Rainer Merkel earned a PhD in psychology and art history in Berlin. From 2008-2009 he worked for Cap Anamur, the only psychiatric hospital in Liberia. He currently lives as a freelance writer in Berlin.

Rainer Merkel’s fellowships and awards include Literarisches Colloquium Berlin 1999; Jürgen Ponto Foundation Prize for Literature 2001; as well as residency fellowships at the Künstlerhaus Villa Concordia Bamberg in 2002; and Villa Aurora Pacific Palisades in 2004. He has been a member of the PEN Center Germany since 2005.

His most recent novels include Das Jahr der Wunder; Das Gefühl am Morgen; Lichtjahre entfernt and the reportage Das Unglück der anderen. Kosovo, Liberia, Afghanistan.