Download - New Books in German

SPRING 2013 n ISSUE 33
NEW BOOK
BOOKS IN
KS IN GERM
N GERMAN N
A SELECTION FROM AUSTRIA,
GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND
Novels n Crime Fiction n Debuts
Short Stories n Children’s and Young Adults’
Poetry n History n Biography n Book News
WWW.NEW-BOOKS-IN-GERMAN.COM

FICTION
2 Eva Menasse: Quasikristalle
3 Barbara Frischmuth: Woher wir kommen
4 Robert Schindel: Der Kalte
5 Michael Köhlmeier: Die Abenteuer des Joel Spazierer
DEBUTS
8 Hannes Stein: Der Komet
9 Pyotr Magnus Nedov: Zuckerleben
10 Anita Augustin: Der Zwerg reinigt den Kittel
11 Isabella Straub: Südbalkon
SHORT STORIES
14 Hartmut Lange: Das Haus in der Dorotheenstraße
FICTION
15 Monika Held: Der Schrecken verliert sich vor Ort
16 Matthias Zschokke: Der Mann mit den zwei Augen
17 Joachim Meyerhoff: Wann wird es endlich wieder so,
wie es nie war
22 Astrid Rosenfeld: Elsa ungeheuer
23 Inger-Maria Mahlke: Rechnung Offen
24 Andreas Izquierdo: Das Glücksbüro
Jonas Lüscher: Frühling der Barbaren
CRIME FICTION
25 Sunil Mann: Uferwechsel
Merle Kröger: Grenzfall
CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULTS’
27 Klaus Kordon: Das Karussell
28 Alexandra Hamann et al: Die grosse Transformation
29 Christian Loeffelbein: Willkommen in Professor
Graghuls geheimer Monsterschule
30 Jürg Schubiger: Überall ist leicht zu verpassen
31 Kai Meyer: Asche und Phönix
Rosemarie Eichinger: Alles dreht sich
NON-FICTION
34 Stefan Kornelius: Angela Merkel
35 Eveline Hasler: Mit dem letzten Schiff
36 Norbert Mappes-Niediek: Arme Roma, böse Zigeuner
37 Pola Kinski: Kindermund
A FORGOTTEN GEM
38 Rudolf Brunngraber: Karl und das zwanzigste
Jahrhundert
POETRY
39 Ann Cotten
AUSTRIAN LITERATURE FEATURES
6 Lesefestwoche 2012, by Mary Penman
7 Kaffee, Kuchen und Bücher:
Vienna’s thriving independent publishing scene,
by Samuel Pacuks Willcocks
12 The European Literature Days, by Charlotte Ryland
13 Translating Clemens J. Setz: Lucy Renner Jones
interviews Ross Benjamin
26 Gerhard Roth: Writer of Vienna, by Uwe Schütte
ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS
18 Publisher Focus: SelfMadeHero
Translator Focus: Shaun Whiteside
19 A Unique Competition for Translators in the USA,
by Grace Moss
NEWS AND INFORMATION
20-21 NBG Choices – New and Forthcoming Publications
in English Translation
32-33 The Brothers Grimm turn 200, by Jen Calleja
40 Obituary: Jakob Arjouni
Applying for Translation Grants

Dear Reader,
I am delighted to introduce issue 33 of New Books in German: spring is finally springing here in London and our bright yellow
plumage captures the vernal mood. After the focus on Berlin and Zurich in our previous issues, we now head to Vienna, Austria’s
capital, to savour the diverse literary life of the city on the Danube. Mary Penman’s article on Vienna’s Book Fair and ‘Festival
of Reading’, Lesefestwoche, captures the variety of literary offerings throughout the city during one of Austria’s newest and
most imaginative literary festivals. Samuel Willcocks’ piece on Vienna’s independent publishing scene showcases some of
the forward-thinking and innovative publishers who are a vital force behind Austria’s new literary talent. And we hear about last
summer’s inspirational gathering at the European Literature Days, set amid the breathtaking scenery of Spitz an der Donau.
This issue is chock-full of reviews of new work by gifted Austrian writers. The first four novels profiled in these pages, by Eva
Menasse, Barbara Frischmuth, Robert Schindel and Michael Köhlmeier, demonstrate the breadth of high quality writing in
contemporary Austria. We also feature an interview with Ross Benjamin, the US translator of Austrian literary superstar Clemens
J. Setz, revealing fascinating insights into the unique style and composition of his latest novel, Indigo. As a testament to the
vibrancy of Austrian literary life, the authors of two of our four debut novels – Anita Augustin and Isabella Straub – were
born in Austria, while the remaining two – Hannes Stein and Pyotr Magnus Nedov – were raised there.
In addition, we feature a review of the extraordinary oeuvre of established Austrian author Gerhard Roth, while our
‘Forgotten Gem’ highlights a neglected novel by Rudolf Brunngraber.
Of course Austrian fiction is only one component of the wealth of German-language titles selected here. We also feature
first-class novels by Swiss writers Jonas Lüscher, Sunil Mann and Matthias Zschokke, in addition to some outstanding new
titles by German authors Monika Held, Inger-Maria Mahlke and Astrid Rosenfeld. Our non-fiction selection in this issue
includes a pioneering study of the Roma gypsy community and the first biography of Angela Merkel. Titles for children and
young adults range from Klaus Kordon’s beautifully evoked novel of historical heartbreak to Christian Loeffelbein’s hilarious
book set in a school for badly behaved monsters.
New Books in German is always a collaborative effort by people who are passionate
about German-language literature, and this issue has particularly benefitted from the
involvement of our steering and editorial committees, the hard work by Grace Moss at
the German Book Office in New York, and the dedication of our editorial assistants: Jen
Calleja, Carly McLaughlin and Helen Rutley. Special thanks are due to our editorial
consultant Sheridan Marshall, whose boundless enthusiasm and creativity have given
this issue its spark. We hope that, in time-honoured Viennese fashion, you will sit back
with some ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’ and enjoy reading this issue as much as we have enjoyed
putting it together.
Information for Editors
n The selection process for books that we review in
NBG is entirely independent.
n For each issue, we start with approximately 150 titles.
At our first editorial meeting we select around seventy
of these to send to our experienced team of reviewers.
n Our reviewers are translators, academics, editors and
agents – all extremely well-read and with a good feel
for the market.
n At our second editorial meeting, our committee discusses
the reviews and selects approximately 30 titles for the issue.
n Our Editorial Committee comprises some regular
members – translators Anthea Bell and Shaun Whiteside,
agent Tanja Howarth, bookseller Jonathan Ruppin of Foyles
– as well as representatives from the Austrian, German and
Swiss cultural institutes in London.
n Different guest members are invited to join the
committee each time, and include publishers, literary
agents, booksellers and translators.
n We have juries in both London and the United States.
The American jury consists of literary scouts, critics
and editors, as well as members of the German Book
Office and Goethe-Institut in New York.
n Our only guiding principle when selecting the books is
quality: we are looking for outstanding works and voices,
works which should have a chance even in the tricky
British and American market and internationally.
n All fiction books featured in New Books in German and
bought by an English-language publisher are guaranteed
a grant. Non-Fiction books by German and Swiss authors
are guaranteed a grant (see page 40).
1

Eva Menasse
Quasikristalle
(Quasicrystals)
Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, February 2013, 425pp. ISBN: 978-3-462-04513-0
A life lived to the full
Eva Menasse’s accomplished second novel follows the life
story of Xane (Roxane) Molin. As Xane is presented to us
through the eyes of a multitude of family members, friends
and acquaintances, we are reminded that while we may
all feel like the central characters of our own lives, we are
rarely more than incidental to the lives of others.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of this novel is the
kaleidoscopic multiplicity of its perspectives and insights.
Some of the episodes mention Xane only in passing, while
others are observed by close friends and family members.
We first encounter Xane through the eyes of her best friend
during their Austrian schooldays. Successive viewpoints
are those of an academic who conducts a study tour of
Auschwitz that Xane attends; of Xane’s ultra-correct landlord
from whom she rents an apartment; of a gynaecologist
whom Xane consults about her infertility, only to find out
that in fact she has become naturally pregnant; and of a
distinguished campaigner against ethnic cleansing working
for the International Court at The Hague, with whom Xane
has a platonic liaison. Then we are treated to her own view
of her marriage to Mor (Professor Moritz Braun) at a time
when her son Amos is five, and her teenage stepdaughters
are part of the family.
Towards the end of the book Xane is seen only as an
anonymous figure sitting on a bench beside her husband,
both now old, as he collapses and dies. The scene is
witnessed from a window by a young Asian woman, Shanti,
who campaigns against abuse of the elderly and has
written a book on the subject. As the narrative progresses
connections emerge between the book’s many fascinating
characters, and loose ends are tied up: for instance,
in the penultimate chapter we meet the son of Xane’s
gynaecologist, now a qualified doctor himself and working
with Shanti. It is these unexpected links that generate the
intriguing kaleidoscopic patterns.
Menasse has followed up her bestselling first novel,
Vienna (shortlisted in English translation for both the
Independent Foreign Fiction prize and the Oxford-
Weidenfeld translation prize), with a very different but
equally thrilling work. Quasicrystals is a take on the seven
ages of woman, and Eva Menasse’s achievement is in
creating a work of fiction whose ambitious structure is
part of the great satisfaction of reading it.
A sample translation of this title
is available on the NBG website
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Austria/Germany (see page 40)
© Ekko von Schwichow
Eva Menasse
was born in 1970 in Vienna, Austria,
where she later began her career as
a journalist. She now lives and works
in Berlin as a publicist and writer.
Her novel Vienna won the Corine
Award for Best Debut and its English
translation was shortlisted for the
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.
Her short story collection Lässliche
Todsünden also achieved great
success among critics and readers.
Previous works:
Vienna (2005);
Lässliche Todsünden (2009)
Translation rights sold:
Argentina, China, Czech Republic,
Egypt, Great Britain, France, Greece,
Hungary, Israel, Italy, Netherlands,
Slovenia, and Spain
Translation rights available from:
Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch GmbH
& Co. KG
Bahnhofsvorplatz 1
50667 Köln, Germany
Tel: +49-221-376 85 22
Email: ibrandt@kiwi-verlag.de
Contact: Iris Brandt
www.kiwi-verlag.de
‘Eva Menasse has written an intense,
refined book about a modern woman’s
strengths and weaknesses, and
particularly her contradictions.’
– Die Welt
Kiepenheuer & Witsch
was founded in 1949 in Cologne by
two publishers from the Eastern Zone,
Gustav Kiepenheuer and Joseph Caspar
Witsch. The press’s early authors
included Joseph Roth, Heinrich Böll
and Erich Maria Remarque. Today
Kiepenheuer & Witsch continues to
publish leading contemporary German,
Austrian and Swiss writers, as well as
international authors in translation.
Its list includes Katja Lange-Müller,
Peter Härtling, Uwe Timm, Gabriel
García Márquez and John Banville.
Its non-fiction subjects cover sociology,
psychology, history and biography.
Kiepenheuer & Witsch is part of the
Holtzbrinck Group.
2 Fiction

Barbara Frischmuth
Woher wir kommen
(Where we come from)
Aufbau (Blumenbar), September 2012, 367pp. ISBN: 978-3-351-03508-2
Love hurts
Where we come from is about learning how to live – and
in some cases to love – after bereavement and trauma.
Through the three distinct narratives related by three
women from the same family, the reader shares in the
stories of these strong, independent characters as they
reflect on the meaning of their lives.
The novel’s stories of lost love belong to Ada, her mother
Martha, and her great-aunt Lilofee. Ada is a young Austrian
artist who has recently endured her partner’s suicide. Her
altered painting style is just one of the innumerable ways
in which her life has changed following the loss of her
partner. While staying with her mother at their familyowned
restaurant in an idyllic Austrian lakeside village,
she encounters an old school friend, Jonas. Ada was once
very close to Jonas, who has recently returned from the
USA with his three small children after the death of his wife.
Now, Ada and Jonas fall in love while still mourning their
previous partners.
Ada, Martha and Lilofee’s stories belong together and
frequently intersect, yet each stands alone in its particular
experiences of love and loss. Martha’s story centres upon
the unexplained disappearance of her husband, Robin –
Ada’s father – during a climbing expedition to the Ararat
mountains. Neither Robin’s body nor that of his climbing
companion was ever found. Each year Martha returns to
Istanbul to visit the other woman who was widowed at the
same time, and together they mull over the past and mourn
their husbands – until Martha discovers Robin’s secret,
which changes everything. Meanwhile, we learn that greataunt
Lilofee’s lost love was an escaped prisoner of war from
Eastern Europe whom she hid in the mountains until her
father denounced him to the Nazis. Lilofee never recovers
from these experiences of loss and betrayal.
Frischmuth’s narrative contains many pleasures: its
evocative sense of place and engaging characterisation;
the humorously realistic depiction of Jonas’ three young
children; as well as the striking descriptions of Ada’s
artwork which incorporates natural and used objects.
The novel’s broad historical and geographical scope,
ranging from the outstandingly beautiful village of
Altaussee to contemporary Vienna and Istanbul, reflects
its thoughtful engagement with different conceptions
of ‘where we come from’.
A sample translation of this title
is available on the NBG website
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Austria (see page 40)
© Thomas Smetana
Barbara Frischmuth
was born in 1941 and lives in Styria,
Austria. She studied Turkish, Hungarian,
and Middle Eastern studies. She works
as a writer, translator, and columnist
and has won numerous prizes for
her work.
Previous works:
Das Verschwinden des Lichtes in
der Sonne (1973); Die Mystifikation
der Sophie Silber (1976); Die Schrift
des Freundes (1998); Einander Kind
(1990); Die Entschlüsselung (2003)
‘A daringly composed novel… full of
sensual details, crystal-clear political
analysis, and moving stories.’
– Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Translation rights available from:
Aufbau Verlag GmbH & Co. KG
Prinzenstraße 85
10969 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49-30-28 394-123
Email: ihmels@aufbau-verlag.de
Contact: Inka Ihmels
‘Frischmuth narrates the fates of three
women with intelligence and her own
easy confidence.’ – Kulturzeitung 80
‘An extraordinary creator of characters.’
– Neue Zürcher Zeitung
‘An elaborately composed novel about
dreaming, reality and literature, with a
touch of melancholy.’ – Der Standard
‘No novel has ever focused so
compellingly the sense and the power
of story-telling.’ – Deutschland Radio
Aufbau Verlag
was founded in 1945 and became
the leading cultural and literary
publishing house in East Germany.
Besides focusing on German and
international classics (Hans Fallada,
Lion Feuchtwanger, Anna Seghers,
Arnold Zweig, Victor Klemperer), exile
and resistance literature and East
German literature, Aufbau has a strong
list of contemporary world literature.
Recent major successes include Werner
Bräunig’s Rummelplatz, novels by Fred
Vargas, Donna Cross, Eliot Pattison,
Deon Meyer, Hong Ying, Guillaume
Musso, Robert Schneider, Giles Foden
and Polina Daschkowa. Blumenbar
is Aufbau’s newest imprint and will
complement Aufbau’s program with a
crossover of literature, pop culture, club
culture, art and socio-political subjects.
Fiction 3

