Sibylle Berg (born 2 June 1962) is a German-Swiss contemporary author and playwright. They write novels, essays, short fiction, plays, radio plays, and columns. And they are as of 2024 a member of the European Parliament. Their 18 books have been translated into 30 languages. They have won numerous awards, including the Thüringer Literaturpreis, the
Bertolt-Brecht-Literaturpreis
Bertolt-Brecht-Literaturpreis () is a literary award in Augsburg, Germany, birthplace of Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre pract ...
, and the Johann-Peter-Hebel-Preis. They have become an iconic figure in German alternative sub-cultures, gaining a large fan base among the LGBT community and the European artistic communities. They live in Switzerland and Israel. Their 2019 work '' GRM. Brainfuck'', a science fiction novel set in a dystopian near future won the Swiss Book Prize and was noticed by The Washington Post. It reached fourth place on the Spiegel Bestseller list, with the sequel, '' RCE'', entering the list as highest entry of the week at place 14. On 1 March 2023 Berg was invited as special guest to open the high-profile Elevate Festival in
Graz
Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
.
Life
Berg was born on 2 June 1962 in
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
, East Germany. They spent their childhood and youth in Constanta, Romania. Their father was a music professor, and their mother was a librarian. Before beginning their higher education in West Germany, they were trained as a combat diver. They studied oceanography at the
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...
, and worked various jobs. In 1996, they moved to
Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, Switzerland. Berg married in 2004, and has held Swiss citizenship since 2012. Berg is known to support the
Straight Edge
Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated as sXe or signified by XXX or simply X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs in reaction to the punk subculture's excesses. Some ...
movement. Berg describes themself as
non-binary
Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...
.
In 2023 an article in the
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
The (''NZZ''; "New Newspaper of Zurich") is German language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zurich. The paper was founded in 1780. It has a reputation as a high-quality newspaper, as the German Swiss newspaper of record
...
put big parts of Berg's biographical details into question.
On 25 September 2023 it was announced that Berg will be competing in the election for the European Parliament in June 2024 for
Die PARTEI
(''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazine ...
.
In the
2024 European Parliament election
The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth Elections to the European Parliament, parliamentary election since the 1979 European Parliament election, first direct electio ...
, Berg was elected together with
Martin Sonneborn
Martin Hans Sonneborn (born 15 May 1965) is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He is a founder and federal chairman of Die PARTEI. He was editor-in-chief of the satirical magazine ''Titanic (magazine), Titanic'' fr ...
. Berg holds
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
Berg's first novel, ''A Few People Search for Happiness and Laugh Themselves to Death'', was published in 1997 by Reclam Publishing, after previously being rejected by 50 other publishers.
, Berg has written 18 novels. To promote their newly released books, Berg goes on tour, with the 2012 release of ''Vielen Dank für das Leben'' (Thank You For This Life) including contributions from film and theater actors Katia Riemann, Mathias Brandt, and musician Mary Ocher, and the release of ''GRM: brainfuck'' featured the
grime
Grime may refer to:
* Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust
Music
* Grime music, a genre of music
* ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity
* "Grime", a 2023 song by Macklemore from ''Ben''
* "Grime", a 2024 song by Kittie from ''Fire
...
rappers T.Roadz, and Prince Rapid and Slix of
Ruff Sqwad
Ruff Sqwad are an English grime crew. was selected in 2014 as the play of the year by Theater heute.
In 2015, the play ''Und dann kam Mirna'' (And Then Came Mirna) won the Friedrich Luft Prize as the best production in Berlin and Potsdam.
In 2019, the play ''Wonderland Ave'' was invited to the "Mülheim Theatertage".
In 2019, the play ''Hate Triptych – Ways out of the crisis'' (Hass-Triptychon – Wege aus der Krise) won the Nestroypreis as the best play of the year in German-speaking countries.
Berg's plays have been staged and aired in the United States, Britain, Italy, France, Spain, Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Turkey, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Romania, and Bulgaria.
