Peter Bichsel

Peter Bichsel (Template:IPA;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 24 March 1935Template:Snd15 March 2025) was a Swiss writer and journalist representing modern German literature. He was a member of the Group 47. His breakthrough was the collection of short stories And Really Frau Blum Would Very Much Like to Meet the Milkman.

Life and career

Bichsel was born in Lucerne on 24 March 1935, the son of manual labourers.<ref name="e562" /> Shortly after he was born, the Bichsels moved to Olten.<ref name="t812" /> After finishing school, he became an elementary school teacher, a job he held until 1968.<ref name="t812" /> From 1974 to 1981, he was the personal advisor and speech writer of Willy Ritschard,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a member of the Swiss Federal Council.<ref name="z593">Template:Cite web</ref> Between 1972 and 1989, he made his mark as a "writer in residence" and a guest lecturer at American universities.<ref name="t812" /> Bichsel lived on the outskirts of Solothurn for several decades.<ref name="f238" />

He started publishing short lyric works in newspapers, for example in Weltwoche, Tages-Anzeiger-Magazin, Schweizer Illustrierte and Luzerner Neueste Nachrichten.<ref name="d596" /><ref name="e562" /> In 1960, he got his first success in prose as a private printer. In the winter of 1963–1964, he took part in a writing course in prose taught by Walter Höllerer.<ref name="d596">Template:Cite web</ref>

One of his first and best-known works is And Really Frau Blum Would Very Much Like to Meet the Milkman.<ref name="g318">Template:Cite web</ref> Published only in a modest edition in 1964, the book was quickly sold out.<ref name="d596" /> The reason was an enthusiastic review by Marcel Reich-Ranicki.<ref name="d596" /> Just as successful, Children's Stories, intended for adults, is written in the form of droll tales for children.<ref name="d943">Template:Cite web</ref> Both books were translated from German by the English poet Michael Hamburger.<ref name="w750">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="h738">Template:Cite web</ref> A theme of Bichsel's works for younger readers is the stubborn desire of children to take words literally and wreak havoc on the world of communicated ideas. In the early 1970s and 1980s, Bichsel's journalistic work pushed his literary work mainly into the background.<ref name="t812" /> Only Der Busant (1985)<ref name="h440">Template:Cite web</ref> and Warten in Baden-Baden appeared again with the Bichsel style that was so familiar to German readers.<ref name="p050">Template:Cite web</ref> Peter Bichsel gave up being a professional teacher early in his lifetime, later he continued to teach his readers that the drudgery and banality of life are of our own making.<ref name="x938">Template:Cite web</ref> He used often a simple sentence structure 'subject-predicate-object' and was a passionate observer of Switzerland.<ref name="d596" /><ref name="e562" />

From 1957 to 1995 Bichsel was member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland.<ref name="e562" /><ref name="b859">Template:Cite web</ref> He was a founding member of the Gruppe Olten and member of the Group 47.<ref name="e562">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1981, he was a member of the jury at the 31st Berlin International Film Festival.<ref name="berlinale">Template:Cite web</ref>

Peter Bichsel's estate was archived in the Swiss Literary Archives in Bern.<ref name="q339">Template:Cite web</ref>

Bichsel died in Zuchwil on 15 March 2025, at the age of 89.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Awards

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Peter Bichsel´s autograph

• 1965 Prize of "Group 47"<ref name="t812">Template:Cite web</ref>
• 1970 Deutscher Jugendbuchpreis<ref name="t812" />
• 1981/82 Stadtschreiber von Bergen<ref name="y210">Template:Cite web</ref>
• 1996 Mainzer Stadtschreiber<ref name="f238">Template:Cite web</ref>
• 1999 Gottfried-Keller-Preis<ref name="t812" />
• 2000 Prix Européen de l'Essai Charles Veillon<ref name="t812" />
• 2000 Kassel Literary Prize<ref name="t812" />
• 2004 Honorary Doctor of Theology, University of Basel<ref name="t812" />
• 2005 Work grant by Pro Helvetia<ref name="t812" />
• 2011 Solothurner Literaturpreis<ref name="t812" />
• 2012 Template:Ill<ref name="t812" />

Short story collections

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• Inhaltsangabe der Langeweile (Hörspiel, 1971)<ref name="h566">Template:Cite web</ref>
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  • To the City of Paris Template:In lang. Translated by Michael Kuttner. Kolkata: Tarjama (2007).
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Further reading

• Rolf Jucker, ed. (1996). Peter Bichsel. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. Template:ISBN.
• Vineta Colby (1985). "Peter Bichsel". World Authors, 1975–1980. New York: Wilson. Template:ISBN.

External links

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• Literary estate of Peter Bichsel in the archive database HelveticArchives of the Swiss National Library.
• Peter Bichsel in the Encyclopædia Britannica.
• Historischen Lexikons der Schweiz: Peter Bichsel