Helen Meier (17 April 1929 – 13 February 2021) was a Swiss writer and teacher. She wrote eight collections of short stories and three novels, and was awarded a number of prizes, including the Rauris Literature Prize, the Schweizerische Schillerstiftung prize twice, the Droste-Preis, and Culture Prizes from the Kantons of St. Gallen and Appenzell Ausserrhoden.
Biography Meier was born in Mels in 1929. Meier attended a in Rorschach and subsequently became a primary schoolteacher. After working in England, France, and Italy, she attended the University of Fribourg, studying languages and education. She subsequently worked for the Swiss Red Cross and as a special education teacher in Heiden. She began writing at the age of 55 in 1984, when she submitted a short story, Lichtempfindlich, for the Ingrid Bachmann Competition at the Festival of German-Language Literature. The story won the Ernst-Willner Prize and became part of her first published collection, Trockenwiese. Meier went on to publish regularly, and wrote eight collections of short stories and three novels. She was awarded a number of prizes, including the Rauris Literature Prize, the Schweizerische Schillerstiftung twice, the Droste-Preis, and Culture Prizes from the Kantons of St. Gallen and Appenzell Ausserrhoden.
Meier's last publication was a set of fairytales she had written as a young woman, The White Bird, the Hat, and the Princess, which was published in 2019.
Helen Meier died in a rest home in Trogen on her birthday, 13 February 2021, at the age of 91, after suffering from dementia.
Awards (1984) Rauris Literature Prize (1985) Prize of the (1985) Prize of the Schweizerische Schillerstiftung (2000) Contribution to Pro Helvetia (2000) Droste-Preis (2000) Kulturpreis des Kantons St. Gallen (2001) Kulturpreis des Kantons Appenzell Ausserrhoden (2017)
Works Trockenwiese (1984) Das einzige Objekt in Farbe (1985) Das Haus am See (1987) Das Gelächter (1989) Lebenleben (1989) Der Thurgau und seine Menschen (1990) Die Suche nach dem Paradies. 36 Photographien aus dem Appenzellerland (1991) Nachtbuch (1992) Die Thur. Von der Quelle bis zur Mündung (1992) Die Novizin (1995) Letzte Warnung (1996) Liebe Stimme (2000) Adieu, Herr Landammann! Sieben Begegnungen mit Jacob Zellweger-Zuberbühler (2001) Schlafwandel. Eine Erzählung (2006) Kleine Beweise der Freundschaft (2014) Die Agonie des Schmetterlings. Böse Geschichten (2015) Übung im Torkeln entlang des Falls. Ein Lesebuch (2017) Der weisse Vogel, der Hut und die Prinzessin. 23 Märchen (2019)
References