Author and academic dies in crash

British police have confirmed that author and academic Winfried Georg Sebald has died in a road accident.

The German-born British-based author's car was in a head-on collision with a lorry in Norwich shortly after noon yesterday.

Mr Sebald's daughter, who was a passenger in the Peugeot 306, survived but received serious injuries.

Mr Sebald, 57, also known as Max, was professor of European Literature at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, and was tipped for greatness as an author.

He had already impressed the literary world with his books based on tragic events of the last 200 years.

A spokeswoman for Norfolk Police said Mr Sebald's car crossed into the wrong lane while negotiating a sweeping left-hand bend and collided with a lorry.

Born in Wertach im Allgau, Germany, Mr Sebald studied German language and literature in Freiburg, Switzerland and at Manchester.

He became assistant lecturer at the University of Manchester in 1966 and moved to England permanently in 1970 when he began teaching at the University of East Anglia.

He had been Professor of European Literature since 1987 and lived in Norwich with his wife and had one daughter. His books included Vertigo, Europe, the Past & the Trials of Knowing, Austerlitz and Rings of Saturn.

Vincent Watts, Vice-Chancellor at the University of East Anglia, said: "We are shocked and saddened by the untimely death of Max Sebald. He was a tremendously supportive colleague and a key figure in the development of literature at the University of East Anglia since he joined us in 1970."