Bernd Brunner

{{Short description|German writer (born 1964)}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Bernd Brunner | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_place = Berlin, Germany | death_date =  | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Writer | language = German | nationality = | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = Berlin School of Economics<br>Free University of Berlin | period = 2003-present | genre = Non-fiction | subject =  | movement = | notableworks = ''Bears: A Brief History'' (2007)<br>''Moon: A Brief History'' (2010)<br>''The Art of Lying Down'' (2013) | spouse =  | partner =  | children = | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = | module = | website = {{URL|www.berndbrunner.com}} | portaldisp =  }} '''Bernd Brunner''' (born May 27, 1964) is a writer of non-fiction and essays. His best known works are peripatetic explorations of the relationship between people and deceptively simple subjects, such as bears, the moon, and lying down.<ref name=nytimes/><ref name=slate/>

His essay on the street dogs of Istanbul, first published in ''The Smart Set'' was selected by Elizabeth Gilbert for the anthology ''The Best American Travel Writing 2013''.<ref name=best/> Brunner divides his time between Istanbul and Berlin.<ref name=brunner/>

== Life and career == Brunner was born in Berlin, Germany. He graduated both from the Berlin School of Economics and the Free University of Berlin. As a recipient of a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service he spent an academic year at the University of Washington in 1991/92. He had editorial positions in television, magazine publishing and book publishing.

Brunner works at the crossroads of history, culture, and science and is the author of several books, including ''Bears: A Brief History'' and ''Moon: A Brief History'' which have been translated into several languages and were reviewed in major outlets such as ''The New York Times'',<ref name=nytimes/> Slate.com,<ref name=slate/> ''The New Yorker'', ''Los Angeles Times'',<ref name=latimes/> ''The Telegraph'',<ref name="telegraph-ocean"/><ref name="telegraph-bears-mckay"/><ref name="telegraph-bears-hoare"/> ''The Times'',<ref name="times" /> ''The Sunday Times'',<ref name=sundaytimes/> ''The Washington Post'',<ref name=post/> ''The Times Literary Supplement'', ''Nature'', and ''The Guardian''.<ref name=guardian/>

He has contributed articles to magazines ''Lapham's Quarterly'', ''The Paris Review Daily'', ''The Smart Set'', ''aeon'', ''The Public Domain Review'', ''Quartz'', ''Cabinet'', ''PBS Nature'', ''The Wall Street Journal Speakeasy'' and ''The Huffington Post'', ''The Times Literary Supplement'' as well as various leading German-language publications including ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'', ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'', ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'', and ''Die Zeit''.<ref name=brunner/> He lectured at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts and Culture in New York City, the Bancroft Library and the Botanical Garden of the University of California at Berkeley, at the Goethe Institutes of San Francisco and Washington, D.C. and at Deutsches Haus at New York University. Some of his books have been translated into Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, French, Russian, Romanian, Greek, Norwegian, Turkish, and Arabic.

In 2016 he was fellow of the Logan Nonfiction Program / Carey Institute for Global Good in New York.

== Bibliography == * ''The Ocean at Home: An Illustrated History of the Aquarium'' (2005, translated by Ashley Marc Slapp, revised edition 2011) * ''Bears: A Brief History'' (2007, paperback 2008, translated by Lori Lantz) * ''Moon: A Brief History'' (2010, paperback 2011) * ''Inventing the Christmas tree'' (2012, translated by Benjamin A. Smith) * ''The Art of Lying Down: A Guide to Horizontal Living'' (2013, translated by Lori Lantz) * ''Nach Amerika: Die Geschichte der deutschen Auswanderung'' (the history of German emigration to America, 2011, only in German) * ''Birdmania: A Remarkable Passion for Birds'' (2017, translated by Jane Billinghurst) * ''Winterlust: Finding Beauty in the Fiercest Season'' (2019, translated by Mary Catherine Lawler) * ''Taming Fruit: How Orchards Have Transformed the Land, Offered Sanctuary, and Inspired Creativity'' (2021, translated by Lori Lantz) * ''Extreme North: A Cultural History'' (2022, translated by Jefferson Chase)

== See also == * Aquarium - extensively references ''The Ocean at Home''

