Uwe Tellkamp (German pronunciation: [ˈuːvə ˈtɛlˌkamp] ; born 28 October 1968) is a German writer and physician. He practised medicine until 2004. Before the fall of communism, he was enlisted in the National People's Army as a tank commander and imprisoned when he refused to break up a demonstration in October 1989. Until the fall of the German Democratic Republic shortly after, he was prohibited from studying medicine. In 2008 Tellkamp was awarded the German Book Prize for his novel Der Turm (The Tower), which describes life in 1980s East Germany. Source: Wikipedia (en)