Iren Nigg
{{Short description|Liechtenstein writer}}
Iren Nigg (born 1955) is a Liechtensteiner writer. She travelled widely before studying journalism at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. She first started publishing short works of fiction in literary magazines, and published her first book Fieberzeit in 1988. Her second book Man wortet sich die Orte selbst appeared in 2006; it won the EU Prize for Literature. She has also published numerous short pieces.
Life
Nigg was born in 1955 in Schaan, in Lichtenstein, and grew up there.{{Cite web |title=Profile: Iren Nigg |url=https://www.euprizeliterature.eu/authors/iren-nigg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018153558/https://www.euprizeliterature.eu/authors/iren-nigg |archive-date=18 October 2019 |access-date=18 October 2019 |website=European Prize for Literature}} She was educated at the Höhere Töchterschule St. Elisabeth. After travelling, Nigg studied journalism at the Institut für Journalistik und Kommunikation, University of Fribourg in Switzerland.{{Cite web |title=Iren Nigg – Frauenarchiv |url=https://www.frauenarchiv.li/nigg-iren/ |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=FrauenArchiv |language=de}} After finishing her studies in 1984, she worked for newspapers and in public relations. She wrote often on equal rights, and women’s suffrage (Liechtenstein women did not gain the vote until 1984). Nigg published a series of women's portraits in the "Liechtensteiner Volksblatt," and in the late 1990s she worked for Aktion Miteinander. This association was campaigning for equal rights for foreign nationals in Liechtenstein, especially Vietnamese.
Work
Nigg’s first published writing was in literary magazines in 1987. She published a book, Fieberzeit in 1988, and then published little for some years. Nineteen short pieces of prose text by Nigg were published in 2005 in a regional anthology. Her second book, Man wortet sich die Orte selbst (Wording the Places Oneself), was published in 2006. It won the EU Prize for Literature in 2011.{{Cite web |date=29 Nov 2023 |title=Literatursalon.li - Liechtenstein's Literary Scene |url=https://sites.google.com/site/literatursalonli/liechtensteins-literary-scene |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=sites.google.com |language=en-US}} Her work is noted for its simplicity and word play.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCkzMcjzzJs |title="Fliegenpfötchen" von Iren Nigg |date=15 October 2019 |type=Video |language=German |access-date=2 April 2025}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAQXRSS7h0k&t=87s |title=Interview with Iren Nigg - EUPL 2011 |date=19 June 2020 |last=EUPL Prize |access-date=2 April 2025 |via=YouTube}} When asked to talk about her writing after winning the EU Prize, Nigg described herself as “allergic” to interviews or discussing her writing, and preferred to sing instead.
References
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Category:Liechtenstein writers
Category:Liechtenstein women writers
Category:20th-century women writers