Robert Schindel
Der Kalte
(Winter in Austria)
Suhrkamp Verlag, February 2013, 665pp. ISBN: 978-3-518-42355-4
Living with the past
Winter in Austria is an epic novel set in Vienna during the
late 1980s in the milieux of politics, theatre and journalism.
In its sardonic unpicking of the politics and culture of the ‘80s,
the novel is reminiscent of Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of
Beauty, Jonathan Coe’s The Rotters’ Club, or Philip Hensher’s
recent King of the Badgers. Both right-wing nastiness
and left-wing opportunism come under scrutiny in Robert
Schindel’s unsparing anatomisation of a hypocritical society.
Schindel’s protagonist is Edmund Fraul, an Auschwitz
survivor whose life is spent writing books on the Holocaust
and giving testimony. Continually plagued by horrific visions
from the concentration camps, Fraul appears heroic to the
outside world while coming across as cold and self-righteous
to his family. His emotions are increasingly frozen, and he
withdraws slowly from his wife, who is also an Auschwitz
survivor. Instead, he begins a cautious friendship with
Rosinger, an ex-SS officer at Auschwitz who has served his
time in prison. At the end of the novel, Rosinger dies and
Fraul’s nightmares end.
In a plot which closely mirrors the Waldheim affair of
real-life Austrian politics in the 1980s, the novel follows the
presidential election campaign of Johann Wais, an ex-SA
officer who attempts to cover up his time in Yugoslavia
in 1944. The community of left-wing artists surrounding
Vienna’s Burgtheater is outraged and the director puts on
a series of plays whose themes reflect the political events:
first Macbeth, then Phaedra, then a commissioned play
about Jewish complicity and resistance. Wais’ conservative
campaign managers, and the resurgent Freedom party,
attempt to discredit the Burgtheater, culminating in a scandal
in which they dump a lorry load of manure in front of the
theatre and loudly heckle the actors. Debates over a suitable
monument to Jewish persecution also divide public opinion.
Schindel’s narrative style is informal and accessible. The
large cast of characters is well delineated and each has
their own lively idiom. The novel’s dialogue is often drily
humorous. Excerpts from the teenage diary of one of the
characters make for particularly entertaining reading,
riddled as they are with slang, angst and artless bragging.
The themes of Winter in Austria – political scandal, the
politics of art, the memory of the Holocaust – give this
intelligent and compelling novel international appeal.
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Austria (see page 40)
© Isolde Ohlbaum
Robert Schindel
was born in 1944 in Bad Hall in Austria
and is a lyric poet, author, and director.
Since 2009 he has been a professor in
applied arts at the Vienna University
and has been awarded several literary
prizes for his works.
Previous works:
Gebürtig. Roman (1992); Mein
liebster Feind. Essays, Reden,
Miniaturen (2004); Fremd bei
mir selbst. Die Gedichte (2004)
Translation rights available from:
Suhrkamp Verlag
Pappelallee 78-79
10437 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49-30-740744-0
Email: mercurio@suhrkamp.de
Contact: Nora Mercurio
www.suhrkamp.de/foreignrights
‘Through his masterful use of
various first-person narrators whose
perspectives are continually shifting,
Schindel produces a sophisticated
literary reappraisal of recent Austrian
history.’ – Reinhold Reiterer, Kleine
Zeitung Wien
Suhrkamp Verlag
was founded in 1950 by Peter
Suhrkamp and directed for over forty
years by Dr. Siegfried Unseld. The
independent publishing company
now includes Insel Verlag (founded in
Leipzig in 1899), the Jüdischer Verlag
(founded in Berlin in 1902), as well
as the Deutscher Klassiker Verlag
(established in 1981) and the newly
founded Verlag der Weltreligionen
(established in 2006). Suhrkamp
focuses on both contemporary
literature and the humanities. Its
distinguished list includes leading
writers from Germany, Switzerland
and Austria, many of whom made their
debuts with the firm, besides major
international authors of both fiction
and non-fiction, including several
Nobel Prize winners.
4 Fiction

Michael Köhlmeier
Die Abenteuer des Joel Spazierer
(The Adventures of Joel Spazierer)
Carl Hanser Verlag, January 2013, 656pp. ISBN: 978-3-446-24178-7
A rogue’s tale
The Adventures of Joel Spazierer is a picaresque novel
par excellence which pays homage to Tristram Shandy
and Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé, with a wry nod to Rabelais.
The protagonist of Köhlmeier’s impressive work is a master
chameleon who switches effortlessly between his many
identities. Spazierer’s life is shaped by a series of major
moments in recent history, which he in turn also influences:
from Stalin’s death in 1953 and the Hungarian Uprising of
1956, to Cuba’s politics during the 1960s and 1970s, and
life within the German Democratic Republic.
Born in Hungary into a German-speaking family, Spazierer’s
childhood is marked by a deeply traumatic experience of
abandonment, and the narrative hints that this may have
triggered his subsequent addiction to half-truths and blatant
fabrication. If we are to believe our less than reliable
narrator, the family leave Budapest shortly before the 1956
uprising, finding refuge with a Professor of Egyptology in
Vienna before building a new life in a small Austrian town.
Spazierer is a beautiful child with chestnut curls, handsome
features and a smattering of golden freckles. He exudes
the quiet charisma of a ‘devil-angel’ – a dangerous sort
of bewitchment. His power lies in his ability to listen with
apparent rapt attention to those with something to tell,
and in guessing the kind of answers they are expecting
and which will suit him best.
Spazierer spends many years in prison on a murder charge,
firstly in Switzerland and then in Austria, where he seizes
opportunities to perfect his gift for languages and to learn
a trade as a motor mechanic. After his release, a young
priest helps him find a job as a caretaker in a home for
theology students, which adds to his array of ‘talents’ a flair
for moral philosophy and theology. When he needs to leave
Austria – on the eve of his wedding to Italian beauty and
one-time Communist, Allegra – he passes himself off as the
grandson of Ernst Thälmann, the leader of the Communist
Party during much of the Weimar Republic, and gains entry
to the GDR where he becomes a popular university lecturer
in the Atheism division of the philosophy department.
This highly enjoyable romp of a tale ducks and weaves, goes
off at tangents and ricochets back and forth between the
present and the past as its devil-may-care narrator spins
his yarns, offering a wonderful send-up of bureaucracy and
human vanity.
A sample translation of this title
is available on the NBG website
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Austria (see page 40)
© Peter-Andreas Hassiepen
Michael Köhlmeier
was born in 1949 in the town of
Hard, on Lake Constance. A full-time
writer, he divides his time between
rural Hohenems, Vorarlberg, and
urban Vienna.
Previous works:
Abendland (2007); Idylle mit
ertrinkendem Hund (2008); Madalyn
(2010); Der Liebhaber bald nach dem
Frühstück (2012)
‘A stunning achievement; sublimely
entertaining and written with
unparalleled sleight of hand. If there
were such a thing as literary justice,
Michael Köhlmeier would have as
many prizes raining on him as there
are corpses lining the route of his
wicked hero.’ – Die Zeit
Translation rights available from:
Carl Hanser Verlag
Kolbergerstr. 22, 81679 München,
Germany
Tel: +49 89 998 30 509
Email: Barakat@hanser.de
Contact: Friederike Barakat
www.hanser-literaturverlage.de
‘The author pushes his diabolical
experimental premise to the point
at which we find ourselves rooting
for his protagonist. We’re hoping and
praying that he’ll manage one last
time to escape, to survive; that he’ll
triumph even if it means committing
murder . . . ‘ – FAZ
Carl Hanser Verlag
was established by its eponymous
owner in 1928 in Munich, and its
founder’s interests in both literature
and science have been maintained
to the present day. The firm publishes
fiction and non-fiction for both adults
and children. Its authors include Italo
Calvino, Umberto Eco, Jostein Gaarder,
Lars Gustafsson, Milan Kundera, Harry
Mulisch, Philip Roth, Susan Sontag,
Botho Strauß, Raoul Schrott, Rafik
Schami, Alfred Brendel, Elke Heidenreich
and ten Nobel prizewinners, among
them Elias Canetti, whose works have
been translated into more than thirty
different languages.
‘Köhlmeier’s roguish anti-hero retains an innocence that invariably allows him
a paradoxical insight into his own guilt. It’s this characteristic that makes Joel
Spazierer the ideal literary protagonist. Set against a sublimely comical backdrop,
he comes across as both philanthropist and criminal.’ – Literarische Welt
Fiction 5

Lesefestwoche 2012:
an Austrian celebration
of literature
By Mary Penman
A November week in Vienna. On
Tuesday evening a group gathers
in a bookshop near Schönbrunn
Palace to listen, in the after-hours
quiet, to Barbara Wolfingseder
recount some of her Dunkle
Geschichten aus dem alten Wien
(‘Dark Tales from Old Vienna’),
gruesomely intriguing stories of
Vienna’s most infamous crimes and
punishments. On Wednesday four
poets sit together in the low-lit
cellar of die Alte Schmiede (the
Old Smithy), complete with sooty
black walls, rows of tools and a
hefty anvil. They take turns reading
selected works and discussing their
writing with a captivated audience.
On Thursday afternoon a group
of warmly clad youngsters pause
in the stony surroundings of the
city’s Museum Quarter and peer
into the windows of Café Corbaci.
They are taking part in the ‘Sounds
of Vienna Walking Tour’ and are
listening to a scene from Mascha
Dabic’s Shiny Happy People as it
plays out under the tiled ceiling of
the cafe.
I was party to each of these
events, which took place as part
of the annual Lesefestwoche
(Festival of Reading) in Vienna,
held last year in mid-November.
The festival, which is accompanied
by BUCHWien, a four-day-long
international book fair, has only
been running since 2007, but has
already established itself as one
of the highlights of Vienna’s
literary calendar.
The festival’s programme of
events was varied: numerous book
readings and presentations, literary
Book Fair audience
Patrick K Addai
walking tours and illustration
exhibitions drew visitors into
the world of reading, while open
discussions and workshops on
multilingual writing, poetry, or
children’s literature encouraged
participants to foray into the world
of authorship themselves.
Self-proclaimed as ‘international’,
2012’s book fair showed Vienna
to be a meeting point of many
cultures and languages, welcoming
exhibitors from thirteen different
countries. Patrick Addai’s colourful
children’s stories from his native
Ghana proved popular on the
Kinderbühne (Children’s Stage),
while the Donau Lounge (Danube
Lounge) focused on literary
and cultural exchange between
countries of the Danube Region.
Intercultural dialogue was also an
important theme of the event, with
the awarding of a number of prizes
that strongly reflected this issue.
A prize awarded on behalf of the
Austrian book trade to recognise
‘tolerance in thought and action’
was conferred on German historian
Brigitte Hamann, in recognition
of the numerous and insightful
books on Austrian history which
6 AUSTRIAN LITERATURE FEATURES
© HVA/APA/Rastegar
© Richard Schuster
she has authored. The top award
of the 2012 exil-literaturpreise
recognises authors who write
in German despite it not being
their mother tongue. This year it
was presented to Russian-born
Ekaterina Heider for her short
story ‘Am Strand’. London-born
Hazel Rosenstrauch, who grew
up in Vienna and now resides in
Germany, was presented with
the Austrian Federal Prize for
Cultural Journalism in recognition
of her achievements as an
academic, journalist and writer,
whose intellectual integrity and
independence have informed
her work in the field of cultural
journalism.
Rafik Schami
As part of the festival, each year
the city of Vienna also prints and
freely distributes 100,000 copies
of a specially chosen book, an
initiative aimed at encouraging
and enabling more people to
read, and an opportunity to
draw readers’ attention to a
particular theme or author. In
2012 copies of Eine Hand voller
Sterne (‘A Handful of Stars’)
by Syrian-German author Rafik
Schami were distributed. This
choice has generated renewed
interest in Schami’s narrative
about the highs and lows of his
Damascan childhood, which was
first published twenty-five years
ago, but continues to be strikingly
pertinent in the light of the current
international political situation.
This relevance was noted by
Vienna mayor Michael Häupl in
his introduction to the edition,
in which he encouraged readers
to consider the fates of those
children and adults who do not
live in a peaceful, democratic and
© HVB
stable city like the Austrian capital.
During and after the festival I often
noticed copies of this edition of
Eine Hand voller Sterne emerging
from the pockets of commuters
on the tram, or in the hands of
students waiting in the colonnaded
courtyard of the old university;
its bright azure cover stood out
against the inescapable gloom
of late November, and showed
the quiet spread of the festival’s
influence throughout the city.
For publishers, illustrators, authors
and agents this book festival and
fair have obvious commercial
value, but sitting in the large
exhibition centre, listening to
Austrian-Israeli writer Ari Rath
discuss his memoirs, Ari heißt
Löwe (‘Ari means Lion’), I was
struck by the festival’s potential
to achieve something far beyond
publicity and revenue: its ability
to close the gap between author
and reader. The series of small
gatherings, usually beginning with
a reading or book presentation
and ending in an open discussion
and opportunity to talk with
the author personally, had the
wonderful effect of humanising
the often distant figure of ‘the
author’. Hearing authors talk about
their professional backgrounds,
how they began to write, and the
processes by which they continue
to do so, lent a concrete insight
into the profession of writing.
Whilst it took nothing away from
the magic of writing and reading,
the festival made the idea of
becoming an author much more
plausible – perhaps enough to
inspire some of the wordsmiths
who will take to the stage at the
Lesefestwoche 2013.
Ari Rath
© Richard Schuster

