Günter Eichberger
Born on 15.9.1959 in Oberzeiring, lived in Judenburg in Upper Styria until his A-levels. From 1978 he studied German and English in Graz, graduating in 1984 with a dissertation on "Die Theorie der Praxis, die Praxis der Theorie. The poetological self-understanding of contemporary Austrian authors". He then worked for about a year as a school librarian at the Carneri-Gymnasium in Graz, six months as an editor for the newsletter of the Graz University of Technology students' union and two semesters as a lecturer at the KFUG Institute of German Studies. Already during his studies, first publications in the magazines "Sterz" (1979) and "manuskripte" (1980) and organization of readings in the Styria bookshop in Judenburg. Early contacts with authors from the Forum Stadtpark environment and friendships with Wolfgang Bauer and Gunter Falk in particular. Freelance writer in Graz since 1987.
In 1988, his first book "Der Wolkenpfleger" was published by Residenz Verlag, followed by "Gemischter Chor" in 1990. After an intermezzo with Styria, Günter Eichberger's texts have been published by Ritter Verlag in Klagenfurt with few exceptions since the "unauthorized autobiography" "Gesicht aus Sand" (1999). He has published a total of twenty books to date, eleven of them with Ritter, mainly with prose, but also plays ("Ferienmörder", 2016), several of which have been performed on stages in Graz and Vienna. Since the early 1980s, a total of eleven radio plays have been produced for ORF and the author has been a guest on ORF/Steiermark broadcasts with his own contributions. Since the early 1990s, he has also worked as a columnist for various Styrian media, including as "Stadtflaneur" in the "Kleine Zeitung" and as a food critic for the Styrian edition of the weekly newspaper "Falter".
Günter Eichberger has received numerous prizes for his work, including the 1980 "Forum Stadtpark" sponsorship prize, 1985 "Lesezirkelpreis", 1987 "Förderungspreis der Stadt Graz", 1990 "Theodor-Körner-Preis", 1999 "Siemens-Förderungspreis" and 2020 "Literaturpreis des Landes Steiermark".
Bequest inventory 1
Scope: 20 archive boxes, 1 folder, 1 roll of posters, 2 typewriters.
Contents: Works, correspondence, life documents, collections.
13 archive boxes with mostly typescript versions, some with handwritten corrections, of all works up to 2021, but also unpublished texts and notations; including 1 box with unpublished youth works 1967-79 and 1 box with notebooks from 2004 onwards, some with unpublished aphorisms and poems
2 archive boxes with correspondence with 23 authors, including several authors of the so-called "Grazer Gruppe" (in particular Wolfgang Bauer, Helmut Eisendle, Wilhelm Hengstler and Alfred Kolleritsch), as well as more extensive bundles with GAV and publishing correspondence (Residenz, Ritter, Styria) and correspondence with literary companies
1 archive box with life documents (photographs and award certificates)
4 archive boxes with collections, including 1 with collective writing projects and works by other artists, 1 with dedication copies, 1 with audiovisual materials, 1 with invitations and programs and 1 folder with all articles and reviews
Degree of processing: The collection is roughly indexed, an overview of contents is available.
shelfmark: FNI-EICHBERGER
Current/core period: 1959-
Acquisition: Acquisition by the Literaturhaus Graz 2021
Bequest stock 2
Scope: 1 archive box
Contents: Works, collections.
Including in particular the original typescript with handwritten corr. of "Gemischter Chor" (1990)
Degree of processing: The fonds are finely indexed, a detailed index is available.
Call number: FNI-EICHBERGER-2
Period/core period: 1959-
Acquisition: Donations by the author on the occasion of the founding of the institute in 1990, 1995 and 1999