Milena Moser

Milena Moser (born Milena Pörtner on July 13, 1963) is a Swiss writer. Her first language (or dialect) is Swiss German. She has emigrated to the United States of America twice, in 1998 and again in 2015, but German remains the language in which she writes, and in which by 2018 more than twenty of her novels had been published.[1][2][3]

Milena Moser
Born
Milena Pörtner

(1963-07-13) 13 July 1963
Zürich, Switzerland
NationalitySwiss
OccupationWriter

Biography

Milena Pörtner was born on July 13, 1963 in Zürich, Switzerland. Her father was the writer-playwright and dramaturge Paul Pörtner (1925-1984).[4] Marlis Pörtner, her mother, is a psychologist who in her later years has also come to prominence as a successful author.[5] And Milena Moser's brother, Stephan Pörtner, is an author too.[6]

She says she knew when she was 8 that she wanted to become a writer.[1] She attended a middle school with a non-technical focus (Diplommittelschule) and went on to complete an apprenticeship for the book trade.[7] After that she took a writing job with the Swiss broadcasting organisation before heading for Paris where she lived for two years.[8] By now aged 21, it was while living in Paris that she wrote her first (35 years later still unpublished) novels.[2] In the words of one source this was the start of a period during which she "collected rejection letters for six years".[9] (More recently she has been identified as one of Switzerland's most successful writers".[8])

By 1987 she was back in Zürich. With her first husband, the book trader René Moser, she set up a low volume magazine "Sans Blague, Magazin für Schund und Sünde" ("... Magazine for Trash and Sins"). With a print run of 500 per edition, this became the vehicle for the publication of her first stories.[10] She and / or her friends also created the "Krösus Verlag" (publishing business) so that she would be able to publish her books.[3] In 1990 "Krösus Verlag" produced the first of her published novels, "Gebrochene Herzen" ("Broken Hearts").[10] Since that point Milena Moser has been able to support herself from her writing.[10]

With her next novel the memorably titled, "Die Putzfraueninsel" / "L'île des femmes de ménage", she found a wider market, with 250,000 copies sold of the German edition alone. This became the first of her novels to appear in a French translation. In 1996 the German (formerly East German) film-maker Peter Timm produced a film version.[11]

In 1998, accompanied by her two sons and her second husband, the photographer Thomas Kern, she relocated to San Francisco. The decision to move was a spontaneous one, reached the previous year during a holiday in the States.[12] During the eight years she spent in California she wrote three songs for the singer Michael von der Heide. "Bad Hair Days", "The postman died" and "Capuccino" later found their way onto von der Heide's album "Tourist", which appeared in 2000 and reached position 5 in the Swiss hit parade. (That makes it Michael von der Heide's most popular album to date.)

Milena Moser returned to Switzerland in 2006. She now teamed up the (formerly East German) playwright-author Sibylle Berg and with her agent Anne Wieser to set up a "writing school".[13] In a "writing workshop" in Aarau she started providing writing courses for the untutored, also offering her services as a "writing coach" in classes producing jointly authored pieces of work. While Moser concentrated on face-to-face teaching, her business partner Sibylle Berg placed her own focus on on-line tuition courses, available to German-language students unwilling or unable to make their way to Aarau.[13] By March 2010 it was reported that 300 students had opted for these "virtual courses".[13]

In 2015, by now divorced from her second husband, she returned again to the United States and bought a house in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she settled down to live alone, devoting her time exclusively to her writing.[1]

