Writing seems to have evolved from drawing
Author Robert Walser’s drafts are small works of art in their own right. Written in minuscule script on a wide variety of surfaces, these micrograms offer insight into his creative process. Try to decipher the original micrograms and write as small as Walser.
The writer Robert Walser (1878–1956) is one of the most original and significant Swiss authors of the 20th century. He lived in Biel, Berlin, Zurich, and Bern, among other places, and published 15 books and over 1,000 prose pieces, short plays, and poems in magazines and newspapers throughout Europe.
Walser usually wrote his texts directly in their final form without revisions. In his later creative period, he first drafted them in pencil in tiny, hard-to-decipher handwriting on a wide variety of papers and then copied them out in ink. A selection of these calligraphic works, known as micrograms, is on display at the Scientifica booth.
Visitors can try their hand at deciphering Walser’s draft handwriting and write their own micrograms. The print edition and the electronic edition offer a glimpse into the author’s writing workshop and invite readers to immerse themselves in Robert Walser’s linguistic universe.
The Critical Robert Walser Edition (KWA) is a publishing project being developed by two working groups at the German departments of the Universities of Zurich and Basel. It catalogs all of Robert Walser’s handwritten drafts, fair copies, individual prints, and books.
Further Information:
Kritische Robert Walser-Ausgabe
Robert Walser, Kritische Ausgabe sämtlicher Drucke und Manuskripte – KWAe
