|
Charles Bukowski (1920 - 1994)
Charles Bukowski was born as Heinrich Karl Bukowski on August 16th, 1920 in Aktienstraße 12 in Andernach. 
He was the son of Henry Bukowski (American soldier) and Katharina Fett.
In 1922, the Bukowski family left Andernach, lived 6 months in Koblenz and then emigrated to the USA on a
regular service steamer in 1923. After several changes of residence, they moved to a house in Los Angeles/California
in 1926. This is where Henry Charles Bukowski spent his childhood, finished High School in 1939 and left home.
His first short story was published in 1944.
According to his own myth making, he started writing poems only in 1955, after a near-fatal stomach ulcer. Before that, he traveled through America and jobbed to survive.
First success in Germany at the beginning of the seventies with the poem volume of “Poems written before jumping
out of an 8 story window.
In America it wasn’t even before 1987, that the movie "Barfly" written by him was noticed by a broad public in the cinemas.
Altogether Bukowski published more than 45 books, which were translated into more than 12 languages.
Suffering from leukemia, Charles Bukowski died of pneumonia on March 9th, 1994 in his home in San Pedro.
|
