Al Imfeld
Al Imfeld ( baptized Alois Johann Imfeld; born January 14, 1935 in Lachen ; † February 14, 2017 in Zurich ) was a Swiss theologian , publicist and writer .
Life
Al Imfeld was born the first of thirteen children to a farming family. He grew up in the hamlet of Etzenerlen near Ruswil on the edge of the Napf area . After graduating from high school in Immensee , he joined the Bethlehem Mission Society and completed the seminary. He was ordained a priest , continued studying Catholic theology and philosophy - most recently at the Gregorian , from which he was expelled because of his positions - and then did a doctorate in Protestant theology in the USA . He then studied Comparative Religious Studies ,Development sociology , journalism and tropical agriculture . He had four degrees and was at home on four continents.
He was finally suspended from the priesthood in the USA and, according to his own statements, also excommunicated .
Imfeld was considered to be one of the best experts on Africa , a committed educator between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. At the beginning of the 1970s he founded the Third World Information Service i3w , was co-editor of the series of novels Dialog Africa , co-founder and author of the LiteraturNachrichten . Among other things, he worked as an editor for the magazine Neue Wege and as a columnist for various newspapers. Most recently he lived as a freelance journalist in Zurich.
Imfeld was the author of over 50 book publications and numerous articles for the press and radio on African and development issues.
Works (selection)
- End of dialogue? Switzerland – South Africa. Geneva 1973.
- Black answer. Christianity and Religion in Africa's Literature. Missionsverlag, Basel 1979.
- Unlearn what makes me dumb. Reading book on African literature. Unionsverlag, Zurich 1980, ISBN 3-293-00013-4 .
- Vision and weapon. African authors, subjects, traditions. Unionsverlag, Zurich 1981, ISBN 3-293-00025-8 .
- The stones of the sanctuary lie scattered. Poems. Dendron, Bern 1984, ISBN 3-905391-18-X .
- The desert conquers us. Poems. Dendron, Bern 1984, ISBN 3-905391-16-3 .
- Hunger and help. Provocations. Unionsverlag, Zurich 1985, ISBN 3-293-00097-5 .
- Anger and sadness. Poetic impulses for a media philosophy. Dendron, Bern 1985, ISBN 3-905391-24-4 .
- Signs of life. Sour lyrics. 33 poems. Dendron, Bern 1986, ISBN 3-905391-25-2 .
- Resistance in South Africa. Apartheid, church opposition, solidarity. Exodus, Freiburg / Switzerland 1986, ISBN 3-905575-25-6 .
- Sugar. Unionsverlag, Zurich 1985, ISBN 3-293-00044-4 .
- We don't cry anymore, Africa. Women's life. Im Waldgut, Frauenfeld 1994, ISBN 3-7294-0063-0 .
- When bats startle, there is something in the air that no one can change: stories from Africa and the Lucerne hinterland. Im Waldgut, Frauenfeld 1994, ISBN 3-7294-0205-6 .
- Chameleon and chimera. African viewpoints. Unionsverlag, Zurich 1994, ISBN 3-293-00183-1 .
- Mandala, boucliers, signs: circle poems / cercle de poèmes. Dendron, Chabrey 1995, ISBN 3-905391-37-6 .
- Al dente. Stories from the world's kitchens. Rotpunkt, Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-85869-164-X .
- One day in early summer, shortly before the milking, a man came lightly and almost prancing from the forest. New stories. Im Waldgut, Frauenfeld 1997, ISBN 3-7294-0241-2 .
- Breadless. The beautiful new food. Unionsverlag, Zurich 1998, ISBN 3-293-00256-0 .
- Mountains do not grow into the sky but into the depths. Stories from the hinterland. Im Waldgut, Frauenfeld 2002, ISBN 3-7294-0279-X .
- A foreign home & a thousand borders. 101 poems. Dendron, Chabrey 2005, ISBN 3-905391-50-3 .
- Lightning and love. Stories from four continents. Rotpunkt, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-85869-291-3 .
- Read and get rich. Stories of money. Rotpunkt, Zurich 2007, ISBN 978-3-85869-340-2 .
