Grass, Gunter, grahs, GUN tuhr (1927-...), is a German novelist, poet, playwright, artist, and essayist. He has played a key role in German literary and intellectual life since the late 1950's. Grass was a prominent member of the "Group 47," an association of writers who helped restore substance and integrity to German literature after the Nazi period. Grass won the 1999 Nobel Prize in literature.