Peter Bichsel

Peter Bichsel (Lucerne, 1935 - Zuchwil, 2025) was a Swiss writer and journalist who wrote in German. Associated with modern German-language literature and a member of Group 47, he is remembered for brief, calmly ironic prose and for his close attention to everyday life in Switzerland. His work made him one of the most recognisable voices in post-war German-language writing.

Born in Lucerne to manual workers, he moved as a child with his family to Olten, a town he stayed connected to throughout his life. He trained as a primary school teacher and worked in that profession until 1968. From 1974 to 1981 he served as personal adviser and speechwriter to Willy Ritschard, a member of the Swiss Federal Council. He later settled on the outskirts of Solothurn, where he devoted himself to writing, and between 1972 and 1989 he taught as a visiting lecturer and writer in residence at American universities.

His career began in the press, with short pieces in Swiss newspapers and magazines. His breakthrough came with the short-story collection And Really Frau Blum Would Very Much Like to Meet the Milkman, published in 1964 in a modest edition that sold out quickly after an enthusiastic review by Marcel Reich-Ranicki. His books for young readers use the logic of seemingly simple tales to explore children's stubborn habit of taking words literally. In the 1970s and 1980s his journalism took up much of his time, though he returned to his familiar style with Der Busant (1985). His prose relies on simple sentence structures and a steady, observant gaze on Switzerland.

Bichsel was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland from 1957 to 1995 and a founding member of the Gruppe Olten. His legacy lies in showing how much of life's monotony and banality is of human making, and can therefore be questioned.