Published output

  • Gebrochene Herzen oder Mein erster bis elfter Mord. Erzählungen. Krösus, Zürich 1990; Blanvalet, München 2006, ISBN 3-442-36227-X.
  • Die Putzfraueninsel. Roman. Krösus, Zürich 1991; Blanvalet, München 2004, ISBN 3-442-36128-1.
  • Das Schlampenbuch. Erzählungen. Krösus, Zürich 1992; Blanvalet, München 2005, ISBN 3-442-36175-3.
  • Blondinenträume. Roman. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1994; als Taschenbuch ebd. 2004, ISBN 3-499-23608-7.
  • Mein Vater und andere Betrüger. Roman. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1996; als Taschenbuch ebd. 1998, ISBN 3-499-22233-7.
  • Das Faxenbuch. A correspondence with Angela Praesent. Rowohlt Taschenbuch, Reinbek 1996, ISBN 3-499-13928-6.
  • Das Leben der Matrosen. Ein Zeitungsroman in Fortsetzungen (aus dem Tages-Anzeiger). Rowohlt Taschenbuch, Reinbek 1999, ISBN 3-499-22621-9.
  • Artischockenherz. Roman. Blessing, München 1999; Goldmann, München 2001, ISBN 3-442-35520-6.
  • Bananenfüße. Roman. Blessing, München 2001; Blanvalet, München 2003, ISBN 3-442-35901-5.
  • Sofa, Yoga, Mord. Roman. Blessing, München 2003; Blanvalet, München 2006, ISBN 3-442-36380-2.
  • Schlampen-Yoga oder Wo geht’s hier zur Erleuchtung? Blessing, München 2005, ISBN 3-89667-278-9; Heyne, München 2007, ISBN 978-3-453-60041-6.
  • Stutenbiss. Roman, Blessing, München 2007, ISBN 978-3-89667-217-9; Heyne, München 2010, ISBN 978-3-453-40740-4.
  • Flowers in your hair. Wie man in San Francisco glücklich wird. Blessing, München 2008, ISBN 978-3-89667-343-5; Heyne, München 2009, ISBN 978-3-453-40675-9.
  • Möchtegern. Roman. Nagel & Kimche, München 2010, ISBN 978-3-312-00452-2.
  • Montagsmenschen. Roman. Nagel & Kimche, München 2012, ISBN 978-3-312-00496-6[14]
  • Das wahre Leben. Roman. Nagel & Kimche, München 2013, ISBN 978-3-312-00576-5.
  • Das Glück sieht immer anders aus. Nagel & Kimche, München 2015, ISBN 978-3-312-00653-3.
  • Gebrauchsanweisung für Zürich. Piper, München 2015, ISBN 978-3492276597
  • Hinter diesen blauen Bergen, Verlag Nagel & Kimche, 2017, ISBN 978-3312010172
  • Land der Söhne, Verlag Nagel & Kimche, Zürich 2018

References

  1. Anne-Sophie Scholl (23 February 2015). ""Für Frauen fängt mit 50 das Leben noch einmal richtig an"". Die zweite Scheidung, Erschöpfung, schwindende Lust, Schriftstellerin zu sein. Tamedia AG (Tages-Anzeiger für Stadt und Kanton Zürich AG), Zürich. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  2. ""Gell, das Motto ist 'stressfrei'"". Star-Autorin Milena Moser über Weihnachten. Ringier AG (Blick-Gruppe), Zofingen. 23 December 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  3. "Milena Moser". Biographie - Bibliographie. "Le Culturactif Suisse" (Le Service de Presse Suisse). Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  4. Reinhard Döhl (author and co-publisher. "Es gibt kein Firmament mehr". In memoriam Paul Pörtner. Johannes Auer (co-publisher: "stuttgarter-schule"). Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  5. Dorothee Vögeli (27 December 2010). "Die gemeinsame Passion des Schreibens". Für Marlis Pörtner war Schreiben lange kein Thema, weil die ganze Familie schriftstellerisch tätig war. Doch jetzt, mit 77 Jahren, ist auch sie eine gefragte Autorin. Mit ihren Kindern, Milena Moser und Stephan Pörtner, fühlt sie sich eng verbunden. Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  6. Silvia Süess (7 July 2011). ""Ich wollte einen Helden, der an die Langstrasse passt"". Dem Zürcher Autor Stephan Pörtner ist mit seinem fünften «Köbi»-Krimi «Stirb, schöner Engel» ein spannendes Werk zwischen Kriminalroman und Sozialstudie gelungen. Ein Treffen mit dem Autor in Bern. WOZ Die Wochenzeitung, Zürich. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  7. "Milena Moser". Bibliomedia Suisse, Lausanne. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  8. "Allgäuer Literaturfestival mit Milena Moser in Wangen". Nicole Häcker i.A. Allgaeu-Tourismus, Haldenwang. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  9. "Swiss Author Reading: Milena Moser". event publicity. Global Atlanta. November 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  10. "Fünf Bücher von Milena Moser". Philippe Wyssen & Melanie Wyssen-Voß i.A. fünf Bücher. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  11. "Milena Moser: Die Putzfraueninsel". Biwidus. 4 October 1996. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  12. Angela Gatterburg (29 November 1999). "Das Leben als Komposthaufen". Was will das Weib? Milena Moser ist eine Expertin für das ganz normale Chaos der Frauen. Ihr neuer Roman „Artischockenherz“ porträtiert eine turbulente Familie. Der Spiegel (online). Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  13. Ulrike Schäfer (22 March 2010). "Online die Schulbank drücken bei Sibylle Berg". Ort für Schreibkurse, Recherchen, Publikationsmöglichkeit, aber auch verführerische Ablenkung: Wie das Internet das Leben von Autoren verändert hat. Die Zeit (online). Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  14. Rezension von Pieke Biermann im Deutschlandradio Kultur vom 7. März 2012: Von Verbrechen und Yoga-Weisheiten - Milena Moser: "Montagsmenschen"
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