Social activism
Berg has long been a social activist. In 2018, they launched a referendum against insurance companies monitoring individual insurers without the requirement for a court order. They support the referendum E-ID, against privatization of a digital passport project into private businesses. In 2019, in response to man-dominated historiography, together with other women and non-binary people, they published ''The Canon for the Visibility of Women in Science Art and Literature''.
Berg is active in science education. Their interviews with experts in various disciplines were published in the Swiss magazine ''Republik'', and then in book form under the title ''Nerds retten die Welt'' ("Nerds save the world").
They support the Charter of Digital Fundamental Rights of the European Union, published at the end of November 2016, and is a regular guest at the Re:publica conference.
Other projects
Berg has written various contributions for ''Die Zeit'', the ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'', and ''Die Presse'', among others. They have also been a columnist for ''Spiegel Online'' since January 2011, under the title "S.P.O.N. – Fragen Sie Frau Sibylle" (Ask Ms. Sibylle), published weekly until March 2018, and bi-weekly since then. The column has more than 4 million followers. Berg also conducts a regular interview series for the Swiss online magazine ''Republik'', entitled "Nerds Save The World", in which they speak to specialists from various disciplines. In 2020, a book named ''Nerds Save the World'' that unites all conversations was published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch.
Berg has written songs to their own plays, as well as to other artists, like the lyrics for several songs by the Swiss singer Sina. In 2011, the song "Ich Schwvara", written by Berg and sang by Sina, was the song of the year and the most-played song at weddings in Switzerland.
Berg wrote the text "Speed" for Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub. Along with
Rammstein
Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, drummer Christoph ...
and Element of Crime, Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub can be heard on the recorded reading of Berg's novel ''Sex II'' (1999).
From January 2016 to December 2017, Berg read their own satirical texts off-air ahead of the introduction of guests on the
ZDFneo
ZDFneo is a German free-to-air television channel, programmed for an audience aged 25 to 49 to complement the primarily older-skewing main channels of public broadcasters ZDF and ARD. It replaced ZDF's documentary channel ZDFdokukanal on 1 N ...
talk show ''Schulz & Böhmermann''.
Director
In March 2013, Berg co-directed, with
Hasko Weber
Hasko Weber (born 10 December 1963) is a German actor and theatre director.
Life
Weber was born in Dresden. After his Abitur, he first did an apprenticeship as a machine and plant fitter and then trained as an actor from 1985 to 1989 at the Th ...
, ''Angst Reist Mit'' (Fear Travels With Us) at the Stuttgart Theater. That same year, The Berliner Festspiele honored them in "A Day with Sibylle Berg", where they directed a day-long event (including 60 well-known artists, some personal friends, others collaborators). In October 2015, they directed their play, ''How to Sell a Murder House'', at the Neumarkt Zurch Theater.
Educational canon
In 2018, Berg collaborated with Simone Meier, Hedwig Richter,
Margarete Stokowski
Margarete Stokowski (born April 14, 1986 in Zabrze, Poland) is a Polish-German writer and essayist. She is best known for her weekly essays for the magazine Spiegel Online where she writes about the current state of feminism in Germany. The numb ...
, and seven others to produce the list "Women You Need to Know", published in August by ''
Spiegel Online
' () is a German news website. It was established in 1994 as ''Spiegel Online'' as a content mirror of the magazine ''Der Spiegel''. In 1995, the site began producing original stories and it introduced ''Spiegel Online International'' for artic ...
'' and ''Watson.ch''. The canon includes 145 women and three female artist groups, sub-divided into science, technology, research, as well as politics, literature, and art.
Teaching work
Berg has been teaching dramaturgy at the
Zurich University of the Arts
Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, ) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich's School of Art and Design (HGKZ) and ...
since 2013.
Works translated into English
* ''By the Way, Did I Ever Tell You''. Editor Raphael Gygax, Distributed Art Pub Incorporated, 2007,
* ''AND NOW: THE WORLD!''. Directed by Abigail Graham, Hackney Showroom London, 2015.
* ''Wonderland Avenue'', commissioned by Frieze Projects for Frieze Arts Fair 2016. Directed by Sebastian Nuebling, set built by German artist Claus Richter.
