Peter Stamm grew up in Weinfelden in the canton of Thurgau the son of an accountant. After completing primary and secondary school he spent three years as an apprentice accountant and then 5 as an accountant. He then chose to go back to school at the University of Zurich taking courses in a variety of fields including English studies, Business informatics, Psychology, and Psychopathology. During this time he also worked as an intern at a psychiatric clinic. After living for a time in New York, Paris, and Scandinavia he settled down in 1990 as a writer and freelance journalist in Zurich. He wrote articles for, among others, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the Tages-Anzeiger, Die Weltwoche, and the satirical newspaper Nebelspalter. Since 1997 he has belonged to the editorial staff of the quarterly literary magazine "Entwürfe für Literatur." He lives in Winterthur.

Peter Stamm has written prose, radio drama, and plays. He is most known for his cool and sparse writing style. Since 2003 Mr. Stamm has been a member of the group "Autorinnen und Autoren der Schweiz" (Authors of Switzerland).

Mr. Stamm has received a number of literature prizes.

• 1998 the Ehrengabe des Kantons Zürich
• 1999 the Rauriser Literaturpreis,
• 2000 the Rheingau Literatur Preis,
• 2001 the Ehrengabe der Stadt Zürich,
• 2002 the Preis der Schweizerischen Schillerstiftung
• 2002 the Carl-Heinrich-Ernst-Kunstpreis.

Prose

• Alles über den Mann, 1995 (with Brigitte Fries)
• Gotthard, 1997 (with Markus Bühler)
• Agnes, 1998
• Blitzeis, 1999
• Ungefähre Landschaft, 2001
• In fremden Gärten, 2003
• Warum wir vor der Stadt wohnen, 2005 (with Jutta Bauer)
• An einem Tag wie diesem, 2006

Plays

• Die Planung des Planes Monologue, Schauspielhaus Zürich
• Fremd gehen, 1995
• Après Soleil oder Wen der Wind zur Insel trägt, 2002
• Der Kuss des Kohaku, 2004
• Die Töchter von Tauebnhain 2004

Radio dramas

• Ich und die anderen 1991
• Die Nacht der Gewohnheiten 1993
• In Vitro Zürich 1994
• Der letzte Autofahrer 1995
• Bildnis eines Knaben mit Peitsche 1995

Editor

• Diensttage, 2003

Translations

• Susan Musgrave: Träum dir eine Badewanne (English: Dreams are More Real than Bathtubs), 2002

Several of Stamm's works have been translated into English by Michael Hofmann. These include novels Agnes, Unformed Landscape and On a Day Like This, as well as In Strange Gardens and Other Stories, a collection of short stories.