Das Schaukelpferd in Bichsels Garten

The rocking horse in Bichsel's garden brings together thirty-three stories by Peter Bichsel, Bänz Friedli, Rolf Lappert, Patti Basler, Michelle Steinbeck, and fourteen other authors. The Swiss Writer's Path in Olten is a success story. At over 50 listening stations, the stories of 22 authors can be heard. With the bestseller The Princess, the General, and the Singer, the texts by Alex Capus, Franz Hohler, and Pedro Lenz have been available in a reading book since 2016. Now, more stories are compiled in the book The Rocking Horse in Bichsel's Garden. The great storyteller Peter Bichsel recalls his childhood in his stories. Below is an excerpt from the story Pfarrweg 9: "I was six years old back then, in 1941, when we moved from Lucerne to Olten, and from the whole move, only a single image remains in my memory: a sunny day, and in the middle of the garden stood my rocking horse, perhaps also furniture and carpets, but they do not appear in my memory, only the horse, illuminated by the sun. That was my comfort. I did not want to go to Olten, not to another apartment, not to other children, not to other adults. But well, my rocking horse was there, and so was I." Rolf Lappert also remembers his youth in Olten. The writer, who now lives in Zofingen, grew up in the same high-rise building as Alex Capus. Patti Basler describes her walk through Olten in a biting, pointed, and humorous manner, both in standard German and in dialect. And Christof Gasser brings Toulouse, the King of Olten, back to life in an exciting short crime story. Alex Capus has famously erected a literary monument to him.