Wladimir Kaminer

Who is Wladimir Kaminer?

Wladimir Kaminer is a Russian-born German short story writer, columnist, and disc jockey of Jewish origin.

Kaminer was born in Moscow, and after initially training as an audio engineer for theatre and radio, then studied dramaturgy at the Moscow Institute of Theatre. Following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Kaminer emigrated to Marzahn, Berlin, in 1990.

From the late 1990s onward Kaminer became a prime mover in Berlin's art and literature scenes, based at the reopened Kaffee Burger club. He holds regular readings at the cafe, and also contributes regularly to various German literary organs, particularly ZDF-Morgenmagazin. Kaminer also hosts a weekly radio show, called Wladimir's World, on Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg's RADIOmultikulti, a station aimed at immigrants in Germany. Kaminer also regularly DJs at his "Russendiskos", during which he exclusively plays music by Russian bands. These discos originally began at the Kaffee Burger, but now also occasionally tour Germany.

Though Russian is his first language, Kaminer's entire literary output is in German, and sometimes concerns the language contact situation of Russian immigrants to Germany.