as the ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’, Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and Hesiod’s ‘Theogony’ into German. His translations and theories, particularly on Homer’s origins, have triggered controversial discussions among experts

Schrott has received numerous awards for his literary work, including the Prize of the Province of Carinthia at the Ingeborg Bachmann Competition (1994), the Leonce and Lena Prize (1995), the Rauris Literature Prize (1996), the Peter Huchel Prize (1999) and the Joseph Breitbach Prize (2004).
His most recent projects include ‘Atlas der Sternenhimmel und Schöpfungsgeschichten der Menschheit’, in which he documents the astronomical knowledge and myths of 17 cultures worldwide.