Heinz Helle
Autorenfoto zu Heinz Helle
© Max Zerrahn

Heinz Helle

Heinz Helle was born in 1978. He studied philosophy in Munich and New York. He has worked as a copywriter for advertising agencies and is a graduate of the Swiss Literature Institute in Biel. He was longlisted for the German Book Prize 2015 for his second novel, Eigentlich müssten wir tanzen. For his novel Die Überwindung der Schwerkraft he was awarded the Förderpreis zum Bremer Literaturpreis 2019 and was shortlisted for the Swiss Book Prize 2018. He lives in Zurich with his wife, writer Julia Weber, and their two daughters.
Heinz Helle was born in 1978. He studied philosophy in Munich and New York. He has worked as a copywriter for advertising agencies and is a graduate of the Swiss Literature Institute in Biel. He was longlisted for the German Book Prize 2015 for his second novel, Eigentlich müssten wir tanzen. For his novel Die Überwindung der Schwerkraft he was awarded the Förderpreis zum Bremer Literaturpreis 2019 and was shortlisted for the Swiss Book Prize 2018. He lives in Zurich with his wife, writer Julia Weber, and their two daughters.

PUBLICATIONS

Latest first
Prisma Bros
Year of Publication: 2026
Heinz HelleYear of Publication: 2026

Prisma Bros

»Understand me, appreciate me, praise me, love me. And you’d better do it in a way that I can believe. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee anything. Otherwise, I can’t rule out violent outbursts that could lead to deaths…«

With this covert, unspoken instruction manual for interacting with the average male ego, author Heinz Helle initiates an interrogation of images of masculinity in his play...
Waves
Year of Publication: 2022
Heinz HelleYear of Publication: 2022

Waves

He has become a father for the second time. One night his little daughter won’t stop crying, the next he wonders if she is still breathing. During the day he finds himself amidst nappies and...

Rights sold to:

Bulgaria (Funtasy), Greece (Gutenberg)

Overcoming Gravity
Year of Publication: 2018
Heinz HelleYear of Publication: 2018

Overcoming Gravity

A couple of beers, and then a couple more – that’s all it takes for a sense of closeness. Yet the two brothers know that the warmth of the alcohol is not really a match for the cold outside as...

Rights sold to:

Bulgaria (Funtasy), Greece (Gutenberg)

Euphoria
Year of Publication: 2015
Heinz HelleYear of Publication: 2015

Euphoria

A group of young men spends a weekend in a mountain cabin. When they return to the lowlands, they find devastated villages. The people are dead or have fled, houses and stores have been...
Rights sold to:

Chinese simplex rights (People's Literature Publishing House), France (Piranha)

Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: English world rights (Serpent's Tail)

Superabundance
Year of Publication: 2014
Heinz HelleYear of Publication: 2014

Superabundance

What happens: A philosopher fails in his attempt to make his theory of experience correspond to his actual experiences. A man fails in his attempt to love a woman. Someone succeeds...
Rights sold to:

Russia (Text), Turkey (Kafka Yayinevi), Azerbaijan (Alatoran)

Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: English world rights (Serpent's Tail), Bulgaria (Funtasy)


Domestic Rights Sales: German Audiobook (Hörbuch Hamburg)

DISCOVER

News

Podcast: Heinz Helle, how do you write a novel about your family? | Dichtung & Wahrheit #4

Laura de Weck and Heinz Helle talk about the life of authors who are parents and about the comforting effect of literature.
News
21.09.2018

Heinz Helle on the shortlist for the Swiss Book Prize 2018

We are excited to announce that Heinz Helle has been shortlisted for the Swiss Book Prize 2018.
News
19.08.2015

Three Suhrkamp authors nominated for German Book Prize 2015

  We are proud to present to you the three Suhrkamp authors that have been nominated for German Book Prize 2015.