Poets

Volker Braun is a German writer. His works include Provokation für mich (Provocation for me) – a collection of poems written between 1959 and 1964 and published in 1965, a play, Die Kipper (The Dumpers) (1972; written 1962–1965), and Das ungezwungne Leben Kasts (The Unrestrained Life of Kast) (1972). Volker Braun, who worked in mining and civil engineering after the Abitur before he studied philosophy in Leipzig, occupied himself with the contradictions and hopes in a socialist state. A member of the SED since 1960, he succeeded in publishing his prose and poetry due to the application of his tactical skill. His work included spoken poems, theatre pieces, novels and stories. At first his work reflected a critical enthusiasm for the build up of socialism. From 1965 to 1967, Braun worked as an artistic director at the Berliner Ensemble from Helene Weigel's invitation. After the events of the Prague Spring, he occupied himself pulling together criticism of the life in Socialism and the possibility of reform. After that, he would be watched over strongly by the Stasi. Since 1976, Braun worked at the Deutsches Theater Berlin (German Theatre Berlin) and belonged to the artists who signed the petitions against Wolf Biermann's expatriation in 1976. From 1979 he was active again in the Berliner Ensemble. He left the Writer's Union of East Germany in 1982. Nevertheless, he received the Lessing Prize of East Germany in 1981 and the National Prize of East Germany in 1988. Duri..