Lesung & Gespräch mit Béla Rothenbühler ("Polyphon Pervers")

In the organizer's words:

Swiss Literature Prize 2025 & shortlist for the Swiss Book Prize 2024

Amazing things happen in a tranquil small town in Switzerland: Sabine and Schanti have barely been founded when their association "Polyphon Pervers" shakes up the cultural scene. Risk-taking and clever, they rise to national prominence as theater producers and gather an illustrious circle around them: from the vain director Lucien to the boozy ghostwriter Yves, the bon vivant and DJ Milan and the opportunistic acting great Chantal to Jules and his hemp farmers, who unexpectedly shine as performance artists. In the course of the story, the entertainment club subordinates everything to success, and so the first impurities are soon followed by all kinds of deceit.

In his second novel, Rothenbühler revives the tradition of the picaresque novel - this time with quick-witted con artists. His satirical journey through culture, entertainment and money is not only clever, but is itself a masterpiece of entertainment.

Translated from Lucerne German by Uwe Dethier.

Béla Rothenbühler, born in 1990 in Reussbühl, Switzerland, is a freelance dramaturge, author and musician. He is active in the independent Lucerne theater scene with the collective Fetter Vetter & Oma Hommage and as a musician with the Krautrock band Mehltau. Rothenbühler lives and works in Lucerne.