== References == <references>

<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news |last=Dean |first=Cornelia |date=27 December 2010 |title=Exploring Our Relationship With the Lonely Moon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/28/science/28scibks.html |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York |access-date=23 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=slate>{{cite web |last=Graham |first=Ruth |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/12/bernd_brunner_s_the_art_of_lying_down_reviewed.html |title=The Sweetest Recline |publisher=Slate.com |date=2 December 2013 |access-date=23 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=best>{{cite web |url=http://www.hmhbooks.com/hmh/bestamerican/travelwritingbookdetails |title=Best American Travel Writing Book Details |author= |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |access-date=23 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322215118/http://www.hmhbooks.com/hmh/bestamerican/travelwritingbookdetails |archive-date=22 March 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=brunner>{{cite web |last=Brunner |first=Bernd |url=http://www.berndbrunner.com/index.html |title=Bernd Brunner |publisher=Bernd Brunner |access-date=23 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=latimes>{{cite news |last=Owchar |first=Nick |date=5 September 2011 |title=Book review: 'The Ocean at Home' by Bernd Brunner|url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-xpm-2011-sep-05-la-et-book-aquarium-20110905-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles |access-date=23 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="telegraph-ocean">{{cite news |last=Hoare |first=Philip |date=7 July 2011 |title=The Ocean at Home by Bernd Brunner: review |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/8600873/The-Ocean-at-Home-by-Bernd-Brunner-review.html |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=London |access-date=23 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="telegraph-bears-mckay">{{cite news |last=McKay |first=Sinclair |date=8 December 2007 |title=The Cuteness Stops at Age Four |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/non_fictionreviews/3669798/The-cuteness-stops-at-age-four.html |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=London |access-date=23 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="telegraph-bears-hoare">{{cite news |last=Hoare |first=Philip |date=14 December 2007 |title=More Than the Bear Facts |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/non_fictionreviews/3669905/More-than-the-bear-facts.html |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=London |access-date=23 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=times>{{cite news |last=Barnes |first=Simon |date=15 December 2007 |title=How Bears Keep Us Wild at Heart |newspaper=The Times |location=London |via=EBSCO Information Services }}{{Incomplete short citation|date= April 2025}}</ref><ref name=sundaytimes>{{cite news |last=Carey |first=John |date=16 December 2007 |title=Grizzly Tales |newspaper=The Sunday Times |location=London |via=EBSCO Information Services }}</ref><ref name=post>{{cite news |last=Felten |first=Eric |date=16 November 2012 |title=The Stranger in the House |url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324894104578115160059099842 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |location=New York |access-date=23 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=guardian>{{cite news |last=Hoare |first=Philip |date=14 December 2012 |title=Inventing the Christmas Tree by Bernd Brunner – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/dec/14/inventing-christmas-tree-bernd-brunner-review |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=23 August 2014}}</ref>

</references>

== External links == * [http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/10/20/how-to-say-no-in-turkish/ Essay "How to Say No in Turkish" in The Paris Review Daily] * [https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/foreigners/istanbul-panorama Essay "Istanbul Panorama" in Lapham's Quarterly] * [http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/display.asp?K=9781861898166 Reaktion Books website for "The Ocean at Home"] * [http://www.papress.com/html/book.details.page.tpl?isbn=9781568985022 Princeton Architectural Press website for "The Ocean at Home"] * [https://yalebooks.com/book/9780300143126/bears Yale University Press website for "Bears"] * [https://yalebooks.com/book/9780300177695/moon Yale University Press website for "Moon"] * [https://yalebooks.com/book/9780300186529/inventing-christmas-tree Yale University Press website for "Inventing the Christmas tree"] * [http://www.mhpbooks.com/books/the-art-of-lying-down/ Melville House website for "The Art of Lying Down"] * [https://www.thesmartset.com/article/article03041401.aspx Article on the sound of languages in The Smart Set, Drexel University, selected by Arts & Letters Daily] * [https://www.thesmartset.com/article/article06171401.aspx Article on the history of hummingbirds in The Smart Set, Drexel University] * [https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/12/23/the-long-strange-history-of-the-christmas-tree/ Article on The Wall Street Journal Speakeasy] * [http://www.berndbrunner.com Author website] * [https://aeon.co/essays/why-it-s-time-to-put-an-end-to-the-cult-of-the-aquarium Essay in aeon Magazine] * [https://publicdomainreview.org/2017/09/13/human-forms-in-nature-ernst-haeckels-trip-to-south-asia-and-its-aftermath/] Essay on Ernst Haeckel in Ceylon in the Public Domain Review * [https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/how-survive-winter] Essay on winter in Lapham's Quarterly

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunner, Bernd}} Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:German essayists Category:German travel writers Category:German male essayists