Guest of the ilb 2005
Peter Stamm was born in 1963 in Weinfelden, in the
Swiss canton of Thurgau. He did a business apprenticeship and
studied English, Information Technology, Psychology and Psychopathology
for a while. Later he worked as a journalist, writing, among
other things, for the »Neue Zürcher Zeitung« and the »Weltwoche«, as
well as for the satirical magazine »Nebelspalter«. He also wrote
radio plays, several of which received awards. In 1998 his widely
noted debut, the novel »Agnes« appeared, which has since been
translated into fifteen languages. As a result of the string of
books that followed in swift succession, he has established his name in
German literature.
Stamm follows in the tradition of Chekhov and Camus as well as
American storytellers such as Carver, Ford and Hemingway. Like
them, he follows the poetic maxim to hold off from explaining too much,
and instead lets images and dialogue speak for themselves. »A lot
takes place in my books through perception or the description of
perceptions. Rather than simply narrating, I tell things as I
perceive them. I think that this accounts for the vitality of the
text, and the sensations the reader experiences. I don’t write:
»He answers the telephone«, but rather: »The ringing stops«. And
then the reader must do the homework: either the telephone was answered
or it stopped ringing.« In 1999 »Blitzeis« (Engl: Quickly
Freezing Ice), a volume of short stories, came out, and two years later
his second novel, »Ungefähre Landschaft« (Engl: Unformed Landscape,
2004), whose protagonist is like Stamm’s other main characters:
introverted, discreetly longing and mildly disillusioned. Without
being unduly disappointed, she accepts the failure of her second
marriage and without high hopes tracks down an old male
acquaintance. Unlike Stamm’s first book, the tale ends on a
positive note. The last sentences evoke a quiet contentment with
everyday life, by the side of yet another man.
Stamm dresses the absence of important events in impressively
condensed language characterised by the frequent use of main clauses
with a few generic verbs and adjectives included. This sparseness
offers a frank view of the stories’ special features: a play with
references, temporal modulations and the reader’s own
expectations. In the story »Die ganze Nacht« (Engl: The Entire
Night) from the volume »In fremden Gärten« (2003; Engl: In Strange
Gardens), the sentences which the reader is curious to hear are the
ones which the author in the end withholds. By contrast the title
story leads the reader astray before any of his expectation can be
fulfilled or disappointed. The unexpected happy ending of his lates
novel »An einem Tag wie diesem« (2006; t: On a day like this one)
irritated some critics. It tells of Andres who after twenty years of
monotony and loneliness starts on a journey into the past. An illness
makes him reveal his feelings to his great love, Fabienne who once
married his best friend.
Peter Stamm, who works also as a translator, has been awarded
various literature prizes as well as grants. His plays, published
under the title »Der Kuss des Kohaku« (2004; Engl: The Kiss of the
Kohaku), were performed in theatres in Zurich and Hamburg, as well as
in Saarbrücken, Osnabrück and Lucerne. In 2004, his children’s
book »Warum wir vor der Stadt wohnen« (Engl: Why We Live in the Suburbs
of the City) was published. Apart from stays in New York, London, Paris
and Berlin, Stamm went on reading tours to Mexiko and Russia, among
other countries. He lives in Winterthur, Switzerland.
© international literature festival berlin
Peter Stamm online: www.peterstamm.ch
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