Rebecca Gisler (born 1991) is a Swiss author and translator.
Gisler was born in Zürich and studied at the Swiss Literature Institute in Biel and at the University of Paris 8. A multilingual author, she writes both prose and poetry. Although she grew up in Zurich, Gisler usually writes in French, her mother tongue. She also initially wrote her debut novel D'oncle in French. While she was still working on the first draft, she first translated a passage and then the entire novel into German herself. The translation work sometimes felt like she was writing the text a second time, she says. [1]
Gisler's debut novel is about an uncle, his house in Brittany, and the visit of his niece and nephew. The novel is told from the niece's perspective; she observes the uncle and circles around him, describing his character and actions and exploring his idiosyncrasies.
The book has been widely praised in the press. Reviewer Roman Bucheli wrote in the NZZ that the bizarre stories in Gisler's debut novel seem to conceal a trauma. "Only gradually does one realize that a second melody resonates in the hilarity, albeit in a minor key, and that every room in this uncle's house has a false floor." [2]
D'oncle was extensively reviewed in the francophone media, from Libération to Le Temps. It was also nominated for several literary prizes, and in 2022 won the Swiss Literature Prize awarded by the Federal Office of Culture. [3]
It was published in English translation by Peirene Press in 2024. [4] [5]
Shmuel Yosef Agnon was an Austro-Hungarian-born Israeli novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew literature. In Hebrew, he is known by the acronym Shai Agnon. In English, his works are published under the name S. Y. Agnon.
Johanna Louise Spyri was a Swiss author of novels, notably children's stories. She wrote the popular book Heidi. Born in Hirzel, a rural area in the canton of Zürich, as a child she spent several summers near Chur in Graubünden, the setting she later would use in her novels.
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Ágota Kristóf was a Hungarian writer who lived in Switzerland and wrote in French. Kristóf received the "European prize" from ADELF, the association of Francophone authors, for Le Grand Cahier. It was followed by two sequels which are collectively The Notebook Trilogy. She won the 2001 Gottfried Keller Award in Switzerland and the Austrian State Prize for European Literature in 2008.
Hermann Burger was a Swiss poet, novelist and essayist. In his creative works Burger often focused on society's lonely outsiders and, increasingly, the inevitability of death. His virtuosity in applying literary styles and use of thorough research are significant features of many of his publications.
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Irena Brežná is a Slovak-Swiss writer, journalist and human rights activist writing in German.
Noëlle Revaz is a Swiss author, who writes in French. She is best known for her first novel, Rapport aux bêtes, which won several literary awards, including the Schiller Prize, the Prix Marguerite Audoux, the Prix Lettres Frontière, and the Henri Gaspoz Prize, and has been adapted for stage and film.
Kim de l'Horizon is a Swiss nonbinary novelist, playwright and thespian. In 2022, they won the German Book Prize and the Swiss Book Prize for their debut novel Blutbuch.
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