Elfriede Jelinek

With a literary oeuvre spanning close to four decades and comprising numerous prose works, theater pieces, radio plays, and literary essays, Elfriede Jelinek has become one of the most prolific and controversial figures within the contemporary German-speaking literary scene. Along with Peter Handke and especially Thomas Bernhard, she counts as one of Austria's foremost critics, and has established a reputation – or perhaps notoriety is the more apt term - that extends beyond the borders of her homeland to include Germany and other European countries. In October 2004, that reputation was recognized through conferral of the most prestigious of all literary awards: the Nobel Prize for Literature. Jelinek sets her works in the country she kn