After his schooling in his home town, Hilbig began to work at a boring mill. Later, after military service, he worked as a tool maker and in assembly construction at the Meuselwitzlignite mine.
In 1978, Hilbig moved toEast Berlin, and in 1979 he became an independent writer. In 1985, he left theGDR with a travel visa and moved toWest Germany.
He lived in Berlin after the fall of theBerlin Wall and married writer and translatorNatascha Wodin in 1994. They had one daughter and divorced in 2002.[3]
At first Hilbig favoured poetry, but his works remained widely unpublished in the GDR. He received attention from the West however, as a result of his poems in the anthologyCries for Help from the Other Side (1978). His first volume of poetry,Absence (1979) was published byS. Fischer Verlag inFrankfurt am Main. For this, Hilbig was fined.
At the end of the 1970s, Hilbig gave up his day job and began to work exclusively as a writer. With the support ofFranz Fühmann, a few of his poems were printed in a GDR newspaper for the first time. His prose anthology,Unterm Neomond (1982) was published by S. Fischer, followed byStimme Stimme (1983), a prose and poetry anthology published byReclam inLeipzig.
In 1985 Hilbig gained a visa for West Germany valid until 1990. During this time he published not only further poetry and prose, but also his first novel,Eine Übertragung (1989), which was received well by literary critics.
Even after reunification, the main themes of his work remained the dual-existence of working and writing in the GDR and the search for individuality. His further works include: his second novel,»Ich« (1993); his novellas and collections of short stories, such asDie Kunde von den Bäumen (1992) andDie Arbeit an den Öfen (1994); and his third novelDas Provisorium (2000). Autobiographical themes are often prevalent.
„Büchner-Preisträger Wolfgang Hilbig gestorben.“ In:Die Welt, 2 June 2007, retrieved, 7 February 2011.
"Chronologische Daten nach Andrea Jäger: Wolfgang Hilbig". In: dies.:Schriftsteller aus der DDR. Ausbürgerungen und Übersiedlungen von 1961 bis 1989. Autorenlexikon. Schriften zur Europa- und Deutschlandforschung. Hrsg. v.Paul Gerhard Klussmann [de]. Bd. 1. Frankfurt Main 1995. S. 201
Matthias Biskupek [de]: "Von Lärchenau über Hilbig nach Berlin, Rezensionen u.a. zu Karen Lohse, Eine motivische Biographie". In:Eulenspiegel, 55./63. Jg., Nr. 7/08,ISSN0423-5975, S. 77.
Autorenporträt Wolfgang Hilbig im Literaturkalender von FAZ.NET, retrieved, 7 February 2011.
Evelyn Finger [de]: LUCHS 185 – Die Jury von ZEIT und Radio Bremen stellt vor:Franz Fühmann undJacky Gleich [de], „Anna, genannt Humpelhexe“. As of 29 February 2002, retrieved, 7 February 2011.
Cornelia Geissler: "Der Unbehauste – Wolfgang Hilbig ist mit seinem neuen Roman im Westen angekommen". In:Berliner Zeitung, 19 February 2000, retrieved, 7 February 2011.
Preismitteilung beim Land Brandenburg. Retrieved, 6 February 2011.
Ursula März: "In der deutschen Vorhölle. Rezension des Romans Das Provisorium", inDie Zeit, Nr. 9/2000. Retrieved, 6 February 2011.
Ingo Arend: "Die Anrufung des toten Gottes. Rezension des Romans Das Provisorium", inFreitag, 24 March 2000, retrieved, 6 February 2011.
Dietmar Jacobsen: Die Wahrheit des Erfundenen. Rezension des Erzählungsbandes Der Schlaf der Gerechten. bei lyrikwelt.de, retrieved, 6 February 2011. Inhaltsangabe