- In the shadow of a night and Vesuvius smokes. Poems. Dendron, Chabrey 2007, ISBN 978-3-905391-52-7 .
- The development. Metropolis, Marburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-89518-652-3 .
- Elephants in the Sahara. Agricultural stories from Africa. Rotpunkt, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-85869-404-1 .
- Transit Memorials. Dendron, Chabrey 2010, ISBN 978-3-905391-63-3 .
- How Noah's Ark got on the bowl. Childhood stories from the Lucerne hinterland. Rotpunkt, Zurich 2011, ISBN 978-3-85869-457-7 .
- Africa as a world religion. Between appropriation and idealization. Stämpfli, Bern 2011, ISBN 978-3-7272-1314-4 .
- Mission completed. Thoughtful things about the religious conquest of the world. Stämpfli, Bern 2012, ISBN 978-3-7272-1353-3 .
- On the roads to heaven. Mission stories from Switzerland and Africa. Rotpunkt, Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3-85869-531-4 .
- Africa in a poem. Offizin, Zurich, 2015, ISBN 978-3-906276-03-8
- AgroCity - the city for Africa . Sketches for a new urbanity. Rotpunkt, Zurich 2016, ISBN 978-3-85869-709-7 .
Awards
- 1983: Honorary gift from the Canton of Zurich for "efforts to promote African dialogue"
- 1984: 1st prize for sugar from the Christoph Eckenstein Foundation
- 1990: Zurich journalist award for dancing around the Maggi cube
- 1990: European Journalist Award, Klagenfurt, for all about the Maggi cube
- 1997: Central Switzerland Audience Award for Literature for Alphabet Soup
- 2005: Literature Prize of the Canton of Zurich for Lightning and Love
- 2014: Pro Litteris Prize for his complete professional work
literature
- Lotta Suter: At home all over the world. Al Imfeld - A biography . Rotpunktverlag, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-85869-292-1 .
Web links
- Publications by and about Al Imfeld in the Helveticat catalog of the Swiss National Library
- Literature by and about Al Imfeld in the catalog of the German National Library
- Al Imfeld's own website
- Entry in the Bibliomedia Foundation's authors' directory
- Entry about Al Imfeld in the lexicon of the Association of Authors of Switzerland
- Rudolf Walther: Book review of Lotta Suter's biography from the Tages-Anzeiger on June 27, 2005
- Daniel Goldstein: Saturday interview: "I've always had hardship and hardship with Africa" . In: Der Bund , December 18, 2010
- Thomas Widmer: "Ten percent of people are just lazy" . Interview in: Tages-Anzeiger , May 17, 2014
- Hannes Hug: Al Imfeld: “My life is climbing a social Mount Everest” . Interview in the program Focus on Radio SRF 3 , May 19, 2014 (mp3; 28.2 MB; 60:58 minutes)
- David Vogel: Between Napf and Nairobi - lateral thinker Al Imfeld has died. Interview with Lotta Suter on SRF 2 Kultur radio , February 16, 2017
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lotta Suter: At home all over the world , p. 16.
- ↑ Pirmin Meier: Al Imfeld, the idiosyncratic man of God. Obituary . Luzerner Zeitung , February 16, 2017, accessed on February 17, 2017.
- ↑ Riccarda Trepp: Al Imfeld: priest, journalist, agricultural expert, griot. (mp3; 211 MB; (45:13 minutes)) Radio SRF 1 , broadcast “People and Horizons”, August 7, 2011, accessed on February 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Al Imfeld - short biography. Al Imfeld's website, accessed February 17, 2017 .
- ^ The founding of the Third World Information Service. January 26, 2012, archived from the original on May 17, 2014 ; accessed on February 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Litprom site , accessed on February 17 2017th
- ↑ Awards . Al Imfeld's website, accessed February 17, 2017.
- ↑ Thomas Widmer: "Ten percent of people are just lazy". Interview in: Tages-Anzeiger , May 17, 2014, accessed on February 17, 2017.
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Imfeld, Al |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Imfeld, Alois Johann (baptismal name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss journalist and writer |
DATE OF BIRTH | January 14, 1935 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Laughter SZ |
DATE OF DEATH | February 14, 2017 |
Place of death | Zurich |