Gerald DRIßNER • Journalist | Buchautor

WHO
I
AM

Let me tell
you about me.

Gerald Drißner (Drissner), born 1977, grew up in a mountain village in the Austrian Alps. He is a journalist and writer of narrative nonfiction who is keen on exploring unexpected angles. He is currently based in Berlin, Germany.
The award-winning author is equipped with twenty years of prolific writing experience. He writes reportages and features as well as interviews, background stories, and analyses.
Gerald holds a Master’s degree in economics (Diplom-Volkswirt). His passion, however, is Arabic and the Arab World. He has lived in Arab and Islamic countries for more than a decade and witnessed the Arab Spring firsthand in Egypt. Gerald has been specializing in Arabic grammar and is the author of acclaimed books about Arabic grammar for laymen.

WHAT
I DO

Some facts about my work.

Gerald produces high-quality texts of all type and suitable for any platform. He is an experienced researcher and often gets information that others don’t get. Besides journalism and writing, Gerald develops material for learners of Arabic.

Journalistic texts

Gerald focuses on telling the stories of ordinary people and society. He writes reportages, features, interviews, background stories, and analyses.

In his writings, he aims at providing the reader with a better understanding of complex events and phenomena as well as how social change affect people’s everyday life.



Travel Writing

In his books, Gerald has developed a new style of travel writing. He calls it travel realism.

The author avoids being the main character and does not set out on a self-discovery journey. He is a close observer. Gerald writes about things that cannot be found on the internet and explains why things work differently as we used to know.



Investigative Research

Gerald has done major research on crime, far-right groups, and terrorism. Currently, his main topic is religious (Islamic) extremism.

In 2008 Gerald covered Europe’s biggest criminal case (Heilbronner Phantom) for Stern-magazine. Stern was then the first medium that revealed what turned out to be a big scandal.



Special Assignments

Since Gerald has a very good network in the Arab World and can easily conduct reasearch in Arabic, he is keen on doing research that involves the Arab World or the Arabic language.

Furthermore, he has a deep understanding of the dos and dont’s in the Arab and Islamic World.



Arabic for Nerds

In 2015, Gerald founded www.arabic-for-nerds.com – a website in form of a blog that offers interesting stuff about the Arabic language for free. Gerald writes about tricky grammar problems, the latest Netflix stuff in Arabic, tools and apps for learns. The website is very popular among students from all over the world.


Arabic Grammar

Gerald Drißner has been studying Arabic intensively for more than ten years exclusively in the Arab world.

He explains Arabic and Islam from an Arab(ic) viewpoint and fills the gaps between the Western and Arab approach. His books have been highly praised by Arabic students and scholars.


MY SKILLS

My set of
competences.

  • Gerald was trained at the most prestigious journalism school in Germany (Henri-Nannen-Journalistenschule).
  • Gerald won the most prestigious award for young journalists in Germany (Axel-Springer-Preis).
  • Gerald’s texts were published in almost all important magazines and newspapers in German-speaking countries.
  • Gerald has done a lot of investigative research in teams that led to many lead stories.

  • Deep understanding of national and international economics as Gerald holds a Master’s degree in economics (Diplom-Volkswirt). His areas of expertise are: monetary theory, input-output-analysis, and resource economics.
  • Ability to adapt to various social environments since Gerald grew up in a working-class family in a mountain valley in the Alps (Arbeiterkind).
  • Gerald is a strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communicator who can deliver effective presentations.
  • Gerald is an exceptional problem-solver with a keen ability to resolve tricky issues.

  • More than a decade of experience of living in Arab and Muslim societies (Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Israel and Occupied Territories) and traveling in the MENA-region (Middle East and North Africa). Gerald has visited almost all major Arab Muslim countries.
  • Firsthand witness of the Arab Spring. Gerald lived in Alexandria, Egypt, while the Arab Spring evolved.
  • Fluency in Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Arabic).
  • Deep understanding of countries in crisis – Gerald lived in Athens, Greece, for two years during the financial (and refugee) crisis.

  • Very experienced Alpine skier and mountaineer since Gerald grew up in one of the world’s finest ski resorts: Arlberg.
  • Open to new technologies: Gerald has been coding and working with Linux since his youth.

  • LANGUAGES: German (mother tongue), English (fluent), Arabic (fluent), Hebrew (working knowledge). Basic understanding: Urdu, Turkish, French.

PORT
FOLIO

Have a look
at my work.

MY BOOKS

Explore
my books.

The literary travelogue is considered a dying good. In his book “Als Spion am Nil” (As a spy on the Nile), journalist Gerald Drißner vividly describes how Egypt’s society has developed in recent years beyond the Nile cruises and luxury hotels on the Red Sea. He convincingly explains why the revolution is bringing the Muslim Brotherhood to power and why the military is not permanently watching.

Martin Wein

Die ZEIT

Someone has foreseen what will move the whole world some time later. You can’t expect more ingenious foreshadowing from a journalist.

Marc Thomas Spahl

Axel Springer Preis (Laudatio)

“In a country that is starting anew” is a wise look at Tunisia (…) Living in Tunisia or travelling the country is not easy at the moment – this well-researched book makes that clear. However, the country offers a special experience, precisely because many things are in a state of upheaval and many things are in a state of change. However, Drißner is immune to developing an all too wildly romantic attitude of authenticity.

Stefan Fischer

Süddeutsche Zeitung

The Austrian journalist Gerald Drißner tours Tunisia from his small rented apartment in Tunis to the furthest corners of the country. The encounters with smugglers, farmers or revolutionaries and the conversations in the coffee houses let the reader experience the Tunisian everyday life after the revolution.

Wolfgang Ritschl

Radio Ö1

AWARDS

  • Axel Springer Prize for Young Journalists in 2011 (category: weekly/monthly publications)
  • Columbus Award for travel writing in 2006
  • Meridian journalism award in 2011

NETWORKS

  • Kathryn W. Davis – Fellowship for Peace
  • Bucerius-Summer-School
  • EUMEF (EU-Middle East Forum) of DGAP (German Council on Foreign Relations)
  • IJP (International Journalists’ Programmes)

STAY
IN
TOUCH

Send me
a message.

You can contact me anytime. I will get back to you as soon as possible.











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