Guest of the ilb 2005
Joachim Helfer was born in 1964 in Bonn and grew up
outside of Frankfurt a.M. He studied English at the University of
Hamburg and published his first novel, »Du Idiot« (1994; t: You idiot),
which tells a classic initiation story of a picaresque anti-hero who
sharply disparages society. In 1998 followed the novel »Cohn &
König«, which continues where the first novel leaves off, and for which
Helfer was awarded the Literature Prize of the BDI and the Hamburg
Writers’ Association Prize. His most recent novel is »Nicht Himmel,
Nicht Meer« (2002; t: Not heaven, not sea). Helfer has lived as a
freelance writer in Berlin since 2001.
© international literature festival berlin | 
