Hans Dieter Zimmermann was born in Germany in 1940. He studied literature, history and philosophy in Mainz and Berlin. He later trained as a journalist. Between 1969 and 1975 was secretary of the Department of Literature of the Academy of Arts in Berlin. Since 1970 works as a professor of literature at various universities in Germany and abroad, and jury of prestigious awards for poetry. He is currently professor of Germanic Studies at the Technical University (TU) in Berlin.