Hanjo Kesting

Hanjo Kesting (born 1943) studied philosophy, literary studies and history in Cologne, Tübingen and Hamburg. From 1973 to 2006, he headed the cultural programming department at Norddeutscher Rundfunk, the North German public broadcaster. He subsequently worked as an editor for the journal Neue Gesellschaft/Frankfurter Hefte until 2023. Kesting has published numerous books on literature and music, including studies of Jean Améry and Siegfried Lenz, as well as Bis der reitende Bote des Königs erscheint. Über Oper und Literatur, a work on opera and literature. He also edited anthologies including Grundschriften der europäischen Kultur, Große Romane der Weltliteratur and Große Erzählungen der Weltliteratur. In 2005, he received the Kurt Morawietz Literature Prize of the city of Hanover; in 2007, the University of Hamburg awarded him an honorary doctorate.