Juli Zeh

Born 1974 in Bonn, Germany.

She studied law in Passau und Leipzig until 2003. From 1996 to 2000 she graduated with a diploma in literature at the Deutsches Literaturinstitut in Leipzig. During her studies she spent time in New York, Krakow, Zagreb and Sarajevo and received various scholarships, e.g. from the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes (1993-1998), the Deutscher Akademischer Auslandsdienst (DAAD) (1999-2000) and the Villa Decius / Kulturstiftung der Länder Deutschland in Cracow (2004).

Her debut novel “Adler und Engel” (2001) received wide critical attention, including the Deutscher Bücherpreis in 2002 (most successful debut) and the Förderpreis of the Bremen Literaturpreis. More books followed: “Die Stille ist ein Geräusch“, 2002; “Ein Hund läuft durch die Republik“ (ed.), 2004; “Spieltrieb“, 2004; “Alles auf dem Rasen, 2006), all published at Schöffling&Co..

Since 1996, Juli Zeh has published numerous short stories and texts, e.g. “Die geschenkte Stunde“ in the anthology “Die besten deutschen Erzähler 2002“ (dva, 2002), “Unter Freunden“ in the magazine Stern (2003), an article in the anthology “Hochzeitstanz“ (Rowohlt, 2003) and one in the anthology “Deutschland Extrem“ (Rowohlt, 2004).

Furthermore she has written numerous essays and articles in newspapers and magazines (e.g. Die Zeit, Spiegel, Stern, Merian, DU, Die Welt, DAZ, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Stuttgarter Zeitung).

In 2002 the law study “Recht auf Beitritt? Ansprüche von Kandidatenstaaten gegen die Europäische Union“ was published at Nomos.

Juli Zeh lives and works as an author and independent lawyer in Leipzig and is preparing for her doctorate in international law at the University of Saarbrücken.