* ''Grime'' 'GRM Brainfuck'' trans. Tim Mohr, St. Martin's Griffin, 2022. ISBN 9781250796516.
Works translated into French
* ''Chercher le bonheur et crever de rire'' Ein paar Leute suchen das Glück und lachen sich tot" trans. by Maryvonne Litaize and Yasmin Hoffmann, Nîmes, France, Éditions Jacqueline Chambon, coll. "Métro", 2000, 206 pp.
* ''Amerika'' Amerika" trans. by Maryvonne Litaize and Jacqueline Chambon, Nîmes, France, Éditions Jacqueline Chambon, coll. " Métro ", 2001, 267 p.
* ''La Mauvaise Nouvelle d'abord. Des histoires d'hommes : nouvelles'' Das unerfreuliche Zuerst. Herrengeschichten" trans. by Maryvonne Litaize and Yasmin Hoffmann, Nîmes, France, Éditions Jacqueline Chambon, coll. "Métro", 2003, 150 p.
* ''La Vie de Martin'' Helges Leben" trans. by Pascal Paul-Harang, Paris, Éditions Climats, 2004, 75 p.
* ''Herr Mautz'' Herr Mautz" trans. by Silvia Berutti-Ronelt and Laurent Hatat, Toulouse, France, Presses Universitaires du Mirail, coll. "Nouvelles scènes", 2004, 73 p.
* ''Chien, femme, homme'' Hund, Frau, Mann" trans. by Pascal Paul-Harang, Paris, L'Arche Éditeur, coll. "Scène ouverte", 2012, 41 p L'Arche éditeur
* ''Merci bien pour la vie'' Vielen Dank für das Leben" trans. by Rose Labourie, Arles, France, Actes Sud, 2015, 352 pp.
Awards
* 2000: Marburg Literature prize for ''Amerika''
* 2006/2007: Stipendium Landis & Gyr Foundation
* 2008: Wolfgang Koeppen Prize
* 2012: City of Zürich prize
* 2014: Play of the year of the magazine ''Theater heute'' for ''Es sagt mir nichts, das so genannte Draußen'' (''The So-Called Outside Means Nothing To Me'')
* 2015: Friedrich Luft Prize for ''Und dann kam Mirna'' (''And Then Came Mirna'')
* 2016: Audience Prize Plays. Mülheimer Theatertage NRW for ''Und dann kam Mirna'' (''And Then Came Mirna'') at the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin
* 2016:
Else Lasker-Schüler Dramatist Prize
Since 1993, the Else Lasker-Schüler Dramatist Prize () has been awarded by the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern on behalf of the Rhineland-Palatinate Foundation for Culture. The prize is named after expressionist poet Else Lasker-Schüler (1869–194 ...
* ''A Few People Search For Happiness And Laugh Themselves To Death / Ein paar Leute suchen das Glück und lachen sich tot.'' Roman. Reclam, Leipzig 1997; Reclam, Stuttgart 2008, .
* ''Sex II.'' Roman. Reclam, Leipzig 1998; Reclam, Stuttgart 2009, .
* ''Amerika.'' Roman. Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 1999; Goldmann, München 2001,
* ''Gold.'' Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2000; erw. Taschenbuchausgabe: Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2002, .
* ''Das Unerfreuliche zuerst. Herrengeschichten.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2001, .
* ''End Happy / Ende gut.'' Roman. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2004;
Rowohlt Verlag
Rowohlt Verlag is a German publishing house based in Hamburg, with offices in Reinbek and Berlin. It has been part of the Georg von Holtzbrinck Group since 1982. The company has been dissolved and restarted twice since its creation in 1908.
Hi ...
Süddeutsche Zeitung
The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...
'', 14 February 2005. (Rezension)
* ''Did I Ever Tell You... A Fairy Tale For Everyone / Habe ich dir eigentlich schon erzählt... – Ein Märchen für alle.'' Illustriert von Rita Ackermann und
Andro Wekua
Andro Wekua ( ka, ანდრო ვეკუა) (born 1977) is a Georgian artist based in Zurich, Switzerland, and Berlin, Germany.
