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Pieke Biermann

ピエケ・ビアマン

Pieke Biermann

Aliases: Lieselotte Hanna Eva Biermann
Pen Names: Pieke（Registered pseudonym used publicly and in publications.）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1950-03-22 （Stolzenau, Germany）
Nationality
German
Languages
German, English, Italian
Residence History
Hanover (from 1955) → Berlin (since 1976)

Career

Occupations
crime novelist, literary translator, journalist, activist
Active Years
1973-
Affiliations
Hydra (Berlin sex workers' organisation; co-founder/board member), Frauenzentrum Westberlin (involved in founding 'Wages for Housework' group), Der Tagesspiegel (contributor), Deutschlandfunk Kultur (contributor)
Influenced By
Hans Mayer (mentor/teacher), Alfred Döblin (stylistic/influential reference)

Education

University of Hanover
German literature, English studies and political science (multi-field)
Degree: Master's (修士論文)
Period: 1968–1976
Year of Graduation: 1976
Country: Germany
Completed master's thesis; later received a scholarship for a dissertation which she did not finish.
University of Padua
Period: 1973–1974（在外留学）
Country: Italy
One-year study abroad; began first translation work.

Awards

3sat Award (Ingeborg Bachmann Prize related)
1990
Work: Das Gesetz des Auges
Organization: 3sat / Ingeborg Bachmann Prize organizers
Result: 受賞
Deutscher Krimi Preis (National 1)
1991
Work: Violetta
Organization: Deutscher Krimi Preis
Result: 受賞
Deutscher Krimi Preis (National 1)
1994
Work: Herzrasen
Organization: Deutscher Krimi Preis
Result: 受賞
Deutscher Krimi Preis (National 2)
1998
Work: Four, Five, Six
Organization: Deutscher Krimi Preis
Result: 受賞
Journalists' Prize of the Weißer Ring (Special Prize)
2009
Work: Crime reporting in Der Tagesspiegel and RBB Inforadio
Category: 特別賞
Organization: Weißer Ring
Result: 受賞
Preis der Leipziger Buchmesse (Translation)
2020
Work: Translation of 'Oreo' by Fran Ross
Category: 翻訳
Organization: Leipzig Book Fair Prize
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Wir sind Frauen wie andere auch! – Prostitutes and Their Struggles

1979 political/social non-fiction

Political examination and reportage on sex workers' struggles and unpaid housework. Expanded edition republished in 2014.

feminismsex worklabor

Potsdamer Ableben

1987 crime novel

Debut crime novel set in Berlin, merging private-story elements with the metropolitan backdrop of the Cold War.

BerlinCold Warcrime

Violetta

1990 crime novel

Full-length novel portraying urban life against a crime plot. Winner of the Deutscher Krimi Preis (National 1).

urban lifewomenviolence

Herzrasen

1993 crime novel

Crime novel with socio-critical elements. Awarded the Deutscher Krimi Preis in 1994.

social critiquecrimeinterpersonal relationships

Berlin, Kabbala

1997 short stories

A short story collection reflecting Berlin's noises and dialects, with a metropolitan narrative style.

Berlindialectsurban life

Four, Five, Six

1997 crime novel

A Karin Lietze series novel dealing with Berlin's problems after reunification.

reunificationBerlincrime

Herta & Doris

2002 collection of prose texts

Collection of prose pieces focusing on urban vignettes and character portrayals.

character studyurban fragments

Gojisch gesehen

2004 essays/feuilletons

Collection of columns commenting on Jewish life from a non-Jewish perspective, originally serialized in the Jüdische Allgemeine.

Jewish lifeobservationessays

Der Asphalt unter Berlin: Crime Reports from the Metropolis

2008 non-fiction (crime reporting)

Collection of crime reports from Berlin based on on-site journalism.

crime reportingurban investigationjournalism

Bibliography

  • Wir sind Frauen wie andere auch! – Prostitutes and Their Struggles (1979)
  • Potsdamer Ableben (1987)
  • Violetta (1990)
  • Herzrasen (1993)
  • Berlin, Kabbala (1997)
  • Vier, Fünf, Sechs (1997)
  • Herta & Doris (2002)
  • Gojisch gesehen (2004)
  • Der Asphalt unter Berlin: Crime Reports from the Metropolis (2008)

Translations by Author

  • Translation of Fran Ross' 'Oreo' (dtv, 2019)
  • Translation of Agatha Christie's 'Death on the Nile' (Fischer, 2004)
  • Translations of Dorothy Parker (e.g. New Yorker stories collections)
  • Translation of Tom Rachman's 'The Imperfectionists' (dtv, 2010)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
socio-critical yet entertaining crime fictionnarration emphasizing Berlin's urban soundscape, dialects and sociolectsrealistic, field-based depiction rather than linguistic playfulness
Recurring Motifs
Berlin (the city)women and laborsex work and related issuesintersection of crime and everyday life

Legacy

Notable crime writer set in Berlin and an activist in feminist and sex-workers' movements. Also acclaimed as a translator, notably receiving the Leipzig Book Fair Prize (Translation) for her translation of Fran Ross' 'Oreo'.

Academic Societies

  • Listed in translator databases of the Association of German-speaking Translators (VdÜ)

Archives

  • German National Library (catalogue entries for her publications)

In Popular Culture

  • Often cited in discussions of the 1980s German sex-workers' movement and feminist history.

Quotes

  • "What Los Angeles was for Raymond Chandler or Amsterdam for Janwillem van de Wetering, Berlin is for me — the unknown metropolis of the Western world: a city that seems to be made up of myths. I want to tell the story of Berlin in novels that tell facts."
    Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung / Magazin (quoted, 1994) (1994)

Trivia

  • ‘Pieke’ is a registered pseudonym; her birth name is Lieselotte Hanna Eva Biermann.
  • She worked as a sex worker for a time and was active in the German sex-workers' movement.
  • Received the 2020 Preis der Leipziger Buchmesse (Translation) for her German translation of Fran Ross' 'Oreo'.
  • Her body of work includes crime fiction, political essays related to feminism, and crime journalism.