Kaffee, Kuchen und Bücher:
Vienna’s thriving independent
publishing scene
By Samuel Pacuks Willcocks
Think of Viennese literature and
you think of the coffee-house; my
first interview with one of the city’s
small, independent publishers took
place in the stylish Café Prückel.
Andreas Schinko, owner and editor
of PROverbis Verlag, talked to me
about current trends in publishing
and his latest catalogue. ‘I get sent
a lot of political thrillers, especially
with Islamist themes,’ he remarks.
This spring’s new release is Djihad
für Lila (‘Jihad for Lila’), a story
of radicalisation which plays
wryly with the rhetoric of Austrian
nationalist politicians in recent
years. Schinko, who founded his
house in 2007, previously worked
for a school textbooks publisher
and brings twenty years of
editorial and graphics experience
for his authors. ‘Textbooks are
mass-market products,’ he
explains, ‘but I wanted to make
some really beautiful books.’
Among the snappily designed titles
on his list are three volumes in an
ongoing series of new versions of
Karl May – the German giant of
the nineteenth-century adventure
story, rewritten in fresh language
for twenty-first century readers.
Hasan Ali Ider, author of Djihad für Lila
© Joerg Artaker/PROverbis
© Hasan Ali Ider/PROverbis
Sarah Wedler and Nadine d’Arachart.
Another house experimenting
with rewrites and remakes is
Bernhard Salomon’s Labor
Verlag, just around the corner
from St Stephen’s Cathedral.
I left the tourist crowds behind,
climbing worn stone steps into
the palace of a nineteenth-century
merchant prince, and heard the
colourful story of how Salomon
‘founded a publishing house by
accident,’ as he puts it. The author
of six novels, Salomon felt that
Austrian publishing had lost sight
of the narrative drive. When a
brothel owner gave him €3,000
seed funding, he published two
successful short story anthologies,
and then a breakthrough title –
Elfriede Vavrik’s autobiographical
Nacktbadestrand (‘Nudist
Beach’), about an octogenarian’s
sex life, which stayed on the
bestseller lists for weeks on end
in both Germany and Austria.
Salomon then entered into a joint
venture with a major German
house so that he could split the
Labor list off as a dedicated venue
for new novels.
Labor publishes four debut titles a
year in small print runs, accepting
submissions via literary magazines
or university competitions. Its
rising star is Johannes Epple, from
Mauthausen, Upper Austria, whose
Gesternstadt (‘Yesterday Town’)
tells of everyday life and childhood
in a town that was the site of one
of the Third Reich’s largest and
most lethal concentration camps.
Epple has won numerous literary
awards and been wooed by larger
houses, but has stayed with Labor,
says Salomon, ‘because we take
care of him in ways that a larger
publisher would not.’
And the remakes? The thriller
Die Muse des Mörders (‘The
© Martin Urner
Murderer’s Muse’) transposes an
1819 serial killer classic by E.T.A.
Hoffmann to today’s Vienna, where
the murderer becomes the target
of a modern man-hunt. Nadine
d’Arachart und Sarah Wedler,
stars of the Berlin open-mike
scene, tackle the detective genre
with brio. Ondřej Cikán goes even
further back for source material
in his Menandros und Thaïs, to
the epics of Greek antiquity and a
story of love, pirates and sorcery.
Cikán, a classicist, was born in
Prague but grew up in Austria and
writes in German.
Indeed, Vienna has long been
a city for writers from all over
Central and Eastern Europe, and
the city’s Exilliteratur Preis is the
equivalent of Germany’s Chamisso
Prize for immigrant authors.
Two of these young newcomers
publish with Edition Atelier:
Ilir Ferra with Rauchschatten
(‘Shadows of Smoke’), set in
Albania in the totalitarian 1980s,
and Melica Bešlija with Sarajevo
in der Geliebten (‘Sarajevo in
the Woman She Loves’), a story of
same-sex love in Bosnia after the
war. Atelier’s Jorghi Poll told me
that ‘the kind of authors who could
never get noticed in Germany have
that chance in Austria.’
Vienna’s immigrant culture also
shows up in the rambunctious
thrillers of Manfred Rebhandl,
published by Czernin Verlag.
In Das Schwert des Ostens (‘The
Sword of the East’) the hapless
detective Rock Rockenschaub looks
into the death of a porn-cinema
proprietor, and comes to suspect
a well-endowed Turkish porn star
– or perhaps the murder was the
work of yummy mummies who
are snapping up property, and
will go to any lengths to gentrify
Author Ilir Ferra
© Daniel Kaldori
Emily Walton, author of PROverbis’
bestselling 2012 book Mein Leben
ist ein Senfglas
their neighbourhood? With two
Rockenschaub mysteries so far,
Rebhandl has also written a fourbook
series with another detective.
Czernin was founded by the
investigative journalist Hubertus
Czernin, who uncovered the fate
of artworks stolen by the Nazis and
set in motion the legal struggles
to have these returned. When his
health declined Czernin invited
the current chief editor to take
over the house: Benedikt Föger,
a biologist by background who is
now also chairman of the Austrian
Publishers’ Association. The house
has a strong list in politics and
current affairs, including further
studies of the looted art question,
alongside its literary list, all run
out of an open-plan basement
office. ‘The only doors in the
whole place are on the toilet and
the stockroom,’ says Föger. ‘This
makes communication much easier,
sometimes far too easy. Authors
drop in all the time unannounced,
wanting advice or a bit of
attention. I work wherever there’s
a free space but when we’re full
up I go out to the coffeehouse.’
As long as the city’s publishers are
hard at work, the cafés will never
lack for custom.
Samuel Pacuks Willcocks is a literary
and academic translator from German
and other Central/East European
languages. In 2010 he won the German
Embassy Award for Translators, in
its inaugural year. He lives in Cluj,
Romania (also known as Klausenburg,
Transylvania) with his family.
AUSTRIAN LITERATURE FEATURES 7
© Franz Josef Galuschka/PROverbis © Phillip Hacker/PROverbis

Hannes Stein
Der Komet
(The Comet)
Galiani Berlin (Kiepenheuer & Witsch), February 2013, 272pp. ISBN: 978-3-86971-067-9
Life, but not as we know it
Hannes Stein’s deadpan introduction to The Comet states
that, ‘the novel takes place in Vienna and on the moon.’
His narrative combines the best bits of Douglas Adams
and Jules Verne with some good old-fashioned romance
to produce a hugely entertaining book that deserves to
be on everyone’s reading list this season.
In Stein’s fictional universe World War I never happens,
because the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand decides to
leave Sarajevo in 1914 after the first unsuccessful attempt
on his life. As a consequence, the Austro-Hungarian Empire
turns into an enlightened multi-ethnic commonwealth,
and Hitler and Stalin remain provincial mediocrities who
never rise to power. World War II does not happen either
and so Central and Eastern Europe do not lose their Jewish
population in the gas chambers and their intellectual elite
(whether Jewish or not) to the United States. In Stein’s
topsy-turvy world Europe is still a scientific and cultural
powerhouse at the beginning of the 21st century. But not
everything in Stein’s novel is weird and wonderful: just as
in the real world, here too a young man foolishly falls in
love with a passionate older woman; a husband is being
cuckolded while he’s away on a Very Important Assignment;
and a French philosopher explains the world to the rest of us.
The foolish young man is called Alexej von Repin; the lusty
older woman, Barbara Gottlieb. While Barbara’s husband,
David “Dudu” Gottlieb, is away on a scientific mission to
the moon, a bittersweet affair ensues between Alexej and
Barbara, which both of them know will have to end once
Barbara’s husband returns. What they don’t know is that not
only their affair but all life on Planet Earth will soon come to
an end, because the reason Dudu Gottlieb has been called to
the moon is that an enormous comet is heading straight for
Earth and will destroy absolutely everything on impact.
Meanwhile, a pair of eminent scientists is becoming deeply
troubled by patients who are plagued by nightmarish visions
of Europe being torn asunder by war and genocide… Stein’s
intelligent and witty book is suffused with a deep sadness
at everything Europe lost in the cataclysms of the first half
of the 20th century. Will there be a happy ending for Alexej
and Barbara? Will the world really come to an end? How
will the French philosopher react to news of imminent total
annihilation? There’s only one way to find out: read this
wonderfully diverting novel!
© Private
Hannes Stein
was born in Munich, grew up in Austria,
and has been living with his wife and
child in the United States since he won
the green card lottery. In addition to his
work as a culture journalist for various
media outlets (FAZ, Der Spiegel,
Die Welt – whose NY correspondent
he currently is), he has written
several non-fiction books, including
Endlich Nichtdenker (Non-Thinker,
Finally!), Immer Recht haben!
(Always Be Right!) and, together with
Norman Manea, Gespräche im Exil
(Conversations in Exile).
Previous works:
Tschüss Deutschland (2010)
Translation rights available from:
Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch GmbH
& Co. KG
Bahnhofsvorplatz 1
50667 Köln, Germany
Tel: +49-221-376 85 22
Email: ibrandt@kiwi-verlag.de
Contact: Iris Brandt
www.kiwi-verlag.de/
‘In this turbulent novel, Hannes Stein
has succeeded in creating a very
entertaining and at the same time
profound book, which presents an
in-depth knowledge of Judaism and
the history of the 20th Century.’
– Bonner Kunstverein
Kiepenheuer & Witsch was founded
in 1949 in Cologne by two publishers
from the Eastern Zone, Gustav
Kiepenheuer and Joseph Caspar Witsch.
The press’s early authors included
Joseph Roth, Heinrich Böll and Erich
Maria Remarque. Today Kiepenheuer
& Witsch continues to publish leading
contemporary German, Austrian and
Swiss writers, as well as international
authors in translation. Its list includes
Katja Lange-Müller, Peter Härtling, Uwe
Timm, Gabriel García Márquez and
John Banville. Its non-fiction subjects
cover sociology, psychology, history and
biography. Kiepenheuer & Witsch is
part of the Holtzbrinck Group.
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany/Austria (see page 40)
Translation rights sold:
Finland, Korea and Romania
8 DEBUTS

