Maja Haderlap
Slovene Author in Focus
Maja Haderlap was born in 1961 in Železna Kapla/Bad Eisenkappel in Carinthia, Austria. She earned her doctorate in theatre studies and German literature at the University of Vienna. For several years, she was co-editor of the Slovenian literary magazine mladje in Carinthia. After working as a theatre assistant in Trieste and Ljubljana, she spent a decade and a half as head dramaturge at the City Theatre of Klagenfurt (Stadttheater Klagenfurt). She now lives as a freelance writer in Klagenfurt.
Her poems first appeared in Slovenian literary journals. In 1983, her first collection Žalik pesmi was published, followed in 1987 by bajalice, for which she received the Prešeren Foundation Award. In 1998, a comprehensive selection titled Gedichte Pesmi Poems was published, in which her poems written in German appeared for the first time.
Her 2011 novel Engel des Vergessens (Angel of Oblivion) brought her significant literary recognition, including the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, the Max Frisch Prize of the City of Zurich, and the Christine Lavant Prize. In 2014, her poetry collection langer transit (long transit) was published, followed in 2023 by the novel Nachtfrauen, released by Suhrkamp. The Slovenian translation, Ženske v temi (Women in the Dark), was published in 2025.