Botho Strauß (born in 1944 in Naumburg, Saale) was editor at the magazine Theater heute and dramaturge at the Schaubühne, Hallesches Ufer in Berlin. He made his debut as a dramatist in 1972 with the play Die Hypochonder. Since then, he has published numerous dramas, novels, short stories and essays. He has received the Literature Award of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in 1981, the Mülheim Dramatists' Award in 1982 for Kalldewey, Farce, the Jean-Paul Award in 1987, the Georg Büchner Award in 1989 and the Lessing Award in 2001 among others. Most recently, he was honored with the Schiller Memorial Prize of the state of Baden-Württemberg.