Background
Widmer was born in Basel in 1938, and for many years lived in Zurich.
editor journalist literary critic playwright translator writer
Widmer was born in Basel in 1938, and for many years lived in Zurich.
Widmer studied German, French and history at the universities of Basel and Montpellier. After completing his Doctor of Philosophy, he worked briefly as an editor at Suhrkamp Verlag, but left the publishing house during the Lektoren-Aufstand (‘Editors’ Revolt’) of 1968.
In 2014, Roman Bucheli, Literary Editor of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, said that Widmer: "is without doubt one of the most significant and versatile talents currently at work in the field of contemporary German-language literature as well as one of the most successful. His sales are invariably in the high five-figure bracket" 1977 Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden, Fernsehabend.
Akademie der Künste Berlin. Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic. Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung.