Biography

Susanne Ayoub is an author and director. She works in radio and film.
Dr. phil. Born Nov, 27,1956 in Baghdad, Irak.
She lives in Vienna.
  • Studied theater studies, art history, and philosophy.
  • Producer, dramaturge, and director for the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF).
  • Stage plays, film scripts, audio dramas.
  • Founded the theater group TRIO, for which she wrote plays and staged productions.
  • 1999 Writer in Residence at the International Writers Colony Ledig House, NY.
  • 2008 Guest professorship at Bowling Green State University, Ohio.
  • Her works have been translated into English, French, Norwegian, Arabic, and Kurdish.

In addition to working as a writer, she is a filmmaker. Most recently she was awarded the Radio Prize of Adult Education and the Renner Prize for Journalism.

Susanne-Ayoub--fotografiert-von-Aleksandra-Pawloff-
Susanne-Ayoub. Foto: Aleksandra-Pawloff

PRIZES AND AWARDS

  • Theodor Körner Prize for Advancing Literature 1989
  • Nominated by the ORF for the international EBU television film competition 1989
  • Working grants of the Federal Ministry of Education and Culture 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995
  • Film script support grants from the Austrian Film Institute, 1992 and 1994; EU MEDIA-II Project Support 1997
  • Dramatists’ Grant of the Federal Ministry for Science, Traffic, and Art, 1996
  • Film Prize for “Best Foreign Film” for the cinema film “HANNAH” at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, 1997
  • Production Prize of the Office of the Federal Chancellor (BKA) for the stage play “Eichmann’s Heirs”, 1998
  • Dramatists’ Grant from the BKA 1998
  • Two-month invitation to the International Writers Colony Ledig House, Ghent, NY, to complete the crime novel “Poison”, 1999
  • Working Grant from the BKA for film research in the USA and Canada, 1999
  • Dramatists’ Grant from the BKA, 2000
  • Prizewinner for “Pain. Masculine. Feminine,” competition of the German and Swiss PEN and literary journal “Entwürfe”, 2001
  • Working Grant from the BKA for film research in Iraq, 2002
  • Guest Author at the Forum Alpbach 2002
  • “Prix Europa” nomination for the audio production “The Case of Flora S.”, 2002
  • “Hans Nerth” Radio Prize for “Born in Baghdad”, 2002
  • Reading tour of Sweden and Latvia for “Angel’s Venom”, 2003
  • Reading tour of Norway, presenting “Angel’s Venom” in Norwegian, 2005
  • “Friedrich Glauser Prize” debut–nominated for “Angel’s Venom”, 2005
  • University of New Mexico, Symposium in Cooperation with the PEN Club 2007. Invited as a multimedial author; American premiere of “Baghdad Fragment”
  • Dramatists’ Grant from the BKA, 2008
  • Reading tour in Ohio, USA, with the multimedial “Baghdad Project”, 2008
  • “Audio Drama of the Year” Austrian Radio 1. Nominated for “Marie. A Case”, 2011
  • EXIL Prize for Drama for “Salam Alaikum, Medea”, 2013
  • Radio Prize of Adult Education for “Alma’s Little Photographer”, 2013
  • “Poetry Up Close” Poetry competition, Austrian Radio 1. Nominated for “You Talking to Me”, 2014
  • Zonser Radio Play Festival 2014: third place for the audio drama “Hinkel”
  • Dr. Karl Renner Prize for Journalism for “Innovative Approaches to the Feature”, 2014

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS AND PUBLISHERS (SELECTED)

“DIE SANFTE RACHE” (Gentle Revenge, novella), Reche Verlag, Passua 2000

“ALFRED HRDLICKA UND DER FALL FLORA” (Alfred Hrdlicka and the Case Of Flora, biography), Molden Verlag 2000

“ENGELSGIFT” (Angel’s Venom, novel), Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2004 (paperback Heyne-Verlag 2005)

“GEBOREN IN BAGDAD” (Born In Baghdad, audiobook), Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2004

“ENGLEGIFT”, (Angel’s Venom, novel), translated into Norwegian by Johann Gip, Ganesa Forlag Oslo 2005

“SCHATTENBRAUT” (Shadow Bride, novel), Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2006 (paperback Heyne-Verlag 2007)

