Born in Schlierbach (Upper Austria) in 1983, Arzt studied theatre, film and media. Since the staging of his play “Grillenparz” at the Schauspielhaus Wien in 2011, Arzt has counted among Austria’s most frequently performed contemporary dramatists. His plays include the popular successes “Alpenvorland” (2013, transl. into Engl. as “Alpine Blues”), “Johnny Breitwieser” (2014) and “Die Österreicherinnen” (2019). His work has featured at festivals in New York, Buenos Aires and Kiev and has been staged in Vienna, Graz, Heidelberg, Berlin and other cities. His short stories have been published in literary magazines and on the blog “Nazis & Goldmund”. Arzt lives in Vienna, “Die Gegenstimme” (Voice of dissent) is his first novel.