Pyotr Magnus Nedov
Zuckerleben
(The Sweet Life)
DuMont Buchverlag, February 2013, 368pp. ISBN: 978-3-8321-9702-5
A literary confection
The action in Pyotr Magnus Nedov’s debut novel is split
between Italy and the former Soviet Socialist Republic
of Moldova. The novel opens in 2011 as we join the
mysterious Tolyan Andreewitsch in his quest to locate a
missing Georgian tea tin. Having reached Abruzzo in his Ford
Transit minibus, he finds his efforts thwarted by a suicidal
teenage couple who have recently lost their jobs at a local
sugar factory. Suddenly Andreewitsch is confronted with
an altogether more vital problem: he must find a way of
keeping the young lovers alive.
Luckily, he has an ace up his sleeve: a tale of youthful
derring-do, which takes place in the industrial city of
Donduşeni. The action cuts to 1991 where, in an increasingly
fractured Soviet Union, the young speculator Pitirim
Tutunaru dreams of a carefree life in Italy. His ticket to
pre-fiscal-crisis paradise rests upon finding the forty tons
of sugar owned by factory director Hlebnik, who is presumed
to have emigrated to the U.S. Having achieved this initial
aim, Pitirim is surprised to discover that Hlebnik has not
only been moonlighting as the President of the Donduşeni
Committee for Sobriety but is using this status as a cover
for illegally distilling schnapps in his dacha. With the
assistance of a motley crew of dreamers, academics and
artists, Pitirim hopes to carry on the work of the erstwhile
sugar factory director and relocate to Italy on the profits.
So far, so good. But it soon becomes clear that the road west
is paved with many obstacles, among them petrol shortages,
nationwide power cuts and the presence of a group of black
marketeers eager to make the distillery their own. How will
the story end? In 2011, Tolyan Andreewitsch continues the
story, hoping the answer will imbue his teenage travelling
companions with a newfound zest for life.
This is a stylish, original first novel, which cleverly
juxtaposes the disintegration of the Soviet Union with
the European financial crisis. In so doing, it adds a layer
of complexity to the wry, knowing narrative tone. Nedov’s
writing calls to mind the work of Ukrainian author Andrey
Kurkov, whose darkly comic novels about the post Sovietera
(some involving penguins) have met with widespread
critical acclaim in the Anglophone world. The Sweet Life is
an inspirational debut from a talented young author.
A sample translation of this title
is available on the NBG website
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Austria (see page 40)
© Borris Kehl
Pyotr Magnus Nedov
was born in the Soviet Union in 1982
and lives in Cologne. He grew up in
Moldavia, Romania and Austria. He
studied Celtic culture, French literature,
and film in Paris, Moscow, Montreal,
Vienna, and Cologne. He has a PhD
in film studies and has worked as an
archaeologist on the excavation site
around the city hall square in Cologne.
Translation rights available from:
DuMont Buchverlag GmbH & Co. KG
Amsterdamer Sr. 192
50735 Köln, Germany
Tel: +49-221-224 1942
Email:
habermas@dumont-buchverlag.de
Contact: Judith Habermas
www.dumont-buchverlag.de
‘He tells of the collapse of the Soviet
Union and the tremendous chutzpah
of people ready to do anything to
survive. The narration is humorous,
but presented with heart and poetry.’
– Norddeutscher Rundfunk
‘With pace and wit, Pyotr Magnus
Nedov interweaves two stories to the
soundtrack of the recent changes in
Europe.’ – Lausch
DuMont Buchverlag
was founded in 1956. Stressing the
link between literature and art, the
firm focuses both on these subjects
and also, more recently, on general
non-fiction. Its authors include John
Cheever, John von Düffel, Keith
Gessen, Michel Houellebecq, Helmut
Krausser, Martin Kluger, Judith Kuckart,
Thomas Kling, Annette Mingels, Haruki
Murakami, Edward St. Aubyn, Tilman
Rammstedt, and Dirk Wittenborn. The
art list covers high quality illustrated
books dealing with periods from
the Renaissance up until today,
monographs on single artists, such
as Botticelli, Velazquez, Kokoschka,
Max Ernst, Gerhard Richter and Neo
Rauch, and overviews of (for instance)
contemporary Chinese art, as well as
design, photography and art theory.
DEBUTS 9

Anita Augustin
Der Zwerg reinigt den Kittel
(The Dwarf Scrubs the Scrubs)
Ullstein Buchverlage, August 2012, 336pp. ISBN: 978-3-550-08005-0
Four pensioners go wild
This is a very funny novel, a million miles away from the
mild, safe humour English-speaking readers might associate
with German-language writing.
Almut Block hasn’t been able to sleep for forty years.
She spends her days and nights lying in bed chain-smoking.
Then, out of the blue, she receives a call from an old friend
who invites Almut to join her and two others in a plan to
turn their old age into one long holiday, like the last one
they took together in 1983. If they can prove that they
require a sufficiently high level of care, the state will pay
for it – and there is a nursing home with a corrupt director
who is prepared to help them cheat the system. The
care home is staffed by sadistic nurses and teenagers
on community service, and inhabited by entertainingly
deranged old people. Just when the friends have almost
made it to the end of their trial period, the Minister for
the Elderly comes to give a press conference at the home.
She announces that it is to become a centre for medical
research, where new drugs for dementia and other agerelated
illnesses will be tested on the elderly. Enraged, the
friends ambush the minister on her way out and beat her
to a pulp in the basement.
This confident debut novel is tightly written, punctuated
with recurring motifs, word-play, and wonderfully visual
metaphors. The book’s title, for example, comes from a
‘creative therapy’ session in which the participants are
forced to play a form of laughably easy hangman using
common sayings. The phrase in question is the German
for ‘the end justifies the means’ which morphs into ‘the
dwarf scrubs the scrubs’ in the mouth of one of the home’s
senile inhabitants.
The black comedy around subjects like dementia, death and
depression is both refreshing and sometimes uncomfortably
close to the bone. Like the best comedy, there is also a layer
of social commentary here, in this case about our aging
population and the looming public funding crisis. The book’s
appeal lies partly in its ability to shock and to make the
reader quite genuinely laugh out loud – but also in the twist
in its tale, which is masterfully handled and turns a raucous
story about old ladies playing the system into something far
more sinister.
A sample translation of this title
is available on the NBG website
© Gerald von Foris
Anita Augustin
was born in Klagenfurt, Austria. She
studied philosophy and drama at the
University of Vienna. She is also a
graduate of Austria’s first-ever college
of barkeeping. After spending time in
New York and London, she now lives
in Berlin, where she works in theatre.
Translation rights sold:
Netherlands (Karakter)
Translation rights available from:
Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH
Friedrichstraße 126
D – 10117 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49 30 23456 450
Email:
Pia.Goetz@Ullstein-Buchverlage.de
Contact: Pia Götz
www.ullstein-buchverlage.de
‘What a hurricane! Fantastic!’
– Frankfurter Rundschau
‘The blackest comedy of the year’
– Berliner Zeitung
Ullstein Buchverlage,
was founded in Berlin in 1903 and
is today part of Bonnier Media. It
includes the imprints Ullstein, Ullstein
extra, List, Marion von Schröder, Graf
Verlag, Econ, Propyläen and Allegria.
Some bestselling authors are Jo Nesbo,
John le Carré, James Ellroy and Nele
Neuhaus in fiction; Joan Didion, Richard
Dawkins, Natascha Kampusch and
Timothy Ferris in non-fiction.
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Austria (see page 40)
10 DEBUTS

Isabella Straub
Südbalkon
(Looking in)
Aufbau (Blumenbar), March 2013, 254pp. ISBN: 978-3-3510-5002-3
Life’s not necessarily a picnic
Looking in is a compelling, empathetic work of fiction which
will speak to a generation of restless thirty-somethings.
Isabella Straub’s narrator is in the middle of an identity
crisis – an engaging and hilarious heroine who wants to
change her life but doesn’t quite know how.
Ruth Amsel lives with her disappointing and easilydisappointed
boyfriend, Raoul, in an apartment in the
unpronounceable Przewalskistrasse in Vienna. Having
broken off her medical studies years before, she spends
her time compiling obituaries as part of an internship in
an editorial office. Her careers advisor is disdainful, while
her parents are indifferent and preoccupied with the drama
of their own failing marriage. Ruth’s best friend, Maja,
on the other hand, seems to have it all. Happily married
to a wealthy man, she has a professional career providing
life-coaching services. In a nod to Ruth’s financial issues,
Maja and Ruth often meet up in furniture stores and kitchen
showrooms as cheap alternatives to cafes. It is with utter
horror and a sense of her world falling apart that Ruth
begins to suspect that Maja and Raoul are having an affair.
Ruth spends a great deal of time worrying about this and
filling in the blanks of their relationship in her head, without
finding the courage to confront them properly.
Early on in the novel, Maja insists to Ruth that honesty is
for cowards, and that the success of her marriage depends
upon her lack of honesty with her husband. Ruth, too, has
a real penchant for lying to people she knows and this
characteristic is part of what makes her such a funny and
likeable figure. When Raoul is suddenly admitted to hospital,
Ruth sees what she thinks is the final proof of Raoul and
Maja’s affair. But just when we think that we know where
the novel is going, we find that nothing is as it seems.
Straub writes clean, streamlined prose and has a flair for
drama. Her characters seem to spring out of the pages,
and readers will be instantly drawn to the flawed heroine
whose witty, self-deprecating musings make her intensely
appealing. Although parallels to a Bridget Jones-like
character would not be unjustified, this novel is far more
literary and subtle. It addresses such universal themes as
the search for love, gaining self-confidence, and the
challenge of seeing oneself through another’s eyes.
A sample translation of this title
is available on the NBG website
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Austria (see page 40)
© www.medienservice24.com
Isabella Straub
was born in 1968 in Vienna, Austria,
and studied philosophy and German
literature. She has worked as a
journalist and as a copywriter.
In 2009 she was a finalist for the
Bräuning Prize, and in 2011 she
won the prominent FM4 Wortlaut
Literature Prize.
Translation rights available from:
Aufbau Verlag GmbH & Co. KG
Prinzenstraße 85
10969 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49-30-28 394-123
Email: ihmels@aufbau-verlag.de
Contact: Inka Ihmels
www.aufbau-verlag.de
‘This author really comes up with great
ideas!’ – Süddeutsche Zeitung
Aufbau Verlag
was founded in 1945 and became
the leading cultural and literary
publishing house in East Germany.
Besides focusing on German and
international classics (Hans Fallada,
Lion Feuchtwanger, Anna Seghers,
Arnold Zweig, Victor Klemperer), exile
and resistance literature and East
German literature, Aufbau has a strong
list of contemporary world literature.
Recent major successes include Werner
Bräunig’s Rummelplatz, novels by Fred
Vargas, Donna Cross, Eliot Pattison,
Deon Meyer, Hong Ying, Guillaume
Musso, Robert Schneider, Giles Foden
and Polina Daschkowa. Blumenbar
is Aufbau’s newest imprint and will
complement Aufbau’s program with a
crossover of literature, pop culture, club
culture, art and socio-political subjects.
DEBUTS 11

The European Literature Days
There must be few literature
festivals or writers’ conferences
where your registration pack
includes a bottle of wine.
Certainly not, at least, wine that
has been especially made and
bottled for the occasion. But I am
soon to learn that this welcome
gift sets the tone perfectly for the
European Literature Days, which,
part-festival, part-conference,
welcome writers and cultural
mediators from across Europe
to three days of entertainment,
discussion and debate in the
most convivial of settings.
And the refreshment is welcome,
too. It is a scorching weekend in
late August 2012, the Danube
glistens in the bright late-summer
sun, and the languid holiday
atmosphere is coupled with bursts
of activity from the locals, as they
stack firewood in readiness for the
winter to come. High above the
village, a ruined castle perches on
a hill, surrounded by vineyards.
This can only be Spitz an der
Donau, the fairytale home to the
annual European Literature
Days. The theme this year is
‘Festung Europa’ – ‘Fortress
Europe’ – with the ruined castle
acting as a fitting backdrop for
the weekend’s discussions, talks
and debates.
Established in 2009 by Austrian
author Walter Grond, who also
runs the excellent readme.cc
project, the Literature Days provide
the opportunity for a weekend of
community and exchange, with
conversations lubricated not only
by the excellent local wine but by
an eclectic programme of events.
This year these included young
Schloss Spitz, the conference venue
musicians playing traditional music
surrounded by a photo exhibition
tracing the Danube over the past
decades, a Sekt-fuelled trip on the
ferry across the Danube and – a
personal highlight – wine-tasting
in a vineyard on the edge of the
hills overlooking the river.
Swiss writer and critic Beat
Mazenauer is one of Grond’s
co-organisers, and a passionate
advocate of the annual event.
He explained to me that the
choice of such surroundings for
the Literature Days was not just
cosmetic – if they were to hold
the gathering in his native Zurich
or in Grond’s Vienna, delegates
might be tempted to stray from the
literary events to enjoy some of
the city’s other cultural offerings,
and the sense of community that
comes from a shared weekend by
the Danube would be lost. Thus we
are in Spitz which, as Mazenauer
remarks, is so beautiful that
nobody even thinks of leaving…
In his welcome address, Walter
Grond talked about the need to
move away from the ‘fortress’
image of Europe – the tendency
to close off both against other
international groupings and,
within Europe, against other
nation states. The aim should
instead be communication and
bridging barriers. Many of the
writers invited to the conference
reflected this bridging in striking
ways: Sabine Scholl is a homegrown
Austrian author who has spent
most of her writing life on the
move – Portugal, New York and
now Germany; while Maria Cecilia
Barbetta was born and grew up in
Argentina but now lives in Berlin
and writes in German.
The global financial and Eurozone
crises were also addressed in
a round-table discussion about
economists’ prose, fiction and
finance, with examples of writers
who have recently dealt with these
issues in fiction ranging from Don
Delilo (Cosmopolis) to Canadian
author William Gibson and, in
German-language writing, the
German-Icelandic author Kristof
Magnusson (Das war ich nicht)
and Nora Bossong (Gesellschaft
mit beschränkter Haltung,
reviewed in the autumn 2012
issue of NBG). And with Jonas
© M. Haslinger
Lüscher’s Frühling der Barbaren
(see p. 24), we have a further title
to add to that list.
The Literature Days thrive on
experiment, with the format
– though not the location –
changing every year. This year,
for example, featured for the
first time a ‘European Revue’,
an evening combining readings,
music and drama with performers
from France, Lithuania, Hungary,
Morocco, Poland and Italy as
well as Germany and Austria.
The weekend closed with a
‘literary musical brunch’ on the
Sunday morning. This intimate
event saw one of the most
spellbinding performances I’ve
ever witnessed: a combination
of poetry by Ukrainian writer Juri
Andruchówytsch with percussion
and piano from the Swiss duo
‘Werwolf Sutra’. Andruchówytsch’s
lyrics range from the comic to
the terrifying, and the merging
of contemporary rhythms with
Ukrainian folk songs produced a
mesmerising performance. This was
the perfect ending to the weekend
in Spitz – a wonderful example of
the magic that can happen when
literature becomes performance,
and when artists of all kinds,
from East and West, come into
fruitful contact.
By Charlotte Ryland
The European Literature Days 2012
readme.cc – The European Platform for Literature
The online project readme.
cc, founded in 2005 by Walter
Grond and Beat Mazenauer, is
the organiser of the European
Literature Days. Yet while the
festival focuses on creating actual
communities by bringing people
together in Spitz, the idea behind
readme.cc is the creation of virtual
communities for the discussion
and celebration of literature:
‘a virtual meeting place, like the
agora or places of assembly in
Ancient Greek city states, for
communication about books…;
it is a space for inspiring and often
surprising literary encounters.’
Focusing on the multilingual,
the website provides a space for
authors from across Europe to
be presented and discussed in
their own and in other languages,
through reviews and excerpts in
up to ten languages. Users are
encouraged to upload their own
book tips and reviews, and to
exchange and share their favourite
authors with others.
Walter Grond
© www.photo-graphic-art.at
12 AUSTRIAN LITERATURE FEATURES

