Iren Nigg
WINNER
WINNER
Biography
Iren Nigg was born in 1955 in Schaan, in the Principality of Liechtenstein. She also grew up in Schaan and attended the Höhere Töchterschule St.Elisabeth. Nigg then travelled extensively before she studied journalism at the Institut für Journalistik und Kommunikation, University of Fribourg in Switzerland, from 1981-1984. After her studies, she did press and PR work for various newspapers and non-profit organisations. From 1997-99 she was responsible for the PR of the association Aktion Miteinander, which promoted rights for foreigners in Liechtenstein.
Nigg started publishing short pieces of prose in literary magazines in 1987. In 1988, her first full-length book, Fieberzeit, appeared. After that she did not publish much at all until 2005, when 19 short prose texts by her were included in a compilation of writing by regional authors called Land Sichten II. In 2006, Nigg published her second book, Man wortet sich die Orte selbst
Nominated book : Man wortet sich die Orte selbst (Wording the Places Oneself)
Summary
Man wortet sich die Orte selbst consists of prose texts of different lengths, from short, condensed vignettes to short stories and novellas. In these texts, the author’s main concern is the exploration of the creative writing process. Iren Nigg starts at the level of individual words, more specifically, the sounds of words. At this level, she is often inspired by the way children play with new things or words: unbiased, with intense curiosity and serious dedication. When she takes her exploration on to the level of voices, characters and stories, or fragments of stories, the references change. Given the musical quality of Nigg’s writing, it is no surprise that dancing is one of the major metaphors for the creative writing process. Plots and characters are subordinated to the musical play of words and Nigg reveals and constructs different layers of meaning in her texts. She addresses stars, animals and human soulmates, among them a brother and a friend. Only rarely does she refer to concrete political events. Life is presented as a screenplay with stages that keep changing, while in the process of creative writing it is always “the heart which is her companion”.
Excerpts
Related publications
EUPL Retrospective Box
Various authors
EUPL Anthology 2011
Various authors