Pascal Mercier

Pascal Mercier is the literary pseudonym used by the philosopher Peter Bieri. He was born in Bern in 1944 and until recently was a professor of Philosophy at the University of Berlin.

Born into the lower middle class, he soon decided he didn't want the kind of life the men in his family led. The factory's strict 12:30 lunch schedule made him start reflecting on the human condition at just 12 years old, when he began reading the History of Religions. "I never ate lunch at the right time again," he says now.

At 45, he wrote his first novel and immediately began to "feel at home." So much so that he now spends seven hours a day writing and has given up teaching. "As a professor, I was afraid of jeopardizing my academic reputation when I started writing fiction. I needed to hide behind a pseudonym to have the courage to free myself in writing. I only knew that I wanted a name with a French sound but that wasn't extravagant. Choosing another name is a fantastic experience because the kitsch within us comes to the forefront. The first names that come to mind are extraordinary."