Urs Allemann (born 1 April 1948) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

writer and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Life and work

Allemann was born in 1948 in

Schlieren Schlieren ( ; , ) are optical inhomogeneities in transparent media that are not necessarily visible to the human eye. Schlieren physics developed out of the need to produce high-quality lenses devoid of such inhomogeneities. These inhomogeneitie ...

, near Zurich,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, but grew up in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He studied German and English at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

and sociology and social psychology at

Leibniz University Hannover Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover (german: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität), also known as the University of Hannover, is a public research university located in Hanover, Germany. Founded on 2 May 1831 as Higher Vocational Sc ...

. From 1975 to 1976 he was editor of the magazine ''

Theater heute ''Theater heute'' (German: ''Theatre Today'') is a German language monthly magazine with a special focus on theatre. The magazine is based in Berlin, Germany, and has been in circulation since 1960. History and profile ''Theater heute'' was foun ...

''. From 1986 to 2005 he was literary editor on the arts section of the ''

Basler Zeitung ''Basler Zeitung'' (literally: "Basler Newspaper"), or ''BaZ'', is a Swiss German-language regional daily newspaper, published in Basel. History and profile ''Basler Zeitung'' was created in 1977 through the merger of the '' Basler Nachricht ...

'' newspaper in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

. His work has won several awards, including the Heimrad Bäcker Prize and the Swiss Literature Prize. He is known for his experimental prose style and has courted controversy in the past: his 1992 novel ''Babyfucker'' caused a minor scandal when it was presented in a literary competition (where despite protests from some of the judges, it went on to win the second-place Prize of Carinthia).Patrick Greaney, ‘Urs Allemann's Beginnings’
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Selected works

*''Fuzzhase''. Ammann, Zürich, 1988 *''Öz & Kco: Sieben fernmündliche Delirien''. Ammann, Zürich, 1990 *''Babyficker''. Deuticke, Vienna. 1992. ('' Babyfucker'', translated by Peter Smith, Les Figues Press, 2010) *''Der alte Mann und die Bank: Ein Fünfmontagsgequassel''. Deuticke, Vienna, 1993. ('' The Old Man and the Bench'', translated by Patrick Greaney,

Dalkey Archive Press Dalkey Archive Press is an American publisher of fiction, poetry, foreign translations and literary criticism specializing in the publication or republication of lesser-known, often avant-garde works. The company has offices in Funks Grove, Il ...

, 2015) *''Holder die Polder''. Engeler, Basel, Weil am Rhein and Vienna, 2001 *''schœn! schœn!'' Engeler, Basel and Weil am Rhein, 2003 *''Im Kinde schwirren die Ahnen''. Engeler, Basel and Weil am Rhein, 2008 *''In Sepps Welt''. Klever, Vienna, 2013

References

1948 births Swiss newspaper journalists Swiss writers in German Living people People from Schlieren, Switzerland {{Switzerland-writer-stub