Wekua was born in Sokhumi and witnessed an ethnic conflict in Abkhazia in the 1990s. His father, the Georgian ...
. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2006, .
* ''The Journey / Die Fahrt.'' Roman. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2007; Rowohlt, Reinbek 2009, .
* ''The Man Sleeps / Der Mann schläft.'' Roman. Hanser, München 2009; dtv, München 2011, .
* ''Thank You For This Life / Vielen Dank für das Leben.'' Roman. Hanser, München 2012, .
* ''How Am I Supposed To Stand All This? / Wie halte ich das nur alles aus? Fragen Sie Frau Sibylle.'' Hanser, München 2013, .
* ''The Day My Wife Found A Husband / Der Tag, als meine Frau einen Mann fand.'' Hanser, München 2015,
* ''Wonderful years. When we were still traveling the world / Wunderbare Jahre. Als wir noch die Welt bereisten.'' Hanser, München 2016, .
* ''GRM. Brainfuck.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2019,
* '' Nerds retten die Welt.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2020, .
* ''RCE. #RemoteCodeExecution'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2022, .
* '' My rather strange friend Walter.'' S. Fischer Verlage, Berlin 2024, .
* '' Try Praying.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2024, .
Theater
* ''A Few People Search For Happiness And Laugh Themselves To Death / Ein paar Leute suchen das Glück und lachen sich tot.'' (1999)
* ''Victor's Life / Helges Leben'' (2000)
* ''Dog, Woman, Man / Hund, Frau, Mann'' (2001)
* ''Herr Mautz'' (2002)
* ''Eine Stunde Glück'' (2003)
* ''Look, The Sun Is Going Down / Schau, da geht die Sonne unter'' (2003)
* ''It'll Be Alright. Never Love Again! / Das wird schon. Nie mehr Lieben!'' (2004)
* ''Make A Wish / Wünsch dir was. Ein Musical'' (2006)
* ''Did I actually tell you...? / Habe ich dir eigentlich schon erzählt..., 2 October 2007 Deutsches Theater in Göttingen. Director: Katja Fillmann'' (2007)
* ''Of Those Who Will Survive /Von denen, die überleben'' (2008)
* ''The Final Golden Years / Die goldenen letzten Jahre'' (2009)
* ''Only At Night / Nur nachts'' (2010)
* '' The Main Thing Is Work! / Hauptsache Arbeit!'' (2010)
* ''Missions Of Beauty / Missionen der Schönheit'' (2010)
* ''Don't Spoil The Surprise! / Lasst euch überraschen'' (2010)
* ''The Ladies Are Waiting / Die Damen warten'' (2012)
* ''Fear Travels With Us / Angst reist mit'' (2013, Berg's debut as stage director)
* ''Es sagt mir nichts, das sogenannte Draußen'' (2013)
* ''My Slightly Strange Friend Walter / Mein ziemlich seltsamer Freund Walter'' (2014)
* ''Good Cooking / Viel gut essen, von Frau Berg'' (2014)
* ''And Now: The World! / Und jetzt: Die Welt!'' (2015)
* ''And Then Came Mirna / Und dann kam Mirna'' (2015)
* ''How To Sell A Murder House'' (2015)
* ''After us the universe or the inner team knows no break/ Nach uns das All oder Das innere Team kennt keine Pause. 15 September 2017 Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin. Director: Sebastian Nübling '' (2017)
* ''Wonderland Ave., at: Schauspiel Köln, 8 June 2018; Director: Ersan Mondtag'' (2018)
* ''Hate Triptych – Ways out of the crisis / Hass-Triptychon — Wege aus der Krise''. Director: Ersan Mondtag (2019)
* ''In the gardens / In den Gärten'', 16 November 2019 Theater Basel (Director: Miloš Lolić) (2019)
* ''And surely the world disappeared with me / Und sicher ist mit mir die Welt verschwunden'', 24 October 2020 Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin. Director: Sebastian Nübling (2020)
* ''GRM Brainfuck ( based on the 2019 novel of the same name). A musical.'' 10 September 2021 premier at Thalia Theater. Director: Sebastian Nübling. Editing: Sibylle Berg (2021)
* ''It can only get better / Es kann doch nur noch besser werden''. 21 September 2023 premier at the Berliner Ensemble. Director: Max Lindemann.
