Robert Walser

Born in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, in 1878, Robert Walser wrote in German and became known for novels and short prose that make everyday life feel both intimate and slightly dreamlike. He worked a range of office and servant jobs when he was young, and those experiences fed directly into books such as Jakob von Gunten, as well as the brief, sharply observed pieces that became one of his trademarks.

Walser spent important writing years in Zurich and Berlin, where he published fiction that was admired by some fellow writers even if it never brought him wide fame. His style could be playful, modest, and quietly subversive all at once, finding drama in errands, rooms, weather, and passing thoughts rather than grand events.

In the later part of his life, he spent many years in Swiss psychiatric institutions and published little. He died on December 25, 1956, and his reputation grew strongly after his death, with later readers and writers recognizing him as one of the most original voices in modern German-language literature.