About the author
Richard Zipser has a PhD in German Literature from The Johns Hopkins University. From 1969 to 1986, he taught German language and literature at Oberlin College. From 1986 to 2013, he was Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Delaware. He retired on August 31, 2014.
Dr. Zipser's field of specialization is literature of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), commonly known as East Germany. He is the author of three major books that focus on different and very important aspects of East German literature and cultural policy. In addition to this book, which was first published in German in 2013 and then translated into English by Zipser, he has published a three-volume book focusing on East German writing during the 1970s and a documentary work on literary censorship in East Germany. From 1986 to 2014, Zipser was General Editor of DDR-STUDIEN/EAST GERMAN STUDIES, a series of scholarly monographs on topics in the humanities and social sciences pertaining to the GDR. At present, he is completing a memoir entitled "Memories of Life in East Germany: Snapshots."
Over the course of his long career, Richard Zipser has been the recipient of numerous awards, honors, and grants. In 1977-1978, with the support of a prestigious International Research and Exchanges Board Scholarship, he carried out research projects in the GDR. In 1980-1981, he was a National Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. In 1985, at the 1985 Leipzig Book Fair in East Germany, he had the privilege of presiding over an exhibit of "America's Best: Prizewinning Books 1983-1984." This exhibit, the first of its kind behind the Iron Curtain, was sponsored by the United States Information Agency and the American Embassy to the GDR in East Berlin. In 1987, Zipser served as President of the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages Executive Committee, Modern Language Association. In 1992-1993, he was Visiting Humanities Fellow at The Johns Hopkins University's American Institute for Contemporary German Studies. And in 2018, he was honored to accept an invitation to become a member of the International PEN Centre of German-Speaking Authors Abroad / PRN Zentrum deutschsprachiger Autoren im Ausland.
On the national and international level, Richard Zipser is considered to be one of the leading experts on East German literature and cultural policy.