After graduating from a grammar school specializing in modern languages (including Czech) in his native Dresden, he studied Czech and Cultural Studies at the Humboldt University in Berlin, where he has lived since 1991. In the academic year 1994/95, he studied at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University in Prague, since which time he has been involved in literary translation. He translates from Czech and Slovak across many genres of fiction. He moderates author’s readings and discussions (e.g. at book fairs), gives presentations at universities and Berlin primary schools, and leads workshops in translation. He is on the board of the German Translators’ Association (VdÜ) and a member of the Weltlesebühne association for visible profiling of the translator’s profession and better working conditions for translators. He supplements his living as a book author, accountant and guide to Berlin and its surroundings, among other things.
