IN BRIEF Matthias Zschokke Maurice mit Huhn (Boy with Chicken) Ammann Verlag February 2006, 240 pp. ISBN 3-250-60090-3 Quirky, poetic, clever and perceptive, this new work by one of Switzerland’s most respected writers is a pleasure to lose oneself in. The story is a quiet one – the musings and ponderings of Maurice, who spends his days cycling through the streets of his down-at-heel neighbourhood of Berlin, or listening to the strains of the cello-playing from next-door – but the strands of thought are delicate and beautifully captured. Matthias Zschokke was born in Bern in 1954. Since 1980 he has been living and working as an author, playwright and filmaker in Berlin. In 1981, he was awarded the Robert Walser Prize, in 1996 the Aargauer Literature Prize and in 2000 the Literature Prize of the City of Bern. "Matthias Zschokke guides with empathy and compassion…and strikes right into the heart of his fragile characters and his readers." – Frankfurter Rundschau Translation rights available from Ammann Verlag Tel: +41 44 2681042 Email: daniela.koch@ammann.ch Applications for assistance with translation costs - Switzerland>