“VON DER ERFÜLLTEN / VON DER ENTTÄUSCHTEN / VON DER VERGANGENEN LIEBE” (On Fulfilled, Unrequited, and Faded Love, poems), Edition Milo-Verlag Lehner 2006

“BAGHDAD FRAGMENTS”, Film + Audiobook, German w/ English subtitles, a DVD/CD production by the ORF in cooperation with Trio Art Team, Vienna 2008

“strand #“- Blicke” (beach # – views, dialogues and prose texts on 2 painting cycles by Dieter Kleinpeter), Bibliothek der Provinz Verlag Weitra 2009

“MANDRAGORA. Roman eines Verbrechens” (Mandragora. The Story of a Crime, novel), Braumüller Verlag Wien 2010

“DAS MÄDCHEN VON RAVENSBRÜCK” (The Girl From Ravensbrück, novel), Braumüller Verlag Wien 2012

“KOCHHERD WASCHTROG HEIMARBEIT. Die bessere Welt der Käthe Leichter” (COOKSTOVE, WASHTROUGH, OUTWORK. The Better World of Käthe Leichter, Audiobook), ORF 2015

“DER EDELSTEINGARTEN” (THE JEWEL GARDEN, novel), LangenMüller Verlag München 2016

“SPRICHST DU MIT MIR” (YOU TALKING TO ME, poetry cycle), Löcker Verlag Wien 2016

ANTHOLOGIES, PUBLICATIONS IN PERIODICALS (SELECTED)

“DER FALL FLORA”, (The Case of Flora, story), Edition “Krautgarten” (Forum for Young Literature) St. Vith, Belgium 2000

“DIE FREIHEIT IST EINE ANDERE WELT”, (Freedom is Another World, essay), Publication of the University of Graz 2001

“UND SIE BEWEGT SICH DOCH – KULTUR IN BAGDAD HEUTE“, (And Yet It Moves–Culture in Baghdad Today, essay), Neue Zürcher Zeitung Zurich 2002

“DIE WELT AN DER ICH SCHREIBE“ (The World I’m Writing On, anthology, including the story “Revolution“, Verlag Sonderzahl Vienna 2005

“SPRACHE DER STRASSE. UNTERSUCHUNG ALTERNATIVER URBANISMEN“ (Street Language. Investigating Alternative Urbanisms, including “Die Fassade” (The Façade) in the “Wörterbuch der Strasse” (Street Dictionary), Verlag Sonderzahl Vienna 2006

“SCHÖNE LEICH IN WIEN” (A Beautiful Funeral in Vienna, anthology, including the crime story “Hier ist ein Mensch” (Here is a Human), Grafit Verlag Cologne 2008

“NEUE ÖSTERREICHISCHE LYRIK UND KEIN WORT DEUTSCH”, (Recent Austrian Poetry Without a Word of German”, anthology), ed. Gerald Nitsche and Bruno Gitterle – including bilingual love poems in German and Arabic, Haymon Verlag Innsbruck 2008

“ICH WERDE NIE MEHR AUSEINANDERGEHEN” (I’ll Never Part Again”, Anthology), ed. Margit Schönberger – including the short story “Rosis Bauch” (Rosi’s Belly”), Diana Verlag Munich 2009

“JEDE ANDERE SEITE” (EVERY OTHER SIDE), an anthology of 45 Kubinesque texts, including “Aus der Fuge” (Out of Joint), Verlag plattform Vienna 2009

“BORDERLANDS” Texas Poetry Review Number 34, including bilingual love poems in German and English, Austin/Texas 2010

“ZWISCHENLAND” (Betweenland, a story), in Literarisches Österreich Vienna 2012

“1/2 10”, a minidrama in “Entwürfe – Zeitschrift für Literatur” Zurich 2013

“SALAM ALEIKUM, MEDEA” (Salam Alaikum, Medea, a stage play), in edition exil Vienna 2013

“BUCHSTABENSUPPEN. Ein literarisches Kochbuch” (Alphabet Soups. A Literary Cookbook), including das short drama “Arame”, Residenz Verlag Salzburg 2015

