Scheriknau grew up Lehrte due his mother moving to West-Germany. In 1976 he became a member of the Communist Party (DKP ).
In 1980 he first published his first novelle "Kleinstadtnovelle" about his gay coming out in a small city.
In the same year he moved to West-Berlin where he joined the Socialist Unity Party West-Berlin ( SEW ).
From 1986-1989 he studied at the institute for literature in Leipzig, despite being from West-Berlin.
In 1989 he became a citizen of the German Democratic Republic and worked as a radio-play actor. In the same year he gave a speech at the congress of the GDR author's union where he denounced the opening of the borders as counter-revolutionary.