Born in Lyck, East Prussia, in 1926, Lenz died in Hamburg in 2014. He was one the most renowned German post war prose writers and became an honorary citizen of Hamburg in 2002 and of Schleswig-Holstein in 2004. In 2011 even the honorary citzen of his hometown, nowadays the Polish Ełk. 

Among the numerous literary prizes he received were the Thomas-Mann-Preis in 1984, the Goethe prize in 1999 and the Goethe medal in 2002.