During his lifetime Max Mell was showered with awards and literary prizes, including the Mozart Prize in 1937, the Great Austrian State Prize in 1954, and the Stifter Prize in 1957. Today he would probably be forgotten were it not for Das Apostelspiel (1923; translated as The Apostle Play, 1934), a religious folk play which is still popular in his native Austria. Mell's short fiction--he did not attempt to publish a novel, although there is evidence that he worked on one--never attracted as much attention as his plays, confirming his conviction that for him drama was the most important genre. He did strive to succeed in the genres of poetry and narrative prose and also wrote many essays, but he always considered drama his true mission. Ironically, early in his career drama was the genre in which Mell was least successful. That situation changed over the years. In 1962, in a ceremony marking Mell's...