Urs Allemann


Urs Allemann is a Swiss writer and journalist.

Life and work

Allemann was born in 1948 in Schlieren, near Zurich, but grew up in Bonn and Berlin. He studied German and English at the University of Marburg and sociology and social psychology at Leibniz University Hannover. From 1975 to 1976 he was editor of the magazine Theater heute. From 1986 to 2005 he was literary editor on the arts section of the Basler Zeitung newspaper in Basel.
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.

Selected works