“GEDENKBUCH FÜR DIE TOTEN DES KZ MAUTHAUSEN. Band 1. Kommentare und Biographien” (Memorial Book for the Dead of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp, vol. 1, Commentary and Biographies), including a biography of the priest Johann “Papa” Gruber, new academic press Vienna 2016

“UNSER HAUS” (Our House, a story), in Literarisches Österreich Vienna 2019

LIST OF WORKS IN RADIO, FILM, aND THEATER

Radio Plays

“Musik und Oropax”, in 2 Teilen, ORF 1986

“Johanna: Schülerin”, ORF 1987, Südwestfunk 1989, Schweizer Rundfunk DRS Zürich 1990

“Michel der Maler”, ORF 1987, DRS 1990

“Eisflocken und Schneewolken”, ORF 1987

“Der unvollendete Turm”/”Die Dienstbotenmuttergottes”, nach Wiener Sagen, ORF 1987

“Das Gespenst von Canterville”, nach Oscar Wilde, ORF 1987

“Hallo…Falsch verbunden”, eine Liebe per Telefon, ORF 1988

“Lena – unser Dorf und der Krieg”, nach Käthe Recheis´Roman, in 2 Teilen, ORF 1988, Süddeutscher Rundfunk 1988, DRS 1990

“Spiegel das Kätzchen”, nach Gottfried Keller, in 2 Teilen, ORF 1988

“Spiegel das Kätzchen”, nach Gottfried Keller, in 2 Teilen, DRS Zürich1990

“Schwarze Köchin spiel ich nicht”, SFB Berlin 1988

“Appenzeller & Co”, DRS 1990

“Die Jungfer Paradis”, ORF 1992

“Schlaf”, ORF 2002

„Marie. Ein Fall“, ORF 2011

“Monolog für 2″, ORF 2012

„Hinkel.Kriminalstück“, DLR Berlin 2014

„Gemischtes Doppel“, SWR 2015

“Musik und Oropax” (Music and Oropax), 2 parts, ORF 1986

“Johanna: Schülerin” (Johanna, Schoolgirl), ORF 1987, Südwestfunk 1989, Schweizer Rundfunk DRS Zurich 1990

“Michel der Maler” (Michel the Painter), ORF 1987, DRS 1990

“Eisflocken und Schneewolken” (Ice Flakes and Snow Clouds), ORF 1987

“Der unvollendete Turm”/“Die Dienstbotenmuttergottes” (The Unfinished Tower/The Servants’ Mother of God, based on Viennese legends), ORF 1987

“Das Gespenst von Canterville”, (The Canterville Ghost, after Oscar Wilde), ORF 1987

“Hallo…Falsch verbunden” (Hello, Wrong Number, love on the telephone), ORF 1988

“Lena – unser Dorf und der Krieg” (Lena–Our Village and the War, based on Käthe Recheis´s novel, 2 parts), ORF 1988, Süddeutscher Rundfunk 1988, DRS 1990

“Spiegel das Kätzchen” (Mirror, the Kitten, after Gottfried Keller, 2 parts), ORF 1988

“Spiegel das Kätzchen” (Mirror, the Kitten, after Gottfried Keller, 2 parts), DRS Zurich1990

“Schwarze Köchin spiel ich nicht” (I Won’t Play the Black Cook), SFB Berlin 1988

“Appenzeller & Co”, DRS 1990

“Die Jungfer Paradis” (The Maiden Paradis), ORF 1992

“Schlaf” (Sleep), ORF 2002

“Marie. Ein Fall” (Marie. A Case), ORF 2011

“Monolog für 2” (Monologue for 2), ORF 2012

“Hinkel. Kriminalstück” (Hinkel: A Crime Drama), DLR Berlin 2014

“Gemischtes Doppel” (Mixed Doubles), SWR 2015

Poetry on the Radio

“du & ich” (you & i), on „Leuchtschrift“, Literatur Radio Vienna, ORF 1988

“Die Reise” (The Journey), on „Leuchtschrift“, ORF 1989

“Von der erfüllten / von der enttäuschten / von der vergangenen Liebe” (On Fulfilled, Unrequited, and Faded Love),  on “Nachtbilder“ – Poesie und Musik, ORF 2006

