As a teacher (secondary school), Merz has worked in adult education. He has won several prices, e.g. the famous ?Hermann-Hesse-Literaturpreis“ in 1997, the ?Gottfried Keller-Preis“ in 2004 and the ?Werkpreis der schweizerischen Schillerstiftung“ in 2005.

He wrote a lot of narrations and stories, e.g. ?Adams Kostüm“ or the short novel ?Jakob schläft“. Merz has also made poems (?Kurze Durchsage“) — his works are rather short.But the titles already show Merz’s special ability: He manages it, to place two or three banal words, one next to the other, and it starts “buzzing” amongst them.

Today, Merz lives in Unterkulm as a narrator and lyric poet.