Pedro Lenz (born 8 March 1965 in
Langenthal
Langenthal is a town and a municipality in the district of Oberaargau in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipality of Untersteckholz merged into the Langenthal. On 1 January 2021 the former municipality of Obersteckhol ...
) is a Swiss writer.
Life
Lenz studied Spanish literature at the
University of Bern
The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...
. He has worked full-time as a writer since 2001.
He writes columns for several newspapers in Switzerland, including the
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
The ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (''NZZ''; "New Journal of Zürich") is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zürich. The paper was founded in 1780. It was described as having a reputation as a high-quality ne ...
and
WOZ Die Wochenzeitung
''WOZ Die Wochenzeitung'', (commonly abbreviated as ''WOZ'' or ''Wochenzeitung''), is a Swiss, German-language weekly newspaper, published in Zürich (Switzerland).
History
''Die WochenZeitung'' (WoZ) first appeared on 1 October 1981. It was ba ...
. He is also active in Bern's
spoken word
Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
scene, performing as part of the Hohe Stirnen ('high foreheads') group. He lives in
Olten
Olten (High Alemannic: ''Oute'') is a town in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland and capital of the district of the same name.
Olten's railway station is within 30 minutes of Zürich, Basel, Bern, and Lucerne by train, and is a rail hub o ...
.
His 2010 novel ''Der Goalie bin ig'' – written in
Swiss German
Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...
– won several prizes and was translated into
Scots by Donal McLaughlin under the title ''Naw Much of a Talker''. The novel was made into a film (English title: ''
I Am the Keeper'') that was a major winner at the 2014
Swiss Film Award
The ''Swiss Film Award'' (formerly ''Swiss Film Prize'', also called ''Quartz'') (french: Prix du cinéma suisse, german: Schweizer Filmpreis, it, Premio del cinema svizzero, rm, Premi dal film svizzer) is the national film award of Switzerland, ...
s with seven nominations from which it won four trophies including Best Feature Film. The film, directed by
Sabine Boss, is notable for its dialogue in
Bernese German
Bernese German ( Standard German: ''Berndeutsch'', gsw, Bärndütsch) is the dialect of High Alemannic German spoken in the Swiss plateau (Mittelland) part of the canton of Bern and in some neighbouring regions. A form of Bernese German is spo ...
. The film played at the
Locarno Film Festival
The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...
in August 2014.
Works
* ''Die Welt ist ein Taschentuch. Gedichte von da, von dort und von drüben.'' X-Time, Bern 2002, .
* ''Momente mit Menschen. Ein Mosaik.'' 71 Portraits. Stämpfli, Bern 2002, .
* ''Tarzan in der Schweiz. Gesammelte Kolumnen zur gesprochenen Sprache.'' X-Time, Bern 2003, .
* ''Das Kleine Lexikon der Provinzliteratur.'' Bilger, Zürich 2005, .
* ''Plötzlech hets di am Füdle. Banale Geschichten.'' Cosmos, Muri bei Bern 2008, .
* ''Der Goalie bin ig. Roman.'' Verlag Der gesunde Menschenversand, Luzern 2010, .
* ''Tanze wi ne Schmätterling. Die Coiffeuse und der Boxer.'' Cosmos, Muri bei Bern 2010, .
* (Hrsg.) ''
Carl Albert Loosli Carl may refer to:
*Carl, Georgia, city in USA
*Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
* Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name
*Carl², a TV series
* "Carl", an episode of te ...
: Loosli für die Jackentasche''. Geschichten, Gedichte und Satiren. Rotpunkt, Zürich 2010, .
* ''Liebesgschichte'', Roman, Cosmos, Muri bei Bern, 2012, .
* ''I bi meh aus eine. Die bemerkenswerte Geschichte eines Emmentaler Siedlers.'' Cosmos, Muri bei Bern, 2012, .
* ''Radio. Morgengeschichten.'' Verlag Der gesunde Menschenversand, Luzern 2014, .
* ''Wienachtsgschichte – von Klaus Schädelin bis Pedro Lenz'' Cosmos, Muri bei Bern, 2014, .
* ''Fussball und andere Randsportarten'' (mit Etrit Hasler), Kolumnen aus der WOZ, WOZ Die Wochenzeitung, Zürich, 2014, .
* ''Der Gondoliere der Berge.'' Cosmos, Muri bei Bern 2015,
Works in English
* ''Naw Much of a Talker'', Translator Donal McLaughlin, Freight Books, 2013,
References
External links
*
Swiss writers
1965 births
Living people
People from Langenthal
{{Switzerland-writer-stub