The grotesque humour and socialist feeling of his novels Die Blechtrommel/The Tin Drum 1959 and Der Butt/The Flounder 1977 are also characteristic of many of his poems. Born in Danzig (now Gdansk), he studied at the art academies of Duesseldorf and Berlin, worked as a writer and sculptor (first in Paris and later in Berlin), and in 1958 won the coveted "Group 47" prize.
