Christa Wolf, 82, died Thursday in Berlin. She was one of postwar Germany’s most famous authors. She will be remembered not only for her works that were similarly acclaimed in both West and East Germany, but also for her complicated public relationship with East German communism and reunification. She herself collaborated briefly with the Stasi in the early 1960s, but was later subject to their intense surveillance.

Multiple news sources offer great biographical overviews in wake of her passing:

-The New York Times’ obituary for Christa Wolf appears in the Arts section.

-Der Tagesspiegel offers a short summary (in German).

-Der Spiegel Online has posted useful biographical information (in English for its international edition).

–Deutsche Welle describes the span of her career in its article (in English).

-The Guardian also explains her literary life.

To read scholarly commentaries on Christa Wolf’s works, try searching for “Wolf, Christa” as a subject in MLA International Bibliography. Since she is an often-celebrated author, narrowing your search by a particular work or theme is likely to be helpful.