Gertrud Leutenegger

Gertrud Leutenegger (7 December 1948 – 20 June 2025) was a Swiss poet, novelist and playwright who wrote in German. Her first novel, Vorabend, appeared in 1975. Her last novel, the 2014 Panischer Frühling, earned her shortlisting in major German and Swiss awards and the Roswitha Prize. Her work, told in the first person, has been described as "a finely woven, quiet art with a tone all of its own, a searching, groping literature". and grew up there. Her father was a book editor. She later lived in both the Italian-speaking and French-speaking parts of Switzerland. After completing her secondary education, she initially undertook teacher training and became a kindergarten teacher. She also worked in a psychiatric clinic for a time and as a custodian at the Nietzsche House in Sils Maria.

Leutenegger's interest in theatre led to drama studies at the Zurich University of the Arts from 1976 to 1979.

Leutenegger died in Schwyz on 20 June 2025, at the age of 76.

Work Leutenegger first came to prominence as a poet, later bringing her poetic vision to her novels, the first of which, , was published in 1975 Her work has been described as "a finely woven, quiet art with a tone all of its own, a searching, groping literature that finds less than it is found". 1979 Droste-Preis 1999 2014 Shortlisted for the Swiss Book Prize: for Panischer Frühling 2014 Shortlisted for the German Book Prize: for Panischer Frühling 2014 Roswitha Prize of the town of Bad Gandersheim: for Panischer Frühling 2023 Solothurner Literaturpreis 2024

Works Leutenegger's works, all in German, include: (novel) (novel) (dramatic poem) (poems)

(dramatic poem) (novel) (stories and other prose) (novel) (prose) (novel)