Klaus Merz is one of the most prominent, prolific and versatile contemporary Swiss writers. He has written more than two dozen books of poetry, long and short fiction, essays and commentary, along with screenplays for television and film, as well as stage and radio plays. His projected seven-volume Collected Works is being published by Haymon Verlag. Merz has won numerous important prizes, most recently the 2012 Friedrich Hölderlin Prize.