Franzobel is the pseudonym of the Austrian writer Franz Stefan Griebl, born on 1 March 1967 in Vöcklabruck, Upper Austria. He is mainly known for his prose, poetry and drama, and he now lives in Vienna.
During the 1990s he published poems, short prose and plays, and won several literary awards, among them the Wolfgang Weyrauch Prize in 1997 and the Kassel Literary Prize in 1998. His work plays with language and humour and often reflects on Austrian identity, with titles such as Scala Santa oder Josefine Wurznbachers Höhepunkt and Lusthaus oder Die Schule der Gemeinheit.
In 2017 he received the prestigious Nicolas Born Prize, and he was long-listed for the German Book Prize for his novel Das Floß der Medusa.
His output also includes crime novels, essays and stage works such as Mozarts Vision and Hamlet oder Was ist hier die Frage?, which make him a notable figure in contemporary German-language literature.