«How author and performer Mirko Beetschen and his sound artist Barbara Schirmer took the tension to the extreme cannot be imitated. Both have proved that they are artists of the first rank, artists who create mood and atmosphere.»

«(…) Mirko Beetschen proves to be a talented narrator who knows how to capture moods accurately and make atmospheres come alive almost physically in his dense language.»

Mirko Beetschen is awarded with the literary prize of Bern's Office of Culture 2019. – «With ‹Bel Veder›, author Mirko Beetschen successfully creates a visually stunning and thrilling Gothic Novel, in which he playfully messes with the reader's expectations. The setting is an old grand hotel in the Swiss Alps in the autumn of 1946.»

«Mirko Beetschen builds up the tension very skilfully and weaves in new, surprising plotlines (…). And of course the story is so gripping and creepy that you can hardly put the book down.»

«Mirko Beetschen and Stéphane Houlmann are veritable conoisseurs of Bern. With a keen eye, they look at neighbourhoods, bars, cafés, hotels, culture and restaurants. Their selections represents what they stand for themselves: quality, nonchalance and taste.»

«The rest of Switzerland likes to scoff about Bern’s proverbial slowness and that things don’t move here. In their well written and beautifully illustrated guide, Mirko Beetschen and Stéphane Houlmann prove that this prejudice definitely doesn’t apply to the local culture and gastronomy scene.»

«Mirko Beetschen and Stéphane Houlmann moved back to Bern after 12 years in Zurich. They rediscovered a city with an extraordinary «urban landscape with a big variety of neighbourhoods, river landscapes, woods and hills», the Aare, which has become the lifeline of the Swiss capital, and discovered an abundance of new and traditional venues.»

«Swiss author Mirko Beetschen describes his scenes so vividly that it feels like watching a movie. The reader is plunged right into the protagonist's life and breathlessly follows the tightening plot.»

«In his debut novel, Mirko Beetschen impressively and with purposeful slowness describes how a fleeting acquaintance gradually evolves into a frighteningly close and involuntary relationship.»

«The most important monuments and nicests spots are presented in impressive photographies – often taken from a surprising perspective -, a city guide shows the hot spots of architecture, design, gastronomy and shopping. The beautifully designed book wraps the city's flair within two covers and thus becomes a publication for anyone who loves Zurich or wants to know more about the city.»

«As an introduction to the lively and many-faceted city on the Limmat, full-page urban impressions invite inhabitants as well as explorers to plunge into the small big city's life.»

«Sensual, conscious and adapted to their personal needs. That's how men live. No trace can be found of the often cited clichés in connection with guys' abodes in Mirko Beetschen and Stéphane Houlmann's book.»