Peter Bichsel
Peter Bichsel is a renowned Swiss author and educator, celebrated for his impactful short stories and literary contributions. Born to a modest family in 1935 and initially struggling with reading and writing, Bichsel found his calling as a writer under the guidance of a supportive teacher. He began his career in education, teaching elementary school from the mid-1950s until the late 1960s while nurturing his passion for literature. Bichsel achieved significant recognition with his first collection of stories, "Eigentlich möchte Frau Blum den Milchmann kennenlernen," which gained widespread acclaim, thanks in part to a positive review from a prominent critic. His works, often characterized by simplicity and depth, have been translated into multiple languages and include satirical tales that challenge societal norms.
In addition to his literary pursuits, Bichsel served as a personal advisor and speechwriter for a Swiss politician and held various academic positions, including guest lectures at respected universities worldwide. His prolific output has garnered numerous awards, including the Gottfried Keller Prize and an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel. Bichsel's writing reflects his keen observations of Swiss society and a deep humanist perspective, earning him a lasting legacy in contemporary literature.
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Peter Bichsel
Writer
- Born: March 24, 1935
- Place of Birth: Lucerne, Switzerland
Biography
Peter Bichsel is the son of Willi Bichsel, a painter and decorator, and his wife Lina Bichsel, née Bieri. He had a sister, Ursula. Growing up, there were few books in his parents’ home. In 1941, the family moved to Olten, Switzerland, where Peter went to school. His teacher for grades five and six was Kurt Hasler, who was also a local historian and journalist. Although Bichsel had difficulty learning to read and write, Hasler recognized the quality of his essays and encouraged him to become a writer.
Bichsel was confirmed in 1951 in the Reformed Friedenskirche (church of peace) in Olten. During his four years in Solothurn for teacher’s college, he attended both the Catholic and the Reformed churches. Bichsel obtained his teacher’s diploma on April 1, 1955. That summer he trained as a medical orderly with the Swiss military. From 1955 to 1968, Bichsel taught elementary school in Lommiswil and Zuchwil. After that, he occasionally taught at different schools.
In January, 1956, Peter Bichsel married Maria Theresia Spörri. They had a daughter, Christa Maria (born in 1956), and a son, Matthias (born in 1957). Bichsel’s family life was very important to him. They moved to Bellach, near Solothurn, in 1968. His wife died in 2005.
Bichsel was invited to participate in the Literary Colloquium in Berlin, and spent the winter of 1963 and 1964 taking Walter Höllerer’s course on prose writing. The novel written by the participants, Das Gästehaus, appeared in 1965. Bichsel wrote the first chapter.
In 1964, the Walter publishing company in Olten published Bichsel’s twenty-one story collection Eigentlich möchte Frau Blum den Milchmann kennenlernen (And Really Frau Blum Would Very Much Like to Meet the Milkman). Thanks to an enthusiastic review from Germany’s main literary critic, Marcel Reich-Ranicki, the book was an unprecedented success. It seemed the reading public had been waiting for Bichsel’s short, thoughtful, insightful, and apparently simple stories. They have been translated into many languages.
In 1967 he published a novel, Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons), but most of his works have been short stories. His 1969 book, Kindergeschichten (published in English both as There Is No Such Place as America and Stories for Children) is a collection of short stories presenting satirical and skeptical stories for adults written in the style of stories for children. His output of short story collections has been prolific throughout his career; he produced a new collection every few years since the early 1980s.
Bichsel did not hesitate to criticize his native Switzerland. He was a social democrat, and from 1974 to 1981 was the personal advisor and speech writer for Willi Ritschard, a popular member of the Swiss Bundesrat. He was also writer-in-residence at Oberlin College (1971-1972); in Bergen-Enkheim (1981-1982); in Mainz (1995); and at the Centre for Contemporary German Literature in Swansea (1995). He lectured at the University of Frankfurt-am-Main (1981-1982); at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire (1987); at Middlebury College, Vermont (1989); at the University of Salamanca, Spain (1990); and at the City University, New York (1992 and 1994). Reading tours took him to Sweden, the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Portugal, Greece, Egypt, and South Korea.
Bichsel was awarded the Prize of the Group of 47 (1965); the Lessing Prize (1965); the German Prize for Young People’s Literature (1970); the Prix Suisse (1973); the Art Prize of Canton Solothurn (1979); the Johann Peter Hebel Prize (1986); the Prize of the Swiss Schiller Foundation (1987); the Gottfried Keller Prize (1999); the Charles Veillon Essay Prize (2000); the Kassel Literary Prize for Grotesque Humor (2000); and an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel (2004).
In 1968, Bichsel started writing columns for various newspapers. In 2005, the Suhrkamp publishing company celebrated Bichsel’s seventieth birthday by publishing his over three hundred collected columns in a single substantial volume, Kolumnen, Kolumnen. The columns are written with imagination, sensitivity, and humanity. Bichsel was a master of the short prose form.
Bibliography
Bender, Hans, et al. Contemporary German Fiction. New York: Continuum, 1996. Print.
"Peter Bischel." IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm2166230/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
Wolf, M. Charlotte. Great German Short Stories of the Twentieth Century. Mineola: Dover, 2012. Print.