Small novellas, vast emotional worlds. "The Thorn" is Markus Kirchhofer's prose debut following ten picture stories/comics and two volumes of poetry. The pearl volume "Ice Fishing" (2014) was published by Knapp. His seventeen short stories are so compressed and powerful that they are essentially novellas. The starting points of the stories are idyllic scenes from a nostalgic past or a cheerful present: at the frozen lake, during a ski race, at the swimming pool, the cheese factory, or the project week. Over these peaceful places of Swiss happiness, calamity strikes: glacier collapses, rampages, layoffs, traffic or workplace accidents. Markus Kirchhofer tells his skillfully orchestrated stories in a simple, vivid, and poetic language that reveals his expertise as a lyricist. Kirchhofer's prose debut has also won the support of cultural funding at both the cantonal and Swiss levels: The Aargau Cultural Foundation and the Swiss Cultural Foundation Pro Helvetia support the author and his work.