沃尔特·默尔斯

Walter Moers (German: [ˈvaltɐ ˈmøːɐ̯s] ; born 24 May 1957) is a German comic artist, illustrator and writer. He is the creator of the character of Captain Bluebear and became a best-selling author in Europe with his Zamonia novels.

Life

Moers was born in Mönchengladbach. According to his own statements, he ended his school career prematurely and initially supported himself by doing odd jobs. He began a commercial apprenticeship, but did not finish it. The odd jobs included his first drawing commissions, such as little bedtime stories for the "Sandmännchen". Moers acquired his drawing skills through self-study.

Walter Moers is married and has lived in Hamburg since 1992. He is considered publicity-shy, does not make public appearances, gives his few interviews by e-mail and rarely allows himself to be photographed. The only recordings of him that exist are older photographs and a short film in the NDR archives showing Moers at an exhibition in 1994. Some of the few pictures also date from before 2000, and in the case of some of them it is disputed whether the person depicted is really Walter Moers. His dealings with the public have meanwhile become a kind of trademark, so that he is often dubbed a "phantom". Therefore, biographical information on Moers must be treated with caution, as there are few truly reliable sources.

Work

Zamonia series

Walter Moers's Zamonia novels are works of fantasy literature presented as literary fragments of the world of Zamonia. In the course of the publications, Moers's authorship was fictitiously reduced further and further, from author and helper (The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear) to editor and illustrator (Ensel and Krete, The City of Dreaming Books) to second-tier editor (The Alchemaster's Apprentice).

The books are characterised by their intermedial and intertextual presentation. Thus, there are many references to other works of literature, film and music. The parallels are sometimes so obvious that the Zamonia novels have been called "plagiarism poetry" and "art of copying". However, the combination of maps, illustrations and texts in which the novels are written also contributes to the intermediality. Both adolescent and adult readers are given as the target audience, although it can be assumed that Moers intended the works primarily for adults. As of 2025 there are eleven books in the series, of which five have been translated to English:

The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear (1999)

Ensel und Krete (2000) (lit. 'Ensel and Krete')

Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures (2003)

The City of Dreaming Books (2004)

The Alchemaster's Apprentice (2007)

The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books (2011)

Princess Insomnia & the Nightmare-colored Night-mare (2017)

Weihnachten auf der Lindwurmfeste (2018) (lit. 'Christmas at the Lindworm Stronghold')

Der Bücherdrache (2019) (lit. 'The Book Dragon')

Die Insel der Tausend Leuchttürme (2023) (lit. 'The Island of a Thousand Lighthouses')

Das Einhörnchen, das rückwärts leben wollte (2024) (lit. 'The Squirrel That Wanted to Live Backwards')

Qwert: Ein Prinz-Kaltbluth-Roman in 43 Aventiuren (2025) (lit. 'Qwert: A Prince Kaltbluth Novel in 43 Adventures')

Language and style

Moers' style is overall strongly influenced by the tradition of the grotesque. The Zamonia novels are in themselves easy to understand and partly influenced by everyday language, and therefore belong more to popular literature. However, by repeatedly alluding to works that are usually considered "canonical" through intermedial and intertextual references, sometimes even whole set pieces, Moers blurs or negates the sometimes imaginary boundary between "high literature" and "trivial literature".

Among the obvious references are the dedication of entire novels; with Ensel und Krete, inspired by the Grimm's fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, and The Alchemaster's Apprentice, behind which Gottfried Keller's novella Spiegel, das Kätzchen is hidden. In addition, elements from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, William Goldman's The Princess Bride or Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 are evident.

Translations

Walter Moers' works have already been translated into over 20 languages, including mainly the Zamonia novels. Because of the many stylistic devices and word creations, translating Moers' novels is considered a particular challenge. For example, the translator of most of the works into English, John Brownjohn, describes how many names had to be Latinised and the large number of anagrams had to be re-imagined. Several works dealt with translation problems based on Walter Moers' works and showed difficulties in translating neologisms and phrasemes.

Comics

His best-known comic characters are:

Das kleine Arschloch (English: The Little Asshole), a precocious and irreverent little boy who constantly gets one over on the adults.

Der alte Sack (English: The Old Curmudgeon), a terminally ill old man in a wheel chair who makes sarcastic comments on what he sees.

Adolf, die Nazisau (English: Adolf, the Nazi Swine), an absurd satirical interpretation of Adolf Hitler in today's world.

Käpt'n Blaubär (English: Capt'n Bluebear), a sea-faring bear with blue fur, who spins ridiculous pirate yarns, all of which, he claims, are true.