“Sprichst du mit mir: Über die Heimat · über die Liebe · über den Tod” (You Talking to Me: About Homeland, About Love, About Death) on “Nachtbilder“ – Poesie und Musik, ORF 2017


Radio Features

“Shopping City Ost” (Shopping City East), in collaboration with Manfred Chobot, ORF 1987

“Die brennende Witwe” (The Burning Widow, a literary portrait of the writer Dorothea Zeemann, in collaboration with Renate Zuniga), ORF 1989, SFB 1990

“Optimismus ohne Hoffnung” (Optimism without Hope, a literary portrait of the Mexican poet José Emilio Pacheco, in collaboration with Renate Zuniga, ORF 1989

“Der Fall Flora S.” (The Case of Flora S.), radio feature, ORF 2001

“Prolet ist kein Schimpfwort” (Prole is Not an Insult, radio feature for Alfred Hrdlicka’s 75th birthday, ORF 2003

“Geboren in Baghdad” (Born in Baghdad, radio feature) (Hans Nerth Prize 2002), ORF + SFB 2003, DLR Berlin 2004

“Schwester Kafka” (Sister Kafka, radio feature), ORF 2004

“Die Greisslerin von Groß Gerungs” (The Grocer of Gross Gerungs, radio feature), ORF 2008

“Der Mann, der vom Himmel fiel” (The Man Who Fell from Heaven, radio feature for Fritz Molden’s 85th birthday, in collaboration with Elisabeth Stratka), ORF 2009

“Almas kleiner Fotograf” (Alma’s Little Photographer, radio feature, Radio Prize of Adult Education 2013), ORF+DLF Köln 2012

“Prinzessin Vukobrankovics. Die 3 Leben der Elisabeth Thury” (Princess Vukobrankovics. The 3 Lives of Elisabeth Thury, radio feature, Renner Prize for Journalism 2014), ORF+DLF Cologne 2014

“Ein Mann mit Eigenschaften: Werner Vogt” (A Man with Qualities: Werner Vogt”), ORF 2014

“Kochherd Waschtrog Heimarbeit. Die bessere Welt der Käthe Leichter” (Cookstove, Washtrough, Outwork. The Better World of Käthe Leichter), ORF 2015

“Brot und Rosen. Der lange Marsch zum Frauenwahlrecht und dessen unbeirrbare Verfechterinnen Rosa Mayreder und Adelheid Popp” (Bread and Roses. The Long March to Women’s Suffrage and its Unswerving Advocates Rosa Mayreder and Adelheid Popp),  ORF 2019

“Der Caravaggio-Krimi”(The Caravaggio Mystery), ORF+WDR 2019

Works for Television

“Städtische Tugenden”, (Urban Virtues, film script for a 90-minute film, selected for production, ORF screenplay competition 1986/87

“Heimat ohne Sterne” (Homeland without Stars, 15-minute film for “x-large“), ORF 1989

“Damals im Park” (That Time in the Park, film script for a 50-minute film, commissioned by the ORF. Nominated for the international EBU television film competition), 1989

“Raimund der Eisenbieger” (Raimund the Iron Bender, film script for a 90-minute film comedy, commissioned by the ORF), 1989

“Die Porzellanbrücke” (The Porcelain Bridge, film script for a 90-minute feature film, supported by a grant from the Austrian Film Institute 1992, commissioned by the ORF), 1995

“Alfred Hrdlicka – Ein Leben zwischen Kunst und Leidenschaft” (Alfred Hrdlicka – A Life between Art and Passion”, 45-minute TV portrait, film consultant + co-authored film script, ORF 2000

“ANTSCHEL”, 45’, a film essay for Paul Celan’s 100th birthday in 2020. ORF 2020

Cinematic Works

“Thallium”, film script for a 90-minute feature film, supported by the Austrian Film Institute 1994 and an EU grant for project development, 1997

“Hannah”, film script for a 90-minute feature film, commissioned by the director Reinhard Schwabenitzky 1994, cinematic premiere in Austria 1996

“La Dispute” (Fr./Ger.), Short film based on Susanne Ayoub’s novel manuscript “Abschiede” (Partings), directed by Sylvie Lazzarini, cinematic premiere in Berlin 1999

Films, Scripts and Directing, and Production

“Geboren in Baghdad” (Born in Baghdad, 15’, work in progress), 2002

“Baghdad-Fragment” (Bagdhdad Fragment) 42’, film essay, cinematic premiere 2007 in Graz (Diagonale), invitations to the USA (New York, Washington D.C., Ohio, New Mexico)

Mauthausen Project: “Mai in Mauthausen” (May in Mauthhausen), short film, 15’, cinematic premiere 2008 in Vienna (VIS Internationales Kurzfilmfestival) and “Es war einmal in Mauthausen” (Once upon a Time in Mauthausen), 60’, cinematic premiere 2011 in Vienna (Jewish Film Festival), invitations to the USA and Mexico. TV broadcast 2015

“Almas kleiner Fotograf” (Alma’s Little Photographer), 70’, documentary, 2015, TV broadcast 2015, cinematic premiere 2016

“ANTSCHEL”, 45’, Film essay for Paul Celan’s 100th birthday in 2020. Premiere at the Literaturzentrum Alte Schmiede in Vienna, 2020. Invitations to Bucharest, Chernitvtsi, Kyiv, Stockholm, Antwerp, Paris.

Works for the Theater

“Damals im Park” (That Time in the Park), directed by Dunja Tot, premiere in 1990 in Vienna

“Die Kauffmannin” (The Merchantress), self-directed, premiere in 1991 during the Schubertiade in Hohenems, touring performances in Vienna, Lower Austria, Vorarlberg

“Anpassung und Widerstand” (Assimilation and Resistance), scenic collage, directed by Dunja Tot, premiere in 1992 in Vienna

“Kein schöner Land…” (No Fairer Land), scenic collage, directed by Dunja Tot, premiere in 1993 in Vienna

“Himmlische Rosen ins irdische Leben” (Heavenly Roses in Earthly Life), scenic collage, directed by Dunja Tot, premiere in 1994 in Vienna

“Monde der Enttäuschung” (Moons of Disappointment), directed by Dunja Tot, premiere in 1994 in Münster

“Im Lande Nur” (In The Land of Mere), directed by Dunja Tot, premiere in 1994 in Vienna

“Alles in jüdischer Hand” (All in Jewish Hands), scenic collage, directed by Dunja Tot, premiere in 1996 in Vienna

“Eichmanns Erben” (Eichmann’s Heirs, coauthored by Kurt Raubal), UA Kunsthalle Krems 1997

“Eichmann im Jenseits” (Eichmann in the Afterlife, coauthored by Kurt Raubal), theater performance in „Café Jenseits“, Vienna 2008

“Der Mittagsengel” (L’Ange de Midi, Midday Angel), premiere in French in Paris, directed by Heinz Schwarzinger, Paris 2009

Dramaturgy and Theater Workshop Productions

“Die Zweite Generation” (The Second Generation), workshop for young actors in preparation for the production “Damals im Park” (That Time in the Park), Vienna 1990

“Anpassung und Widerstand” (Assimiliation and Resistance), on the possibilities of multicultural coexistence, reality and utopia, work with a multicultural actors’ troupe, ‘Vienna, 1992.

“Kein schöner Land…” (No Fairer Land,  on love of homeland, patriotism and nationalism), Vienna 1993

“Himmlische Rosen ins irdische Leben” (Heavenly Roses in Earthly Life, Images of Women of the 20th Century), Vienna 1994

“Alles in jüdischer Hand” (All in Jewish Hands, encounters with everyday fascism and strategies for confronting it), Vienna 1996

“Gehorsam – gestern und heute” (Obedience – Yesterday and Today, school theater project in Zwettl, Lower Austria, 1996

“Der Friedhof der lebenden AutorInnen” (The Cemetery of Living Authors,  Vorarlberg Theater Festival “Luaga & Losna”, 1996

Dramatists’ Workshop at the Literaturhaus, 1995 – 1996, with Kurt Raubal

RESEARCH PROJECTS

“Nachlass Gerhard Jax” (Gerhard Jax’s Literary Estate),  at the Austrian Theatre Museum, Research grant from the City of Vienna, 1991

Outcome: “Jaxl, Bühnenzauberer” (Jaxl the Theatre Wizard), a publication for the Austrian Theatre Museum, Vienna 1991