Austrian · b. 1946
Elfriede Jelinek won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for "her musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that with extraordinary linguistic zeal reveal the absurdity of society's clichés and their subjugating power." The Austrian author's work—particularly "The Piano Teacher"—examines sexuality, violence, and Austrian complicity with fascism in prose of aggressive difficulty. Jelinek refused to attend her Nobel ceremony, sending a video lecture instead.