FOREIGN RIGHTS AUTUMN 2013 - Hanser Literaturverlage

T R AV E L O G U E
FA I RY TA L E S
An epic odyssey into a bewildering world
full of startling contrasts and magical stories
brought to life by a potent combination of
stunning photography and riveting narrative
that affords us a closer look at a region that
may seem remote, yet soon becomes familiar.
© Peter-Andreas Hassiepen
We’re all familiar with Grimm’s Fairy Tales –
stepping stones for the imagination, they are an
integral part of our childhood. Ingo Schulze and
Christine Traber have rearranged that childhood
landscape from a radical new perspective –
everything is at once familiar and alien. Good
and evil, right and wrong merge and switch
places, forming an ingenious amalgamation of
timelessness and cutting-edge contemporaneity.
© Heike Steinweg
Ilija Trojanow and Christian Muhrbeck have travelled the length and breadth of the
Balkans for years, exploring the region’s varied facets, from its archaic culture through
the blood-soaked conflicts of the recent past to a more peaceful post-socialist modernity.
Steering clear of cliché and stereotype, Muhrbeck’s photographs capture snapshots
of everyday life on the outer frontiers of Europe. Ilja Trojanow’s texts complement these
vivid pictures with stories that switch effortlessly between genres from straightforward
reportage to lyrical poetry. The result is a felicitous fusion of imagery and language; a
magical distillation of the Balkans as we’ve never seen them before – a world that has hitherto
remained largely concealed, despite being part and parcel of our European heritage.
We join the mourners at a funeral service, fish with trawlermen whose nets remain empty,
and listen to a boy as he introduces his extended family: »We do things our own way out
here, and we don’t all sing the same tune, but together we add up to a right türlu gjuvetsch,
a spicy stew just like my mother’s.«
Ilija Trojanow
with photographs by
Christian Muhrbeck
Wo Orpheus begraben liegt
Where Orpheus Lies Buried
224 pages. Hardcover
Publication date:
August 2013
lija Trojanow
was born in Sofia in 1965.
He has spent time in
Nairobi, Munich, Mumbai
and Cape Town, and now
lives in Vienna. His books
with Hanser include An den
inneren Ufern Indiens. Eine
Reise entlang des Ganges
(2003), Der Weltensammler
(novel, 2006), Der entfesselte
Globus (articles, 2008)
und EisTau (novel, 2011).
A poor child is left to stew in a cauldron; a father beheads his sons without reason or
remorse; a beautiful young girl devours a wolf’s heart… Ingo Schulze and Christine Traber
pick up familiar motifs and turn them into new stories, sustained by a resonating beat that
carries the distant echo of infancy. But for all the familiarity, there is no hint of nostalgia
or glorification here; the mesh of myth and modernity allows room for contradictions to
seep in. The fairytale characters are thoroughly disambiguated divested of their clear-cut
roles. Who is good? Who is evil? And what remains when all our hopes for a happy ending
have been dashed?
Ingo Schulze and Christine Traber play fast and loose with the genre. Couched in the familiar
garb of fairytale narrative, they create a realm at once archaic and contemporary.
Sebastian Meschenmoser’s illustrations lend this vertiginous realm a graphic dimension
which further intensifies its unsettling impact.
Ingo Schulze/
Christine Traber
Henkerslos.
Ein Märchenbrevier
The Hangman’s Lot
96 pages with illustrations
Hardcover
Publication date:
August 2013
Ingo Schulze
was born in Dresden in
1962, studied classical
languages in Jena and
worked in Altenburg as a
dramatic advisor and newspaper
editor. He has been
living in Berlin since 1993.
His books have won him
numerous awards and been
translated into more than 30
languages.
»One of Europe’s most original contemporary writers.« The Times Literary Supplement
»Iliya Troyanov has turned Burton’s unbelievable life into believable fiction, achieving a
rounded and satisfying portrait that traditional biography could never match.«
New York Times Book Review on The Collector of Worlds
Christian Muhrbeck
born in Berlin in 1969, has
worked as assistant to
various photographers and
studied graphic design at
the University of the Arts
Bremen. He has lived in
Berlin since 1999, and
works as a freelance
photographer.
»Ingo Schulze is an epic storyteller!« Günter Grass on Simple Stories
»Wonderful…Schulze is a baroquely expansive comic.« The New York Times Book Review
»An admirable work. The reader sits open-mouthed, surprised, and delighted before this
miracle of romantic poetry, philosophy of money, and epic strength.« SZ on New Lives
Christine Traber was
born in Stuttgart in 1964
and studied art history and
drama at the Free University
in Berlin. She lives in Stuttgart,
working as a freelance
editor and author.
Sales to Foreign Countries
Der Weltensammler: KSA (Al Kamel), BR (Companhia das Letras), BG (Ciela Soft), CHN (Yilin Press),
HR (Novela Media), CZ (HOST), DK (Tiderne Skifter), F (Buchet-Chastel/Libella), H (Cartaphilus), I (Ponte
alle Grazie), ROK (Bookstory), MK (Tri), NL (De Geus), PL (Noir sur Blanc), P (Arkheion), RO (RAO), RUS
(Logos), SRB (Zlatni Zmaj), E (Tusquets), E Catalan (RBA), Taiwan (Business Weekly), UK (Faber & Faber),
USA (HarperCollins), SLO (Studentska Zalozba)
Sales to Foreign Countries
Ingo Schulze’s works have been sold to the following countries: Albania, Brazil, China, Croatia, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania,
Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Serbia, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, UK/USA, Ukraine, United Arabic Emirates, Vietnam
19 F I C T I O N
F O R E I G N R I G H T S HANSER
F I C T I O N 20
F O R E I G N R I G H T S HANSER