Andreas Schäfer studied German literature and theology In Frankfurt/Main and Berlin. Since the mid-nineties he has been working as a theatre critic and reported on cultural affairs  first for Berliner Zeitung  and then for Der Tagesspiegel until 2010, when he became a freelance writer.

He published his novel  „Auf dem Weg nach Messara“ ( En Route to Messara, Alexander Fest Verlag, 2002), which received the Bremen Most Promising Writer Award. His novel „Wir vier” (The Four of Us, Dumont Verlag, 2010) was long listed for the German Book Award and received the Anna Seghers Prize. His latest novel  „Gesichter“ (Faces, Dumont Verlag, 2013), was voted on to the bestseller list of  Southwest German Radio.  Schäfer writes essays and commentaries for  Die Zeit and magazines such as Weltkunst and Architektur und Wohnung and works on developing print materials for foundations. He also writes radio features on topics such as the magic of a night in Athens, the power of the empty theatre space, or the swimming pool as a venue for literature.