Translating Clemens J. Setz
© Paul Schirnhofer / SV
Clemens J. Setz is one of Austria’s
most successful young authors.
Born in 1982 in the town of Graz,
where he still lives, Setz has
received numerous prizes for his
work, including the 2011 Leipzig
Book Fair Prize for his short story
collection Die Liebe zur Zeit des
Mahlstädter Kindes (‘Love in the
Time of the Mahlstädter Child’). In
2012 Setz made the shortlist of the
German Book Prize for the second
time in four years. This latest
novel, Indigo, is set in a boarding
school for children suffering from
a mysterious condition known as
Indigo syndrome which causes
everyone who comes close to them
to experience nausea, dizziness
and severe headaches. A young
maths teacher at the school,
Clemens Setz, becomes aware of
strange goings on and is drawn
to investigate. Here, Berlin-based
literary translator Lucy Renner
Jones discusses the pleasures and
challenges of translating Indigo
into English with Setz’s American
translator, Ross Benjamin.
Lucy Renner Jones: Setz comes
across as a collector of oddities
– photographs, scraps, bizarre
newspaper stories – a geek,
as it were, and it seems as if
Indigo has grown from this
love of the bizarre. You have
the feeling that if he hadn’t
become a writer, he might have
become a professional ladybug
torturer or a director for an
asylum for the insane…is that
what you feel too or do you
think he’s just brilliantly funny?
Ross Benjamin: Yes, Setz is indeed
a collector or curator of unusual
anecdotes, neglected footnotes to
historical or current events, cultural
and pop cultural marginalia, which
he incorporates into his fiction as
well as his public appearances and
interviews. In its role in his work,
however, all this is more than just
bric-a-brac. On one level, it has
something of the encyclopedic
abundance of someone like David
Foster Wallace in his impulse to
do justice to the mushrooming
information environment of
contemporary life. It’s at least a
similarly expansive sense of what
literature can be and what can be
literature – which does not exclude
all the random bits that currently
constitute our media-saturated
perception of the world.
I don’t think there’s anything
to compare to this novel.
Perhaps Bret Easton Ellis
was called to mind in Setz’s
meticulous attention to detail
and the unempathetic, ‘autistic’
character of Robert. Are there
any US writers who do what
Setz does?
Well, I mentioned David Foster
Wallace, but only in reference
to one aspect of Setz’s writing.
Certain elements of the novel
remind me of the films of
Terry Gilliam – its mix of the
imaginative, the comic and the
paranoid, the uncanny atmosphere
and the characters’ disorienting
confrontations with the absurd
and unmasterable. There’s no
doubt Setz has read his DeLillo and
Pynchon, though he is confident
enough not to ape their voices;
he merely takes for granted
the far-reaching terrain they’ve
claimed for fiction. But I’ve never
understood, at least from a literary
standpoint, why the Englishspeaking
publishing world seems
to require a foreign author to be
comparable to some native one,
or at least someone already in
English. What makes Clemens
Setz so fascinating is that he is
Clemens Setz. Setz is that rare
thing, an original.
He adds the dimension of
the internet to his writing.
He almost wills you to go and
google what he’s written, and if
you do then you often find he’s
playing a game, interweaving
facts and fiction, so that at
the end, you are led back to
Setz and what he is reflecting
on. He seems very aware of
his position as a writer in the
digital age.
There is a sort of four-way game
going on between author and
reader and book and internet,
where certain material in the novel
that gives the impression it could
have been cribbed from Wikipedia
or plucked from some website
of perhaps dubious reliability
sends readers searching and
then discovering something that
becomes part of their interplay
with the novel. Knowing that
readers of his work are likely to
be immersed in the contemporary
multimedia universe, he writes in a
way that has – dare I say it – links
to that universe. My guess would
be, however, that he can’t help it,
because that is simply the universe
he lives in, just as we do. It’s a very
traditional role of the writer to put
that universe as he experiences it
on the page as fully as possible.
How are we supposed to
understand the central character
being called Clemens Setz?
Is it a Paul-Auster-type of
device or is something else
going on?
I’ve seen Setz express in interviews
his discomfort with calling the
Clemens Setz character ‘he’ and his
preference for saying ‘I’, although
he will then often end up reverting
to ‘he’ anyway. I’d go out on a
limb and say we are supposed to
take it pretty much at face-value
here that the character named
Clemens Setz is Clemens Setz,
is invested with his personality,
life experience and responses
to the world. It’s a version of
him projected into a fictional
world. It doesn’t have to be read
as some crafty or complicated
metafictional contrivance. This
novel is constantly blurring the
boundary between fact and fiction
with its quasi-documentary or
mockumentary format, not only
at the textual level but also at
the graphic level, thanks to the
brilliant Judith Schalansky’s role in
the book’s design. Indigo shows
that those borders can be porous.
What does the novel tell us
about our attitude to illness
and isolating the sick?
That’s a big question, of course.
All I’ll say about it is that I’m not
sure whether the central point
of this novel is to say something
about our attitude to illness,
although it might be considered
something of a cop-out for a
novel that’s all about a mysterious
illness to say nothing whatsoever
about that theme. Rather, it seems
to me more an exploration of
our all-too-human responses to
overwhelming experiences – which
include revulsion and anxiety, pain
and incomprehension, as well as a
potential for compassion, empathy
and benevolence, though that
too, we see in the novel, can
be perverted.
This is an abridged version of
an interview which originally
appeared in November 2012
on Lucy Renner Jones’ blog:
www.transfiction.eu
Lucy Renner Jones is a literary
translator who lives in Berlin. She
is a co-founder of Transfiction and
writes reviews of German books
for CULTurMAG.
Ross Benjamin is a writer and
translator living in Nyack, New
York. He is currently at work on
a translation of Clemens J. Setz’s
Indigo, forthcoming from
Liveright/Norton (US) and Serpent’s
Tail (UK).
AUSTRIAN LITERATURE FEATURES 13
© Lauren Benjamin

Hartmut Lange
Das Haus in der Dorotheenstraße
(The House in Dorothea Street)
Diogenes Verlag, March 2013, 128pp. ISBN: 978-3-257-06846-7
Tales of the unexpected
The House in Dorothea Street is a collection of five short
stories all set in the suburbs of Berlin. Hartmut Lange’s
writing displays a haunting lyricism which is achieved by
contrasting factual, objective language with the inexplicable
or even supernatural.
In the first story of the volume, ‘The Eternity of the Moment’,
Michael Denninghoff has cast off everything after the death
of his wife Kathrin. He now stalks the streets around their
old flat, suddenly desperate to possess a poster of a French
Impressionist painting which they once bought together.
When he finally gains entry to the flat to discover the poster
gone, the new occupant turns out to be a divorce lawyer
who informs Denninghoff that he and Kathrin might well
have got divorced anyway. As with many of these stories,
the ending is ambiguous: Denninghoff disappears, leaving
his taxi by the canal. Some notes which we see him write
before his disappearance remain tantalisingly undiscovered.
In all the stories everyday scenarios develop in unexpected
and sometimes extraordinary ways. In the title story, a
journalist, Gottfried Klausen, is made a correspondent in
London; his wife, Xenia, prefers to remain behind in Berlin
for the time being. Klausen watches a Royal Shakespeare
Company production of Othello and when the volcanic
ash cloud prevents him from returning to visit Xenia, he
becomes plagued by the suspicion that she is betraying him.
In the wonderfully surreal story, ‘The Mayor of Teltow’, the
mayor of the title is increasingly bothered by a crow he has
started seeing on the back seat of his car. He goes to great
lengths to avoid it, but by the end it is in his office and looks
as if it is there to stay. The final story, ‘The Shadow’, is a
chronicle of a marriage breakdown cum ghost story. When
Philipp Trautwein comes home, his wife Steffi always knows
he’s back by the shadow she sees at the window. But then
Philipp is spotted in town when he is supposed to be away
on business, and Steffi begins to see the shadow even when
he’s not there. Obviously unable to rely on her husband any
more, she begins to rely on the shadow instead.
This is an atmospheric collection, with beautifully observed
depictions of suburban Berlin’s overgrown canal banks and
saloon cars sidling home through the gloaming to their
owners’ secluded villas. Lange’s exquisite depictions of
the uncanniness of human life as well as the nightmarish
potential of suburbia seem ready-made for an art-house film.
A sample translation of this title
is available on the NBG website
© Renate von Mangoldt
Hartmut Lange
was born in 1937 in Berlin and studied
theatrical production. In 1960, he
became theatrical producer at the
Deutsches Theater in East Berlin. After
a trip to the former Yugoslavia he did
not return to the German Democratic
Republic, but instead settled in West
Berlin, where he worked as a theatrical
producer and director. He has been
honoured with several awards for his
plays, essays and prose.
Previous works:
Leptis Magna (2003); Der Wanderer
(2005); Der Therapeut (2007);
Der Abgrund des Endlichen (2009);
Im Museum (2011)
Translation rights available from:
Diogenes Verlag AG
Sprecherstrasse 8
8032 Zürich, Switzerland
Tel: +41 44 254 85 11
Email: bau@diogenes.ch
Contact: Susanne Bauknecht
www.diogenes.ch
‘Master narratives about the magical
power of discreetly looming shadows.
Dark prose which shines brightly.’
– Neues Deutschland
Diogenes Verlag
was founded in Zurich in 1952 by
Daniel Keel and Rudolf C. Bettschart.
One of the leading international
publishing houses, it numbers among
its authors Alfred Andersch, Friedrich
Dürrenmatt, Patricia Highsmith, Donna
Leon, Bernhard Schlink and Patrick
Süskind. Children’s authors include
Tatjana Hauptmann, Ute Krause, Karl
Friedrich Waechter and Tomi Ungerer.
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
14 short stories

Monika Held
Der Schrecken verliert sich vor Ort
(Where Terror Subsides)
Eichborn, March 2013, 272pp. ISBN: 9-783-8479-0529-5
Lest we forget
Where Terror Subsides tells the story of a couple’s struggle
to live with the never-ending horror of Auschwitz. Held’s
book is based on the life of Hermann Reineck, an Auschwitz
survivor and witness at the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials.
In 1964 Heiner is called from Vienna to Frankfurt to testify
at the Auschwitz trials, where he meets Lena who is working
as a translator. As the trial progresses, Heiner bears witness
to his experiences of being deported to Auschwitz as a
young man, and tells how he survived life in the camp. He
and Lena begin a cautious love affair, but for a long time
both are unsure whether their love will be strong enough to
cope with the trauma that haunts him. Heiner’s first wife left
him after the war, taking their child with her after she found
that she could not live with his nightmares, his inability to
work or his emotional emptiness. Heiner knows that if they
are going to stay together, Lena will have to accept the
shadow of Auschwitz that marks him. When she does, they
start to build a new life around the debris of Heiner’s past.
During a visit to Auschwitz in the 1980s the couple finally
come to understand that those who were not there, even
Lena, will never be able to grasp the true horror of the
place. Lena remains excluded from the core of Heiner’s
being, but she is his joy, nonetheless. When Heiner’s health
deteriorates, they follow doctors’ orders and move north to
the sea. They find a home in a close-knit community used to
defending itself against the elements and here they discover
a freedom and a kind of peace they have not known before.
In clear, unobtrusive language, Monika Held paints an
emotive picture of life and love governed by trauma.
Heiner’s suffering is omnipresent, and Lena’s struggle to
hold her own in an imbalanced relationship dominated
by his past is deeply moving. His stories are horrific and
disturbing, but he cannot survive without them. Lena learns
to cherish her own past despite its apparent insignificance
and to live alongside Heiner. Heiner’s story and those of
his fellow survivors are based on first-hand reports by
Auschwitz survivors, recorded by Monika Held in the late
seventies and early eighties. Where Terror Subsides shows
how the lives of survivors and those around them can
never escape from the interminable atrocities of the
concentration camps.
A sample translation of this title
is available on the NBG website
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
© Olivier Favra
Monika Held
was born and grew up in postwar
Hamburg. She apprenticed in
publishing with an editor of a company
magazine before becoming a freelance
journalist. Her career takes her all over
the world, and her research focuses on
the people at the centre of the stories.
She has been awarded many prizes
for her journalism and her political
commitment. She lives in Frankfurt
am Main, Germany.
Previous works:
Augenbilder (2003); Melodie für
einen schönen Mann (2007)
Translation rights sold:
Italy (Neri Pozza), France (Flammarion)
Translation rights available from:
Eichborn Verlag in der
Bastei Luebbe GmbH & Co KG
Schanzentrasse 6 - 20
50163 Cologne
Tel:+49 221-82002683
Email: jutta.willand@eichborn.de
Contact: Jutta Willand
www.eichborn.de
Eichborn
was founded in 1980. Regarded as a
young and bold independent publishing
house, its strong and diverse list
includes fiction, non-fiction, humour,
and reference books. Books originally
published by Eichborn include: W.G.
Sebald’s The Emigrants and The
Rings of Saturn; A Woman in
Berlin by Anonymous (winner of the
2006 Schlegel-Tieck award); Jenny
Erpenbeck’s The Old Child and Book
of Words and Jan Costin Wagner’s Ice
Moon. In 2012, Eichborn published
Look Who’s Back by Timur Vermes,
which rose quickly to the top of the
bestsellers chart. At the end of 2011,
Eichborn became a division of Bastei
Luebbe, Germany’s largest independent
publishing group, and continues to
discover and establish work by original
and exciting authors.
Fiction 15

Matthias Zschokke
Der Mann mit den zwei Augen
(The Man with Two Eyes)
Wallstein, January 2013, 244pp. ISBN: 978-3-8353-1111-4
A quiet life
Matthias Zschokke writes about apparently mundane things,
revealing them in his elegant prose in an extraordinary
new light which manifests their particular beauty and
vulnerability. The Man with Two Eyes is an unusual love
story with a quirky appeal.
Zschokke rises to the challenge of creating a hero who is
instantly forgettable: the man with two eyes simply blends
in with his surroundings and people rarely remember him
from one meeting to the next. In the big city where he
used to live, Zschokke’s protagonist loses everything: the
woman with whom he lived, his job, his apartment, his
friends and his cat. Following his partner’s suicide at the
book’s opening, the man moves to a boarding house in the
small town of Harenberg, a place his partner had always
held in high esteem – and where he hopes, finally, to be
able to sleep. Memories of the past and of his relationship
with his partner are juxtaposed with accounts of the man’s
encounters in Harenberg. Throughout the book we see
the man with two eyes being confronted with the familiar
problems of modern life, and observe how he responds to
the many little defeats in his life. We see him in public on
the streets of the town, at private gatherings, and on his
many travels in his professional role as a court reporter,
as well as in a romantic context at his partner’s home.
As befits a man characterised as an ‘emotional albino’, his
is an understated love affair. The man with two eyes and his
late partner are taciturn individuals who lack meaningful
contact with fellow human beings. Yet there is a cautiously
redemptive turn at the end of the novel when the man
decides – for the moment – not to commit suicide, but
instead to help out the landlady of a bar in an establishment
in a run-down industrial part of town, where he is offered
the ‘most remarkable pleasures’.
This is a gentle and quietly humorous book which reveals
the surprising complexity of our conception of normality.
Although the man’s profession as a court reporter might
suggest he would be continually on the trail of scandal,
he is in fact much more interested in the ordinary. The Man
with Two Eyes consolidates Zschokke’s reputation for good
story-telling, astute social observation, and the ability to
make the reader marvel at ordinary things.
A sample translation of this title
is available on the NBG website
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Switzerland/Germany (see page 40)
© Dirk Opitz
Matthias Zschokke
was born in 1954 in Berne. Since 1980
he has lived in Bern where he works
as an author and film-maker. His debut
novel Max, which appeared in 1982,
was awarded the Robert Walser Prize.
He has published numerous novels,
plays, and feature films, and received
several renowned prizes including
the Gerhart Hauptmann Prize, the
Solothurner Literature Prize, and the
Prix Femina Étranger for the novel
Maurice mit Huhn.
Previous works:
Max (1982); Prinz Hans (1984);
ErSieEs (1986); Piraten (1991);
Der dicke Dichter (1995); Das lose
Glück (1999); Ein neuer Nachbar
(2002); Maurice mit Huhn (2006);
Auf Reisen (2008)
Translation rights available from:
Wallstein Verlag GmbH
Geiststraße 11
37073 Göttingen, Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 551 548 980
Email: hgevers@wallstein-verlag.de
Contact: Hajo Gevers
www.wallstein-verlag.de/
‘Elegant, idiosyncratic, and honest,
at times raw, rough, or worn down,
interspersed with delicious irony and
malicious humour. A motley treasure,
a criticism of contemporary times
which is, in many respects, behind
the times, but [Zschokke is] always
a contemporary poet.’
– Süddeutsche Zeitung
‘His characters have veritable mania.
Nevertheless, one must simply adore
them.’ – Der Sonntag
Wallstein Verlag was founded as
a desktop publishing company but
by 1988 had grown into a full-scale
book publisher. The firm publishes
about 130 titles a year, ranging from
contemporary literature to history and
cultural studies. Its authors include
Ruth Klüger, Gottfried Benn, Golo
Mann, Fred Wander, Gregor Sander and
Ulf Erdmann Ziegler.
‘Zschokke knows how to handle magic:
he makes something out of nothing,
and when he describes life in its
bizarreness, the story gains a touch
of value and importance, charm and
brilliance.’ – Deutschlandradio
‘Zschokke transforms trivialities into
great literature and converts boredom
into excitement.’ – Falter
16 Fiction

Joachim Meyerhoff
Wann wird es endlich wieder so,
wie es nie war
(When Will It Be Like It Never Was)
Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, February 2013, 352pp. ISBN: 978-3-462-04516-1
Bedlam revisited
What would it be like to grow up surrounded by people who
are clinically insane? The narrator of Meyerhoff’s extraordinary
book spends his childhood in the grounds of a psychiatric
hospital where his father is the director. The patients are
part of the family’s daily life and the tragi-comic depictions
of mental illness are both realistic and sympathetic.
As the youngest of three brothers, Joachim battles for
his parents’ attention, while fighting constantly with his
brothers. He hero-worships his father; a kind, fat, obsessive
reader who becomes fixated on ideas and has a benign
but distant relationship with his family. The patients at
the hospital are all children or young adults, and range
from those with severe obsessive compulsive disorder and
anorexia, to being extremely violent or having psychosexual
issues, to patients with multiple physical and mental
disabilities. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Joachim is continually
plagued with worries about his own mental health and
behavioural problems. At the close of the novel, after their
father has died following a long, solitary illness, Joachim
and his eldest brother visit the secret house their father had
with a mistress they never knew about, and go to their old
house which is now part of the hospital.
The novel’s short chapters hint at an ominous future and
imbue Meyerhoff’s writing with an atmosphere of suspense,
while the vivid descriptions confer an arresting beauty upon
everyday scenes. The young Joachim’s fixation on the colour
yellow-orange as a sign of something, his longing to hear
the customary orchestra of screams whenever he sleeps
away from home, and a visitor ‘growing and growing’
as he gets out of his car, all give his writing a touch of
magic realism.
While the experiences of sibling rivalry, parental acceptance
and inner turmoil raised by the novel are universal, the
setting in the psychiatric hospital brings a fascinating and
unpredictable dimension to this story. Unlike many of the
famous works of literature treating mental illness, here we
see things from the less common – and highly comical –
perspective of someone living in that world who is ‘sane’.
Meyerhoff’s narrator explores his family’s and the patients’
wonderful idiosyncrasies, developing considerable insight
into the still-taboo issue of the fine line between sanity
and insanity.
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
© Peter Rigaud c/o Shotview Photographers
Joachim Meyerhoff
was born in 1967 and has been a
member of the Viennese Burgtheater
Ensemble since 2005. He was invited to
appear at the Theatertreffen 2009 with
his six-part cycle Alle Toten fliegen
hoch, which also formed the basis for
his latest novel. In 2007 he was elected
actor of the year. For his debut novel
Alle Toten fliegen hoch: Amerika,
he was awarded the Franz-Tumler
Literature Prize 2011 and the Bremen
Literature Prize Advancement Award.
Previous works:
Alle Toten fliegen hoch:
Amerika (2011)
Translation rights available from:
Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch GmbH
& Co. KG
Bahnhofsvorplatz 1
50667 Köln, Germany
Tel: +49-221-376 85 22
Email: ibrandt@kiwi-verlag.de
Contact: Iris Brandt
www.kiwi-verlag.de/
‘Meyerhoff’s language has something
of a literary “Lubitsch touch” . . . one
that nevertheless is filled with so
much wit and lightness that even the
greatest embarrassment and torment
will make the reader happy.’
– Nacht Kritik
‘The whole story is told in a comical
tone with lots of quirky details.’
– Leselupe
Kiepenheuer & Witsch
was founded in 1949 in Cologne by
two publishers from the Eastern Zone,
Gustav Kiepenheuer and Joseph Caspar
Witsch. The press’s early authors
included Joseph Roth, Heinrich Böll
and Erich Maria Remarque. Today
Kiepenheuer & Witsch continues to
publish leading contemporary German,
Austrian and Swiss writers, as well as
international authors in translation.
Its list includes Katja Lange-Müller,
Peter Härtling, Uwe Timm, Gabriel
García Márquez and John Banville. Its
non-fiction subjects cover sociology,
psychology, history and biography.
Kiepenheuer & Witsch is part of the
Holtzbrinck Group.
Fiction 17

Emma Hayley, publisher of SelfMadeHero, talks to NBG
The Rise of the Graphic Novel
Emma Hayley founded London-based
publishing house SelfMadeHero in
2007 after spotting a gap in the UK
market for high quality graphic novels
for adults. At that time the manga
market was on the up and there was
an increasing appetite for graphic
novels, so SelfMadeHero opened their
list with two manga Shakespeare
titles: Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet.
These ground-breaking books were
shortly followed by an edition of
Kafka’s The Trial. As well-received
as these early publications were –
a review in The Guardian praised The
Trial as ‘an uncompromised success.
As much as anyone can expect from
literary adaptation’ – no one could
have predicted six years ago just how
radically the graphic novel publishing
landscape would change in such a
short time. The shortlists for the 2012
Costa Book Awards included two
graphic entries for the first time: Joff
Winterhart’s Days of the Bagnold
Summer in the Best Novel category
and Mary M. Talbot and Bryan Talbot’s
Dotter of her Father Eyes, winner
of the Biography category. In January
2013 the London Review of Books
featured two of SelfMadeHero’s
novels – something that would have
been unimaginable even a decade
ago. Graphic novels are being taken
more seriously than ever before – by
readers and publishers, reviewers and
booksellers alike.
European Networking
Despite the expansion of the graphic
novel sector in the UK in recent
years, the scene here just does not
compare with the enormous popularity
of graphic novels in continental
Europe. Germany, Belgium and
especially France are big players in the
international market. A testament to
this is the Angoulême International
Comics Festival, the largest festival
for graphic literature in Europe and
the second biggest in the world
after Tokyo’s twice yearly gathering,
Comiket. Angoulême was founded in
1974 and takes place each January
in the eponymous French town.
SelfMadeHero make the most of
this prime opportunity for buying
and selling the rights for graphic
novels; they have particularly good
relationships with German publishers
whom they meet throughout the year
to discuss acquisitions. SelfMadeHero
made waves at this year’s 40th
Angoulême Festival when their critically
acclaimed title The Nao of Brown by
Glyn Dillon won a major award, the
Prix Spécial du Jury.
Translation
Emma has a keen sense of the
importance of translated fiction within
the UK’s graphic novel market and
values the translator’s role in capturing
the tone and feel of a book. She
reads French and Spanish but relies
on readers’ reports for insights into
German-language writing. From the
graphic adaptation of Kafka’s The
Trial as one of their earliest titles,
to their recent acquisition of the
rights for Reinhard Kleist’s graphic
memoir of a Holocaust survivor The
Boxer (featured in the autumn 2012
issue of NBG), German-language
texts make a significant contribution
to SelfMadeHero’s catalogue.
SelfMadeHero have also published
two of Kleist’s graphic biographies,
Johnny Cash and Castro. Due to
the intrinsically international nature
of the graphic novel market, readers
and publishers are simply not fazed
by having to consume and produce
books in translation. Rather than being
perceived as a barrier to publication,
translation is accepted as an essential
part of the production process for
many titles, as a way of giving readers
access to the best and brightest
graphic offerings from around the
globe – quality is the most important
benchmark here.
The Future
Emma is enthusiastic about what are
currently exciting times for the UK
publishing scene with its burgeoning
arts festivals and the sense of a reemergence
of thriving independent
publishing movement whose members
are willing to take risks and whose
high production values ensure their
titles stand out from the crowd.
SelfMadeHero are clearly playing a vital
part in this movement, contributing to
the increasingly high profile of graphic
novels across the publishing industry.
With their titles being championed in
rave reviews across the UK press, as
well as internationally, SelfMadeHero
can afford to be confident about what
the future holds.
© Private
NBG Interviews the translator Shaun Whiteside
How did you get into translation
and how has your career developed?
I was working as a bilingual
lexicographer (Margaret Jull Costa,
the great Spanish and Portuguese
translator, was working on the same
project) when I happened to meet
someone from Faber and Faber who
told me they needed people to write
readers’ reports on German books.
After I’d been doing that for a couple
of months, Walter Donoghue at Faber
asked if I’d be interested in translating
a collection of essays by Wim Wenders.
I was wild about German film and
leapt at the chance. Michael Hofmann
revised the text, which was published
as Emotion Pictures. Shortly after that
I was lucky enough to be picked up
by Quartet, at the time a fascinating
publisher of largely overlooked and
18 Articles and interviews
© Jane Chilvers
often difficult classics, and translated
Marlen Haushofer’s The Wall for them,
my first novel, and from there went
on to translate books by Nietzsche,
Freud, Schnitzler and Musil for Penguin
Classics. I didn’t become a full-time
freelance translator until the turn of
the millennium. I work regularly for
a number of publishers, including
Atlantic, Knopf and Serpent’s Tail.
What have been your most
enjoyable translation projects?
That’s a tough one! I realise that I
particularly enjoy translating the work
of women writers, no idea why. The
Marlen Haushofer I really enjoyed
– a great book, it would be nice to see
it reprinted – and Lilian Faschinger’s
Magdalena the Sinner, which won
the Schlegel-Tieck a few years ago.
Recently I’ve had a lot of fun with
Susann Pásztor’s dark family comedy
which I discovered through NBG,
A Fabulous Liar (for Atlantic) and
Judith Schalansky’s The Giraffe’s Neck
(for Bloomsbury), about a teacher in
the former East Germany losing her
faith in Darwinism. The Schalansky
novel has involved a lot of research
into outmoded scientific terminology,
and I hope I’ve made the same kind
of poetry out of it as she did. I’ve also
enjoyed the gruesome thrillers of Zoran
Drvenkar – Sorry, and You (Blue Door).
Oh, and I had fun collaborating with
Jamie Lee Searle and Samuel Willcocks
on Frank Schätzing’s monumental
Limit. I’d do that again.
Do you get in touch with the
living writers you translate?
Is there a palpable difference
between translating a living and
a dead author?
I suppose on the plus side dead authors
can’t ring you up and shout at you, but
on the other hand you can’t ring them
up and ask them what they meant.
I do usually get in touch with the
living ones, yes, and there can be slight
disagreements, often about English
usage, but generally they’re very
helpful. Judith Schalansky’s comments
have been invaluable.
What are you working on at the
moment? Do you tend to translate
one book at a time, or have several
projects on the go at once?
I’m currently working on two projects,
an East German memoir by Maxim
Leo for Pushkin (who make the most
beautiful books), and a sprawling
Swiss-Jewish family saga by Charles
Lewinsky, called Melnitz, for Atlantic.
I do sometimes have a couple of
projects on the go at the same time,
but try not to. I have this vague
nightmare that characters from one
are going to pop up in the other. (That
doesn’t happen.) The greatest risk is a
kind of stylistic cross-contamination,
so it’s really best to immerse yourself
in one project at a time.
Which book would you still like
to translate?
I loved Blasmusikpop by Vea Kaiser
(KiWi) – an astonishing feat for such
a young author. It’s funny and surreal,
a bit like the films of Guy Maddin. Given
that much of it is written in Austrian
dialect it’s probably impossible, which
is why I’d like to have a go.
What advice would you give
to new translators?
Find a book you love and match it
with a publisher. Persistence and
enthusiasm will pay off in the end.
Stay in touch with other translators
– much easier now than it was only
a few years ago. Keep an eye on the
websites, like Love German Books,
which is consistently brilliant. Most
importantly: read, read, read.
Interviews by Sheridan Marshall.

A Unique Competition
for Translators in the USA
This past autumn, the German
Book Office New York held a
unique translation competition.
The competition encouraged
up-and-coming translators to
try their hand at translating a
work of fiction, an excerpt from
Nora Bossong’s Gesellschaft
mit beschränkter Haftung
(Limited Liability, reviewed in
NBG autumn 2012). Riky Stock,
Director of the German Book
Office, explains the concept
behind the competition: ‘Many
of the translators we usually
work with are sought after and
sometimes booked up for months.
The German Book Office as well as
the publishers we work with are
always in need of good translators
and we wanted to find new talent.
We also wanted to offer unknown
translators the chance to get a foot
in the door. I am happy to say that
in addition to identifying a winner
and a runner-up, the judges
asked for contact information
for some of the other translators
on our shortlist.’
About The Competition
The competition consisted of
two rounds of judging. In the
first round, editors Lexy Bloom
from Random House, Jenna
Johnson from Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt, and John Siciliano
from Penguin read the English
sample translations with the
U.S. market in mind. The second
round of judging consisted of
experienced translators Ross
Benjamin, Susan Bernofsky, and
Burton Pike. Ross Benjamin said
that he was ‘reading for accuracy
and fluidity, eliminating for
mistakes that jumped out at me
. . . and infelicities that were just
jarring.’ For Jenna Johnson, the
goal was to differentiate between
‘those which were obviously most
readable and those which were
not flowing particularly well at all.’
She said that she found herself
‘going back through those in the
middle and carefully comparing
particular lines. It’s fascinating to
see how many variations come
through of a particular phrase or
word. For readability, for elegance
of language, and for clarity of
expression, there were certainly
some that stood well apart. It was
a pleasure to spend some time
with those few and really consider
the choices the translators were
making and why – a pleasure and
an education!’
Contestants were each given
the same 705-word excerpt from
Bossong’s novel to translate
from German to English. Each
contestant was allowed to have
one novel in translation previously
published. The winner, Kurt Beals,
was awarded $600 to complete
a sample translation of the first
fifteen pages of the novel.
As judge Susan Bernofsky
pointed out, ‘Since no publishing
experience was required to apply,
it was a chance for talented
translators with no publishing
credentials to be “discovered”
based on the quality of their
work.’ The German Book Office
often hires translators for sample
translations of books (such as
those included in New Books in
German), and so translators who
competed in this competition had a
genuine chance to be ‘discovered’
and put to work.
At the Awards Ceremony
The competition culminated in an
awards ceremony at the Goethe-
Institut New York/ German Book
Office, where Burton Pike and
Lexy Bloom took to the stage on a
panel moderated by Ed Nawotka,
Editor-in-Chief of Publishing
Perspectives. The three discussed
the competition, and Burton shared
some wisdom about translation:
‘The concept of culture has
expanded well beyond the
limitation of national boundaries
and is in good part obliterating
them, and this has implications for
writing literature and for literary
translation and its future. . . .
One can argue that literature has
benefited from the lightening of
its heavy accretions, that as the
notion of culture has broadened
and changed, literature has been
Riky Stock introduces translators Burton Pike and Lexy Bloom and moderator
Ed Nawotka
© Private
liberated from older formal,
cultural conventions that belong
to history.’
The German Book Office found it
refreshing and inspiring to read
every single one of the literary
translations we received and is
looking forward to working more
and more with new talent.
About the Winner
Kurt Beals is a Ph.D. Candidate
in German Literature and Culture
at the University of California,
Berkeley. He received his BA
in Philosophy with a Minor in
German at Oberlin College, and
also spent a semester at the
University of Munich. He has
published one book in translation
so far: a poetry collection by Anja
Utler entitled engulf-enkindle,
published by Burning Deck Press,
which was a finalist for the Best
Translated Book Award and the
Northern California Book Award.
Kurt Beals
‘As a reader and a student of
German literature, every so often I
come across a work that’s brilliant,
unexpected, and untranslated –
and as a translator, that’s the kind
of problem that I like to solve. The
impulse to translate these works
comes in part from a desire to
share them with others who don’t
read the original language.’
By Grace Moss, German Book
Office New York
ARTICLEs and interviews 19
© Private

NBG Choices: Books in English
FICTIOn
In Times of Fading Light
Eugen Ruge
Translated by Anthea Bell
Faber & Faber
‘I first heard about In Times of Fading
Light after it won the German Book Prize
and it sounded like exactly the kind of novel
I might love – an epic story of a family,
written with elegance and wit, that also
gave the reader an intimate insight into
a different world, in this case the GDR.’
– Sarah Savitt, Editor
The Mussel Feast
Birgit Vanderbeke
Translated by Jamie Bulloch
Peirene Press
‘I love this monologue. It’s the first Peirene
book which made me laugh out loud with
tears in my eyes. The author lays bare the
contradictory logic of an inflexible mind.
This is a poignant yet hilarious narrative
with a brilliant ending.’
– Meike Ziervogel, Publisher
Wrecked
Charlotte Roche
Translated by Tim Mohr
Fourth Estate, HarperCollins
‘Elizabeth Kiehl is a twenty-first century
wife who goes to great efforts to please
her husband in the bedroom. She is also
an extremely thoughtful and committed
mother. But her compartmentalised life is
taking its toll and Elizabeth is heading for
complete psychological collapse.
From the author of the international
bestseller Wetlands, this new novel is a
taboo-breaking exploration of sex, death
and marriage that is impossible to ignore.’
– Nicholas Pearson, Editor
The Village Indian
Abbas Khider
Translated by Donal McLaughlin
Seagull Books
‘Iraqi fiction. Written in German. Now
in English. The relevance of this book is
obvious. Add a great story, told in eight
different ways, and a remarkable author,
known for great public readings. I longed to
translate this book. Stunning story-telling.
And a bridge between East and West.’
– Donal McLaughlin, Translator
THRILLER
Plan D
Simon Urban
Translated by Katy Derbyshire
Harvill Secker
‘Plan D is one of those extraordinary
thrillers that has it all – a fantastic premise,
a wonderful setting, great writing and
brilliant characterisation. I know fans of
Robert Harris’ Fatherland and John le
Carré’s The Spy Who Came in From the
Cold will love it just as much as I did.’
– Alison Hennessey, Senior Crime Editor
The Chef
Martin Suter
Translated by Jamie Bulloch
Atlantic Books
‘As recession bites in Europe, Maravan
– a Tamil dishwasher and undiscovered
culinary genius – launches his own venture:
romantic catering for couples. But before
too long success sours, and along with
Andrea, a beautiful waitress, Maravan
is plunged deep into an underworld
where murder and sex feed otherwise
unquenchable thirsts...’
– James Roxburgh, Editor
20 Article news and information

A selection of books in English translation recommended
for reviewers, booksellers, literary festivals and readers
NON-FICTION
1913: The Year Before
the Storm
Florian Illies
Translated by Shaun Whiteside
Clerkenwell Press
‘1913 by Florian Illies is a dazzling
portrait of a year that changed
everything, told by interweaving the
stories of artists, writers and even
the occasional dictator.
It has been number one in the
Spiegel bestseller lists for the past
nine weeks.’
– Geoff Mulligan, Editor
CHILDREN’S
Anton and Piranha
Milena Baisch
Translated by Chantal Wright
Random House
‘Anton is a wonderful bundle of
contradictions: he’s bolshy and a scaredy
cat; he can be extremely sensitive
but also a proper little tyke (pity his
poor grandparents!). Making sure this
complexity was reflected in his English
voice was great fun.’
– Chantal Wright, Translator
Winner of the German
Children’s Literature Prize
Bombing Hitler
Hellmut G. Haasis
Translated by William Odom
Skyhorse Publishing
‘Georg Elser was just an ordinary
working-class citizen living in Munich,
Germany. He was employed as a
carpenter and had spent some time
working in a watch factory. That all
changed when he took it upon himself,
without telling his family or friends, to
single-handedly attempt to assassinate
the most powerful man in all of
Germany: the Führer, Adolf Hitler.’
– Jason Katzman, Editor
Fearless
Cornelia Funke
Translated by Oliver Latsch
Chicken House
‘Nobody is truly fearless. But in Cornelia
Funke’s brilliant Mirrorworld series the
characters have to pay the price for
their reckless love and loyalty. Jacob is
courageous, but he’s got to be clever too,
or can Fox bring cunning as well as love
to save the day? It’s fantastic storytelling
– and a truly awesome world. I adore
being back!’
– Barry Cunningham, Publisher &
UK Editor
ALSO RECOMMENDED
A Fabulous Liar
Susann Pásztor
Translated by Shaun Whiteside
Atlantic Books
Light in a Dark House-
Jan Costin Wagner
Translated by Anthea Bell
Harvill Secker
The Little Ghost
Otfried Preußler
Translated by Anthea Bell
Andersen Press
On Life, Death, This
and That of the Rest
Urs Widmer
Translated by Donal McLaughlin
Seagull Books
news and information 21

