About forty years ago I wrote 8 eight books in English and published them with the fantastic publisher Harper&Row, now HarperCollins. Then Harper was sold and I fell by the wayside. At the same time my books became very popular in German-speaking countries and I pursued a career there. One publisher even established an edition schaffer, in which I could write almost anything I wanted to write, in form and content. It was fabulous. But it always felt a little odd, that I was living in North Amercia and not writing for the people around me. I tried a few times to find a publisher, but failed and so I continued publishing in Europe. Now over 200 books in 5 million copies in ten languages later I am now ready and very keen to write for an English-speaking market again. I am starting with several titles in different forms.

I write about the things that concern me, that make up my life. About the big life questions: What does it mean to live in this world? Does my life have a purpose? How can that purpose to be found? How can I understand my fellow human beings? Where is my place in life? How do I live love, which I consider to be the most important question of all?

For all those who also think about their lives in a deeper way. I keep noticing how similar we all are. We grapple with very similar questions: the questions of meaning, love, and fulfillment. Many people often move on the surface of these questions. I want to address them on a deeper level.

Orientation. Through my writing, I find my way around in life. I understand myself and my fellow human beings better because I question what happens to me and describe it in various forms. I sometimes notice this quite tangibly: even just having a pencil in my hand or sitting in front of my computer helps me to think better. This is the result of 60 years of consistent writing. Through writing, I get on track with myself. I recognize my repetitions, my mistakes, my strengths. Writing is also my profession. I consider it a privilege that I earned my living this way for many years – with something I truly love to do.

It is a wonderful complement. Writing means often being trapped in the head. When I then go out with my cameras it’s all about seeing. Everything revolves around light, relationships in nature, communication with what I photograph. It’s a physical and also a mental effort – I notice it because I usually come home exhausted – but it’s a different kind of effort. By the way, I do not photograph to illustrate my texts, nor do I describe my photographs. They are two completely separate ventures. I notice that I usually cannot write on an extended photo trips, because a different intelligence is required.  Everything is about seeing. I do both separately and then combine text and photographs later on into a photo book.

Years ago it became increasingly important to me that my books should truly be made “of one piece.” The exterior should carry and reflect the interior of the book. The cover, typography, font size, binding, illustrations of all kinds – they should all communicate the deeper message of the book. A graphic designer for a publisher usually does not have enough time to delve as deeply into a book as I can. Therefore I learned what I needed for this craft and now sometimes feel that the design is as much fun for me as writing and photography and is also that important to me. It is a third expression of my creativity. I am glad that my publishers grant me this freedom and let me do it. As I write the first lines of a book, I start developing the size and design of the book already. 

That depends on what one means by “religious.” If “religious” means something split off from life, then I do not see myself as a “religious” writer. For many, religion has developed a bad reputation. It seems artificial and not really centered in life. I write about what concerns me, what makes up my life, and I assume that this also concerns others. I often receive feedback from readers that I express in a text exactly what they have felt only vaguely and without words. Suddenly, they see it written in front of them. This is how we encounter one another. For me faith is to be deeply involved what urgently concerns me—not a series of dogmas, doctrines, and rituals, but what moves me deeply and for which I may not even have words at first. That is what interests me.

I was “migrated” from Germany by my parents when I was ten years old. I grew up in Canada, just a little south of the Alaskan panhandle. That landscape has shaped me. I went to school in Canada, studied there, and started a family there and eventually tuaght at a college just outside of Vancouver. Canada has become my home. My two daughters live here, and many of my friends do too. And yet Germany is still a piece of home. I live in and between these two worlds, especially because I have been back to Europe about 60 times in the last 40 years to do about 1,600 seminars and public readings. I am very connected to my readers there.

Perhaps I have remained more European than I think. North Americans sometimes seem less interested in delving into questions in their depth. This is a gross generalization, but I believe there is some truth to it. Perhaps thinking is not as important in North America as living. Europe has a long history of thinkers and so people are used to these processes. But I am very interested in writing books that “work” in North America as well. I think North America has changed substantially in the last twenty years and is ready now for some serious self-examination, especially given the political development in the last few years.

Contact with my readers, contact with people on another continent. I live in a close relationship with my readers. I do not write in an ivory tower but stand in the middle of life, just like they do. 
By the way, they are generally not exhausting tours because I receive much energy from my readers and from the interaction with them. In 2023 I did a tour of 38 cities in about 47 days and I could have continued.

Just as my life changes, especially now as I age, there is always something new to write about. I also enjoy writing in different genres. Recently, I am more intrigued by narrative prose than ever. I want to let what I have previously processed and shaped in poems and meditations flow into characters, that will act and live with these insights. I enjoy my imagination and invention. Therefore, I don’t believe I will “run out of ideas.” There is too much change in my life for that. This is especially true now. I believe we are facing great changes in our world. I would like to describe them. I have long dreamed that in my old age, I would only write one book a year or maybe even only one every two years. But publishers seem less interested in what I write now. They are also going through difficult times because reading habits have greatly changed.

I believe we are in similar processes in our lives. We are all part of the same transforming world. If I write honestly about what moves me and what I experience, then I know that it will concern many: We are not so different after all. When I gave up my job as a lecturer over 40 years ago to have more time for writing and photography, I did not think my books would be received this well. But now I understand how passionately important the questions about one’s own significance and meaning in life are to many. That’s what I always try to address in my books. These are my questions as well.

Success is relative. There are various ways to measure it: book sales, critical articles about the books, literary awards, feedback from readers who have experienced something with the books. I would like to have them all, but for me real success focuses on the last form: My books seem, based on feedback, not only to be reading material for my readers but they feel accompanied by my thoughts. They walk a part of life with me, and I walk with them. For me, as a person and as a writer, that is a special privilege. The success with my readers is most important to me. This kind of “success” evokes deep gratitude in me.
Many readers have told me, that I have accompnied them für 40 years with my books and to some extent shaped their lives. That is a huge and humbling honor, as well as a responsibility.

I would like  to continue writing books in different genres. My head is still full of ideas and I would like to realize some of them. I am still totally fascinated by writing. It has not become boring, nor a routine. It still is an adventure.
I am also wondering if I could establish a reading tour in North America – perhaps once down the west coast of the continent: Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Franciso, Los Angeles, San Diego. If I publish more in English I would like to make contact with my readers as well, to hear where they are in their inner development and to learn what moves them. I feel it will be increasingly more important to create spaces of belonging, well-being and understanding, where we can help each other to live in a crazy world. Some of that can be accomplished with books.