Roman Ehrlich grew up in Neuburg on the Danube. He studied at the German Literature Institute in Leipzig and at Freie Universität Berlin.

For his debut novel “Das kalte Jahr” (The Cold Year, published by DuMont in 2013) he received the Automatische-Literaturkritik-Preis der Riesenmaschine, the sponsorship award of the Bremen Literature Award and the Robert-Walser-Award.