Peter J. Betts

Peter John Hornbuckle Betts (born April 8, 1941 in Livingstone , then Northern Rhodesia ; † December 10, 2019 ) was a British - Swiss writer , translator and journalist . He was the son of a Swiss woman and a British woman.

Life

Peter J. Betts grew up in what was then the British Protectorate of Northern Rhodesia and spoke several African languages ​​fluently. He lost his mother at the age of four and was sent to Switzerland by his father for training at the age of six. He attended school in Huttwil and studied English and German in Bern . He worked as a teacher , journalist, writer and translator. From 1978 to 2003 he was cultural representative of the city of Bern, although he was still British. His autobiographical novel Tales from the River (2015) spans the years 1910 to 2000 and is set in Northern Rhodesia, South Africa , German-speaking Switzerland as well as in England and Sweden . Peter J. Betts was a member of the Authors of Switzerland (AdS), the Bern Writers' Association and the PEN. He had a daughter from his first marriage and lived with his wife in Hinterkappelen near Bern until his death .

plant

prose

• Mirage. Poetry in prose , 1961
• The Commuters , 1975
• Adaptation attempts. Traces of a Childhood , 1978
• Laurel and lettuce. Essays, Speeches held and angry , 1980
• The Mirror of Kajiveh , 1983
• Natter - An Empire , 1989
• Black Box , 2010, ISBN 978-3-937717-47-0
• Stories from the River , 2015, ISBN 978-3-906276-15-1
• Agent J and Other Christmas Stories , 2018, ISBN 978-3-905896-89-3

Plays

• The Stage , 1962
• Oh Auerbach , 1972 (with Sam Jaun )
• Saul , 1973
• Bier , 1974 (with Sam Jaun)
• The new Bernese pleasure, fright and tragedy (with Sam Jaun)
• Emergency brake , 1985
• Day of the Tulips , 1986
• You Sing the Dolphins , 1996

Poetry

• Tracks in the Wind , 2017, ISBN 978-3906276564

Awards

• 1972: Drama Prize from the Biel-Solothurn City Theater
• 1974: Short story award from Observer magazine
• 1976: Sponsorship award from the city of Bern
• 1978: Book Prize of the City of Bern
• 1981: Prize from the Swiss Schiller Foundation

Web links

• Literature by and about Peter J. Betts in the catalog of the German National Library
• Peter J. Betts at Dittrich Verlag
• Peter J. Betts at Literapedia Bern

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Peter J. Betts. In: Kürschner's German Literature Calendar 2018/2019. Volume II: PZ. Walter de Gruyter , 2018, ISBN 978-3-11-057616-0 , p. 67.
2. ↑ Stories from the River ( Memento of the original from July 7th, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Offizin Zürich Verlag .