* ''RCE #RemoteCodeExecution '', at: Berliner Ensemble, 25. April 2024. Director: Kay Voges.
* ''Toto or Thank You For This Life( based on the 2012 novel Thank You For This Life). '' 24 October 2024 premier at Burgtheater Wien. Director: Ersan Mondtag
Radio plays
* ''Sex II'' shortend reading of Sibylle Berg, with music of
Phillip Boa
Phillip Boa (born Ernst Ulrich Figgen; 18 January 1963) is a German independent musician, songwriter, singer, guitarist and composer. The musical style followed by Boa and his band Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub was described in a review by ''NME ...
,
Rammstein
Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, drummer Christoph ...
, Element of Crime, u. a. Reclam, Leipzig 1999.
* ''Amerika'', shortend reading of Sibylle Berg, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 1999.
* ''Gold'' shortend reading of Sibylle Berg, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 2000.
* ''Sex II'', director: Stefan Hardt and Inga Busch and Beate Jensen (SWR). 2000.
* ''Ein paar Leute suchen das Glück und lachen sich tot'', director: Beate Andres. voice:
Sophie Rois
Sophie Rois (born 1961) is an Austrian actress who lives and works in Berlin. She has appeared in such films as ''Three'', ''180°'', ''Enemy at the Gates'' and television programmes such as ''Polizeiruf 110'' and ''Die kleine Monsterin'' (voice) ...
, Dagmar Sitte,
Christian Berkel
Christian Berkel (born 28 October 1957) is a German actor. He is known for his appearances in '' Downfall'' (2004), ''Valkyrie'' (2008), ''Inglourious Basterds'' (2009) and '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' (2015).
Life and career
Berkel was born on ...
u. a. (NDR/HR), Munich 2003
* ''Ende gut'', Hörspiel, director: Claudia Johanna Leist, composer: Caspar Brötzmann (WDR). 2005.
* ''Das wird schon. Nie mehr lieben!'', adaptation: Wolfgang Stahl, director: Sven Stricker, voice: Leslie Malton, Stefanie Stappenbeck, Daniela Ziegler, Andreas Fröhlich (NDR) radio play of the month Juli. 2006.
* ''Hongkong Airport, 23.45 h.'' director: Claudia Johanna Leist, voice: Christian Redl, Angelika Bartsch,
Anna Thalbach
Anna Maria Joachim genannt Thalbach (born 1 June 1973), known as Anna Maria Thalbach, is a German actress. Her mother, Katharina Thalbach
Katharina Thalbach (; actually ''Katharina Joachim genannt Thalbach''; born 19 January 1954) is a Germ ...
, u. a. (WDR) 2007.
* ''Der Mann schläft.'' director: Leonhard Koppelmann, composer: Gerd Bessler, voice: Judith Engel, Leonie Landa, Markus John,
Jens Harzer
Jens Harzer (born 14 March 1972) is a German stage, film, and television actor. He began his career at the Munich Kammerspiele, and has been a member of the Thalia Theater (Hamburg), Thalia Theatre in Hamburg since 2009. He has appeared at the S ...
, Achim Buch, Marion Breckwoldt, Christian Redl (NDR) 2010.
* ''Vielen Dank für das Leben'', shortend reading of Gustav Peter Wöhler, 5 CD, 397 minutes. radio play Hamburg, Hamburg 2012.
* ''Und jetzt: die Welt! Oder: Es sagt mir nichts, das sogenannte Draußen.'', director: Stefan Kanis, voice: Marina Frenk (MDR) 2015.
*''GRM Brainfuck. voices: Torben Kessler, Lisa Hrdina''. 2019 Argon Verlag GmbH, Berlin