Friedrich Christian Delius, one of the most critically acclaimed contemporary German writers, was born in 1943 and lives in Berlin and Rome. He has published fifteen novels and five poetry collections, and has recently written the libretto for "Prospero "by Luca Lombardi. His books include "Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman". He has won most of Germany's prestigious literary awards--including the Joseph Breitbach Prize, the Georg Buchner Prize, and the Critics Prize--and his books have been translated into seventeen languages.