Biography

Monika Mansour

I was born in 1973 in Winterthur, Switzerland. Together with my little sister, we grew up on my parents farm, where being well protected, cherished and loved. I loved the earthy life. I used to play with cats, dogs, calves and enjoy horseback riding  through our forests. No Facebook, Twitter and Videogames in that time and only two TV-Channels to get bored with. It was a great childhood. A huge 'thank you' to my dear parents.
Our farm was idyllic, somewhat isolated in a clearing, surrounded by meadows and woods. The Töss was the river, which formed a natural border with the neighboring communities. High limestone walls cut us off from the environment.

As idyllic our farm was, it already stimulated my imagination in the early years: 500 meters through the forest up the road was a mental hospital, as well as a asylum centers and a drug rehabilitation clinic. For sure, those institutions in our neighborhood brought some action: a man hanged on a tree, a police helicopter and blue light at midnight or a shooting in the woods. Once my father had to testify at the police station because of a stabbing.

And I never forget that night, it was a dark, cold night, as suddenly the doorbell rang. Outside was a half frozen girl, barely 18 years old, dressed only in a nightgown, barefoot and soaking wet. She was crying terribly and was confused. The girl had escaped from the mental hospital and had tried to run away through the Töss. But there was no way through. So she ended up in our kitchen. After a cup of hot chocolate, the nurses came to pick her up: cold and unfriendly they were.

Then there was the story about this fox, suffering rabies. As a five years old I was running in panic from that beast. Truly a moment of fear that I'll never forget and in some way or another will for sure show up in one of my stories.

Another time an escaped inmate of the mental hospital ended up on our farm. He has thrown 20 francs down at my feet. 'Show me the way home', he yelled at me. But I had Nora, my gorgeous farm dog. If I would have left her off the leash, that would have been a hell of a fight.

Then followed a few years looking for the right job. In a hotel I have served chateaubriand, managed a whiskey bar and checked in the passengers at Zurich Airport. Later on I became an office employee, where I used to organize international shipments. Ten years ago, a good luck coincidence brought me to a piercing and tattoo studio. I loved to work with the piercing needle. And tattooing gives me the satisfaction, a brush and pencil cannot. Still nowadays I work as a freelance tattoo artist in this studio in Sursee.

Whenever I could, I traveled abroad. I spent half a year in the U.S., went to Thailand and Beijing. When I visited Egypt, I found my true love. Now I am married to my gorgeous Pharaonic husband for over than ten years and we have a wonderful prince who keeps me always busy.

These wonderful years of wandering the planet to find my true destination have given me one important ingredient, I needed to tell good stories: life experience.