The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia is awarding 21 work grants this year to Swiss writers from all four linguistic regions in Switzerland. Thanks to the financial support provided, the authors are able to concentrate on a literary project over a certain period of time without being distracted by monetary concerns.

A total of 126 writers from all over Switzerland applied for a work grant this year. Among entries in all of the country’s four national languages, the jury selected projects that stood out in terms of content, style and concept. Eleven of the projects supported are in German, seven in French, two in Italian and one in Rhaeto-Romanic. Each will be sponsored with a grant amounting to CHF 25,000.

«We can look forward to a broad spectrum of literary works», says Angelika Salvisberg, Head of Literature & Society at Pro Helvetia. «The projects chosen are from various genres including poetry, novels and short stories, and their subject matter as well as stylistic approach is also highly diverse.» It ranges, she reveals, from love poetry to visions of a future society.

A large number of promising young writers managed to get a nod from the jury, including Adam Schwarz, Ariane Koch and Guy Chevalley. Others gaining the jurors’ approval are already established writers, such as Sibylle Berg, Dieter Bachmann, Antoinette Rychner and Matteo Terzaghi. With Andry Dumenic, an author writing in Rhaeto-Romanic was also among this year’s work grant recipients.

The completed manuscripts must be submitted to Pro Helvetia within five years. To enable the resulting books to gain a broad readership, their author and publisher can jointly apply for a promotion grant of CHF 4,000 at most from Pro Helvetia. Writers who have been awarded a work grant may apply for one again after four years at the earliest.

The following authors have been selected for a work grant in 2017 and a contribution to the promotion of their book once it is published:

German:
Sibylle Berg, Zurich
Dieter Bachmann, Zurich
Daniel Goetsch, Berlin
Roman Graf, Winterthur
Noëmi Lerch, Aquila
Ariane Koch, Basel
Adam Schwarz, Basel
Armin Senser, Berlin
Alain Claude Sulzer, Basel
Katharina Tanner, Basel
Bettina Wohlfender, La-Chaux-de-Fonds

French:
Julien Bouissoux, Berne
Guy Chevalley, Plan-les-Ouates
Fabienne Radi, Geneva
Antoinette Rychner, Valangin
Bertrand Schmid, Neuchâtel
Anne-Sophie Subilia, Lausanne
Sonia Zoran, Chexbres

Italian:
Maurizia Balmelli, Locarno
Matteo Terzaghi, Bellinzona

Rhaeto-Romanic:
Andry Dumenic, Zuoz

Media information: Lisa Stadler, Communication
+41 44 267 71 51, lstadler@prohelvetia.ch

Media Release of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, 14.06.2017