Literature in conversation

Adolf Muschg was Professor of German Language and Literature at the ETH in Zurich from 1970 to 1999 and President of the Akademie der Künste Berlin from 2003 to 2006.
His extensive body of work has been honoured with numerous awards, including the Hermann Hesse Prize, the Georg Büchner Prize, the Grimmelshausen Prize and, most recently, the Swiss Grand Prix de Littérature.
His latest story is entitled "Not my life". He will read from it at the Catholic Academy on 23 January.
Adolf Muschg turned 90 last year. Perhaps dying is the last adventure that needs to be endured, he said. But here's to happiness
he could not do without until then: his love of language.
"Language is such a precious, incredible storehouse, and to draw from it or give it a wink
a twitch of irony or whatever, probably remains the medicine that made me ninety years old. I'm not at the end of it yet, and I'll never be at the end, but I have the feeling I'm on my way as long as I have to - and am allowed to - fight with language."
(Interview with the NZZ on his 90th birthday on 13 May 2024)