Stefan Bachmann author page

Stefan Bachmann biography

Stefan Bachmann is a Swiss-American author known for his contributions to children’s and young adult literature. Born in Colorado in 1993, he spent most of his childhood in Switzerland. At age eleven, he began studying classical music at the Zürich Conservatory, later earning degrees in music composition and theory from the Zürich University of the Arts. As a teenager, he won national awards for his musical compositions and performances.

Bachmann’s debut novel, The Peculiar, was published by HarperCollins in 2012 when he was nineteen years old. The book received critical acclaim and was named a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. He followed it with a sequel, The Whatnot, and continued to publish works including A Drop of Night (2016), Cinders & Sparrows (2020), and Release the Wolves (2024). His nonfiction book, The Secret Life of Hidden Places, co-authored with April Genevieve Tucholke, was released in 2024.

In addition to his writing, Bachmann has contributed to various anthologies, such as The Cabinet of Curiosities: 36 Tales Brief & Sinister and Slasher Girls & Monster Boys. His works have been translated into multiple languages and published in over fifteen countries.

Bachmann is actively involved in promoting literacy and creative writing. He co-founded the Zürich-based nonprofit Foundations in Literacy and serves as co-president of Autillus, the Swiss Association of Children’s Authors and Illustrators. He also teaches creative writing at the Junges Literaturlabor in Zürich. In 2017, he was selected for the Aarhus 39, a list of the best European writers under 40, presented at the International Hay Festival in Denmark.

His novel Cinders & Sparrows was recognized as a Junior Library Guild selection and was named one of the 100 Best Children’s and YA Books of 2023 by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels.