Benedict Wells

At the age of six years, Wells went to the first of three state Bavarian boarding schools, in which he spent his entire school years. He said that it was that early because one of his parents became ill and couldn't take care of him and the other one was self-employed and in financial trouble and had to work all the time.[2] Following his graduation from high school in 2003, he moved to Berlin where he decided not to go to university but to pursue his writing instead. He made a living doing odd jobs.

His first novel Becks letzter Sommer received widespread acclaim[3] and was described by Die Zeit as "the most interesting debut of the year."[4] His third novel Fast genial became a bestseller in Germany in 2011.[5]

In 2015 the screen adaptation of Becks letzter Sommer was released in cinemas starring Christian Ulmen.

Wells' fourth novel Vom Ende der Einsamkeit was published in February 2016. It remained on the German bestseller list for more than 80 weeks and awarded the European Union Prize for Literature.[6]

His books have been translated into 27 languages.[7]

He was born Benedict von Schirach and is a member of the Sorbian Schirach noble family. He is the brother of the philosopher and writer Ariadne von Schirach, a cousin of the author Ferdinand von Schirach,[8] the son of the sinologist Richard von Schirach and a grandson of the Nazi youth leader and war criminal Baldur von Schirach. Wells is no pseudonyme or pen name, he officially changed his surname some years before his literary debut. His family background did not become publicly known until after the success of his third novel. Wells has since commented that this happened against his will because he wanted to be independent as an author and to be judged based on his own person.[9] He said that he changed his name to distance himself from what his German grandfather had done and this part of his family's history, which he condemns in any possible way, and that he wanted to show that he stands for something else.[10][11] He further said the name Wells is a tribute to the character Homer Wells in John Irving's novel The Cider House Rules, and that Irving's books inspired him to become a writer.[12]

Wells' mother is Swiss, he holds both German and Swiss citizenship.[13] He has an American great-grandmother and American and English ancestry and descends from two signatories of the United States Declaration of Independence.

• 2008: Bayerischer Kunstförderpreis for Becks letzter Sommer[14]
• 2016: European Union Prize for Literature for Vom Ende der Einsamkeit[15]
• 2016: Book prize of the "Stiftung Ravensburger Verlag" for Vom Ende der Einsamkeit
• 2016: Favourite book of the independent book shops 2016 for Vom Ende der Einsamkeit[16]
• 2018: Euregio Literature Prize for Vom Ende der Einsamkeit[17]

• Becks letzter Sommer. Diogenes, Zürich 2008, ISBN 978-3-257-06676-0.
• Spinner. Diogenes, Zürich 2009, ISBN 978-3-257-06717-0.
• Fast genial. Diogenes, Zürich 2011, ISBN 978-3-257-06789-7.
• Vom Ende der Einsamkeit. Diogenes Verlag, Zürich 2016, ISBN 978-3-257-06958-7.
• Die Wahrheit über das Lügen: Zehn Geschichten. Diogenes Verlag, Zürich 2018, ISBN 978-3-257-07030-9.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Benedict Wells.

• Literature by and about Benedict Wells in the German National Library catalogue
• Official website
• Benedict Wells at perlentaucher.de – das Kulturmagazin (in German)
• Profile in The New York Times from January 24, 2019.
• Interview in The Guardian from March 20, 2018.
• The Guardian Podcast from April 17, 2018.
• Benedict Wells in Conversation with John Irving from February 7, 2019.