ALTHOUGH RALF ROTHMANN DOES NOT SHARE the extensive university training in German literature and creative writing of many of his contemporaries, he has never seen this as a hindrance. In fact, Rothmann credits his success at writing to his lack of formal training. He does not hold stock in the traditional manner of “schreiben lernen,” learning to write, insisting instead on relating his own experiences. While his background may sound familiar to American audiences, this type of career and success is not as common in the highly structured society of Germany.

Rothmann was born in the Ruhrgebiet, the coal-mining region of West Germany, and grew up in a working-class family. After completing the Volksschule, he underwent training to become a bricklayer, all the time aspiring to be a writer. After spending time in a string of odd jobs, including hospital orderly, cook, bartender, and printer, during which time he read extensively and wrote as much as possible, Rothmann had his first collection of poetry, Kratzer, published in 1984.

This collection won him the Märkischer Kulturpreis in 1986. Since then, he has won high critical praise for his other works. In 1992, he was appointed Stadtschreiber (town writer) of Bergen-Enkheim, a highly coveted title, awarded also to J. W. Goethe.

Believing that writing must originate in one's own life experiences and come from the heart, Rothmann holds his personal history to be the core of his writing, although it is not strictly autobiographical. He also draws inspiration from his favorite American authors: William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Richard Ford, Paul Bowles, and Cormac McCarthy. Rothmann admires these authors’ use of personal experience in their writing. Conciseness and preservation of the natural rhythm of language typify his writing. His style is often described as laconic. He agrees, adding that “there is nothing worse than literature that rambles on.” He still makes use of the tradition of economy and sparseness of writing from his early experiences with poetry, although he has not continued to publish in this genre. The reader is engaged by his precise use of images and his ability to paint a visual picture with clear, sometimes erotic language. This language has proved to be a very effective vehicle for portraying human nature in its various manifestations of love, fear, and vulnerability.