Daniel Kehlmann

writer

Daniel Kehlmann is a leading German-Austrian writer whose work interconnects history, fiction, and philosophical themes. He entered the literary spotlight with his novel Measuring the World (2006), which became an international bestseller. Other significant works of his include Me and Kaminski (2008), Fame (2010), and Tyll (2020), the latter of which was nominated for the International Booker Prize and is now being adapted into a miniseries for Netflix. In his latest novel, The Director (2025), he tells the story of Austrian filmmaker Georg Wilhelm Pabst (1885–1967), born in Raudnitz, Austria-Hungary (now Roudnice nad Labem, Czech Republic), who was one of the pioneers of silent film. The novel explores Pabst’s career and the dilemmas he faced under the Nazi regime, posing questions about artistic freedom, censorship, and the relationship between art and power.