Ferdinand Schmatz writes poetry, prose, essays and radio plays. Since 2012 he has been the department chair and head of the Institute of Language Arts at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. In 2004 he was awarded the Georg Trakl Poetry Prize, in 2006 the H.C. Artmann Prize and in 2009 the Ernst Jandl Prize, to mention just a few. Among his most recent publications are Durchleuchtung. Ein wilder Roman aus Danja und Franz (2007), quellen. Gedichte (2010) and in 2016 aufSÄTZE! Essays zur Poetik, Literatur und Kunst and das gehörte feuer. orphische skizzen (prose, poems).