Biographie

Stephan Valentin

Novelist, screenwriter, and Doctor of Psychology
 

Stephan Valentin - novelist, screenwriter, and Doctor of Psychology - was born in Heidelberg, Germany. Since the age of 20 he has lived in Paris, where he began studying drama at the Jean Perimony School of Drama. After three years at Jean Perimony, Stephan received La Class Libre scholarship at the Cours Florent School of Drama. He continued his studies at the University Rene Descartes in Paris with a new focus on psychology. Graduating with a doctorate in psychology, the results of Stephan's thesis, Sleep Problems in the German Infant, were published in The American Journal of Pediatrics.

After graduation, Stephan spent several years as a practicing psychologist for hospitals in Paris. He also worked as a volunteer in hospitals for the impoverished in Mumbai, India, and in a psychiatric facility in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Stephan's literature career was launched in 1999 after he received the Bettina von Arnim award for literature, the most prestigious award for short stories in Germany. Stephan's short story, The Pigeon Tour, was the winner from more than 5,500 entries.

Stephan's novel Enemy of the Ants (Pfefferkorn Verlag) was published in English in 2013: “With Jonas narrating in the stream-of-consciousness present tense, the story is told with sweeping cinematic imagery and appears simple on the surface but Valentin's raw insight into the turmoil and sinisterness of childhood cuts deep and makes for uncomfortable reading.” Publishers Weekly

The novel was published in French by Actes Sud, in Italian by Neri Pozza Editore and in Danish by Forlaget Per Kofod. The film version of Enemy of the Ants, which is currently in pre-production in Germany, is expected to generate ever more international interest. Stephan also wrote the screenplay.

Stephan has published many books in Germany and in France including Vielfarben (short stories, Pfefferkorn Verlag 2002) and a second novel, Weisse Eichen (Pfefferkorn Verlag, 2007). He also recently completed a non-fiction narrative — Little Narcissists / Ichlinge (Random House Germany, 2012). Stephan is currently collaborating with illustrator Jean-Claude Gibert on the children's book collection Rocky & Cie which is published in France and in Germany and which received a French children's book award in 2014.

Among his other accomplishments, Stephan Valentin is also a writer for the popular German-TV crime
series SOKO 5113.