Astrid Rosenfeld
Elsa ungeheuer
(Elsa Forever)
Diogenes Verlag, March 2013, 288pp. ISBN: 978-3-257-06850-4
Still life
Elsa Forever is ready-made to appeal to readers of Englishlanguage
literary fiction: tightly plotted and imaginative,
full of provocative episodes and laced with plenty of
humour. Astrid Rosenfeld traces an unorthodox journey from
a country childhood to the metropolitan modern art scene
with all its eccentric glamour.
Lorenz Brauer and his younger brother Karl are still children
when their Dutch mother Hanna kills herself. They live in a
guest house in rural Bavaria, run by their father. Their lives
change forever when another child arrives in the village.
Elsa is difficult and strange and our first sightings of her
consist of distant screams, slamming doors and bloody
scratches on her father’s face. When she finally emerges
she is skinny with wild hair, wearing her mother’s old
clothes and an enormous pair of latex boots, earning her
the nickname ‘Flamingo’. Lorenz fights with Elsa constantly
while Karl adores her, but has no chance. Still, the three
children spend all their time together until, at fifteen, Elsa
elopes with the village slaughter man to a ranch in Texas.
Lorenz deals with Elsa’s departure by devoting himself to
painting and goes to Düsseldorf to study art. He becomes
the protégé of a rich American art collector, Irina Graham,
and art-world sleaze Sebastian Mirberg, who lines him up
with a gallery. When, however, Lorenz catches Sebastian
in flagrante with his girlfriend and punches his teeth out,
Sebastian drops Lorenz, who consequently loses his place
at college, his gallery deal and the support of Irina Graham.
Sebastian withdraws while his teeth are fixed and writes
a novel in which a man travels the world to masturbate in
front of famous paintings of women. It culminates with him
ejaculating over Rembrandt’s Andromeda, Irina Graham’s
all-time favourite painting. Irina’s revenge leads her to
denigrate Sebastian and rehabilitate Lorenz Brauer.
Lorenz’s idea for his life’s work, a single painting on which
each image is obscured by the next, ultimately takes us back
to where the novel began. The successive images are all
scenes from their rural childhood. When, following a series
of revelations about his teenage relationship with Elsa,
Lorenz abandons the project, Karl strips off the layers Lorenz
has painted so far and finds the first painting: an image of
Elsa echoing the iconography of Andromeda. Rosenfeld’s
satirical portrayal of the excesses of the modern art world
is assured and very funny.
A sample translation of this title
is available on the NBG website
© Gaby Gerster/© Diogenes Verlag
Astrid Rosenfeld
was born in Cologne in 1977. After
her high school graduation, Rosenfeld
went to California for two years where
she worked at a small theatre. After
that, she began to train as an actress
in Berlin, before quitting the course
one and a half years in. Since then
she has held a variety of jobs in the
film industry, including as a casting
director. Her debut, Adams Erbe
(‘Adam’s Legacy’), was on the longlist
for the German Book Prize 2011.
Astrid Rosenfeld lives in Berlin.
Previous works:
Adams Erbe (2011)
Translation rights available from:
Diogenes Verlag AG
Sprecherstrasse 8
8032 Zürich, Switzerland
Tel: +41 44 254 85 11
Email: bau@diogenes.ch
Contact: Susanne Bauknecht
www.diogenes.ch
‘An ensemble of unforgettable
characters; a story filled with tragedy,
humour and love.’
– Börsenblatt
Diogenes Verlag
was founded in Zurich in 1952 by
Daniel Keel and Rudolf C. Bettschart.
One of the leading international
publishing houses, it numbers among
its authors Alfred Andersch, Friedrich
Dürrenmatt, Patricia Highsmith, Donna
Leon, Bernhard Schlink and Patrick
Süskind. Children’s authors include
Tatjana Hauptmann, Ute Krause, Karl
Friedrich Waechter and Tomi Ungerer.
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
22 Fiction

Inger-Maria Mahlke
Rechnung offen
(Unsettled Accounts)
Berlin Verlag, February 2013, 272pp. ISBN: 978-3-8270-1130-5
City living
Inger-Maria Mahlke’s keenly-observed novel centres on the
inhabitants of an apartment building in an up-and-coming
district of Berlin, who look set to be usurped by wealthier
tenants as the area becomes more fashionable. Mahlke
scrutinises the effects of relentlessly consumerist city
lifestyles on the lives of those who have the least
consumer power.
All the novel’s characters have unsettled accounts – either
with their landlord, each other, or themselves – which are
variously taken care of in the course of the narrative. Claas,
a psychotherapist and shopping addict who has spent all his
money on porcelain figurines, is the owner of the apartment
building and moves in to one of the flats after the collapse
of his marriage. Claas’ daughter Ebba lives above him but
rarely leaves her flat, apart from to blackmail the African
dealers crowded into the ground-floor apartment into giving
her drugs. Her parents are blissfully unaware that she has
stopped going to college. Elsa has lived in the building since
the war, the last of the old tenants. Gradually losing her grip
on reality, she is paid regular visits by Nicolai, who claims to
be her grandson, even though she has never officially had a
child. And then there is nine-year-old Lucas, a compulsively
neat boy whose only pleasure is video games. Lucas’ mother,
Manuela, quits her job in a bakery to work as a dominatrix.
As the temperatures fall towards Christmas, all the stories
spiral towards disaster. One of the dealers has a road
accident but can’t go to hospital, not having official papers.
Ebba pretends to have passed her exams; Elsa waits and
waits for Nicolai to come, the teacups gathering dust on the
table along with her memories. Lucas’ mother loses her new
job after her regular client loses interest and then walks out
on her son, who has to cope on his own. And Claas starts
badgering his tenants so that he can get rid of them and
charge more rent in this suddenly popular district.
Mahlke focuses on the darker side of city life and draws
insightful portraits of people who lead precarious lives
amid the affluence of others. Although we find out what
happens to most of the characters at the end of the novel,
plenty of unfinished business remains and there are no
straightforwardly happy endings here. But this is nonetheless
a very satisfying book which is sure to cement Mahlke’s
reputation as a rising star of the German literary scene.
A sample translation of this title
is available on the NBG website
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
© Sibylle Baier
Inger-Maria Mahlke
was born in Hamburg in 1977. She
studied law at the Freie Universität
Berlin and worked on various projects
for the Department of Criminology.
In 2009, Mahlke was the prize-winner
at the 17th Open Mike, and in 2010
she was awarded the Klaus Michael
Kühne Prize for her debut novel
Silberfischchen. At the 2012 Festival
of German Language Literature in
Klagenfurt, she was honoured with
the Ernst Willner Prize. Mahlke lives
in Berlin.
‘The misery of the apathetic anti-heroes
in Unfinished Business never gets
dull. On the one hand because it grows
at frantic speed; on the other hand,
because Mahlke manages to sail round
the swirls of melodrama.’ – Die Welt
Translation rights available from:
Berlin Verlag
Hedemannstraße 14
10969 Berlin
Tel: +49 (0)89 381 801 26
Email: sven.diedrich@berlinverlag.de
Contact: Sven Diedrich
www.berlinverlag.de
‘Mahlke still enjoys observing strangers.
And she observes well.’
– kulturSPIEGEL
‘With precise vision and a wholly
distinct tone, sensitive and radical at
once, Inger-Maria Mahlke sketches a
diagnosis of our time: a great parable
about the abysses of life at the fringes
of our gentrified world.’
– Hannoversche Allgemeine
Berlin Verlag
was founded in 1994 as an
independent publishing house and
publishes approximately 40 titles per
year. The list combines international
and German literary fiction and a nonfiction
program. Several young German
authors have made a successful
publishing debut with Berlin Verlag,
and many authors are internationally
renowned prize-winners. Since 2012,
Berlin Verlag has been part of the
Bonnier Group.
Fiction 23

Andreas Izquierdo
Das Glücksbüro
(The Happiness Office)
DuMont Buchverlag, February 2013, 269pp. ISBN: 978-3-8321-6225-2
Yes, Minister!
Albert Glück, a bit of an odd chap in his early fifties, has been
a public servant at the ‘Office for Administrative Affairs’ for
more than thirty years. His ordered life passes in a satisfyingly
predictable succession of forms, regulations, binders and stamps.
Not only does he work in the office building, but – unbeknownst
to his colleagues – he also lives in its basement and eats in the
cafeteria there.
Then one day a file turns up on Glück’s desk which changes
everything: a petition which does not seem to be petitioning
for anything and is therefore completely unclassifiable. Horrified,
Glück tries to get rid of the dreaded thing but, as if by magic,
the piece of paper just keeps showing up again. Eventually he
is forced into the unthinkable step of leaving the office, the first
time in years that he has been out in the real world. Once there,
he meets the real people behind the petitions, and realises that
each document harbours a human story, the hopes and dreams
of individuals.
The Happiness Office is a novel with a magical touch, an
unconventional love story, and the tale of how a man’s ordered
life is transformed – for the better – once he is prepared to
open up to a little of life’s unpredictability.
Jonas Lüscher
Frühling der Barbaren
(The Barbarians’ Spring)
Verlag C.H.Beck, January 2013, 125pp. ISBN: 978-3-406-64694-2
A rich man’s world
The narrator of The Barbarians’ Spring is a leading Swiss industrial
tycoon whose career has taken him to some extraordinary places.
While on a business trip to Tunisia, Preising is invited to spend
the week with the daughter of a local wheeler-dealer. The daughter
is a wedding planner and Preising accompanies her to the
nuptial celebrations of two London City traders at an old Berber
camp in the desert which has been transformed into a luxury
holiday destination.
Much comedy ensues as we witness the traders’ indulgent
poolside lifestyle – their gym-honed bodies, cynical humour and
libertine attitudes to money. With the wedding party in full swing
– complete with the bride riding up the aisle on a camel, the
groom’s disapproving mother reading a poem, and masses of
alcohol – Lehman Brothers stands on the brink of collapse, along
with the whole of the UK’s financial system. As the wedding guests
nurse their hangovers, they learn that the pound has depreciated
to ten times its former value, and their whole world begins to
crumble around them.
The Barbarians’ Spring is a credible, probing and refreshingly
original satire for our times.
Translation rights available from:
DuMont Buchverlag GmbH & Co. KG
Tel: +49-221-224 1942
habermas@dumont-buchverlag.de
Contact: Judith Habermas
www.dumont-buchverlag.de
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
24 Fiction
© Natali Pelosi
Andreas Izquierdo was born in
1968. An author and screenwriter,
he has published numerous books,
most recently the novel König von
Albanien (2007) for which he received
the Sir Walter Scott Prize. His novel
Apocalypsia (2010) was awarded the
Lovelybooks silver award for the best
book of 2010.
Previous works: König von
Albanien (2007), Apocalypsia (2010)
DuMont Buchverlag was founded
in 1956. Stressing the link between
literature and art, the firm focuses
both on these subjects and also, more
recently, on general non-fiction. Its
authors include John Cheever, Keith
Gessen, Michel Houellebecq, Helmut
Krausser, Martin Kluger, Haruki
Murakami, Edward St. Aubyn, Tilman
Rammstedt and Dirk Wittenborn.
Translation rights available from:
Verlag C.H.Beck oHG
Tel. +49 89 38189-335
Email: jennifer.royston@beck.de
Contact: Jennifer Royston
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Switzerland (see page 40)
© Private
Jonas Lüscher was born in
Switzerland in 1976 and attended
school in Bern. After working in the
German film industry he studied at the
Munich School of Philosophy. Currently
pursuing his doctoral studies in
philosophy at the University of Zurich,
he lives in Munich.
Verlag C.H.Beck is one of Germany’s
best known publishing houses dealing
both with books and magazines,
employing a staff of over 400 and with
approximately 6,000 titles in print. It
has a strong base in academic and
specialised works on history, ethnology,
philology, literary theory, religion and
philosophy, politics, art and law. Its
fiction list has grown steadily and is
respected for the importance its editors
place on the literary and artistic merits
of its titles.

Sunil Mann
Uferwechsel
(Flying under the Radar)
Grafit Verlag, August 2012, 315pp. ISBN: 978-3-89425-407-0
Elementary, my dear…
Flying under the Radar is the third in Mann’s detective series
focusing on Zurich private eye Vijay Kumar. Mann’s youthful PI
is of Indian descent and brings a fresh perspective to this
ever-popular genre.
A young Arabic man has been found in the woods outside Zurich,
his face and body hideously disfigured by brutal violence. The
man carries no personal effects or papers and there seem to be
practically no leads. Once Kumar arrives at the scene, however,
he spots some broken twigs straight above the victim’s body. In
Sherlock Holmes-like fashion, he quickly deduces that the young
man was probably a refugee hiding in the landing gear of an
aeroplane, falling out as the plane approached the nearby airport.
When Kumar takes his theory to the police inspector in charge he
is coolly dismissed, only to discover in the next day’s newspapers
that the inspector is taking full credit for Kumar’s deductions.
As the case progresses, Kumar is drawn into an intricate web of lies
and deception which leads all the way up the ranks of the Zurich
police department and soon claims the lives of more young men.
Merle Kröger
Grenzfall
(Crossing Borders)
Argument Verlag, September 2012, 352pp. ISBN: 978-3-86754-210-4
Edgy crime
This stylish novel bears the hallmark of its author’s film industry
expertise with much snappy dialogue and a complex, well-crafted
plot which takes us on a fast-paced road trip though Europe.
At the heart of Crossing Borders is a real-life crime which took
place in June 1992, shortly after the reunification of Germany. Two
Romanian Roma are shot and killed by local hunters as they attempt
to cross the Polish border into the former East Germany. When the
trial comes to court there are no witnesses available to testify and
the hunters are acquitted.
In the drive towards political integration and economic prosperity
during the following two decades the crime is all but forgotten. But
twenty years later, Adriana, the daughter of one of the men who was
shot, tracks down her father’s killer. When she arrives at his flat she
finds his body lying on the ground, four floors down. She is arrested
and charged with murder, as the police believe she pushed him
over the balcony. Adriana’s case becomes the centre of a political
controversy. This is a sophisticated and emotionally nuanced novel
which tackles serious questions.
Winner of the German Crime Novel Award 2013
Translation rights available from:
Grafit Verlag GmbH
Contact: Gudrun Stegemann
Tel: +49 (0)231 1 20 68 37
Email: gudrun.stegemann@grafit.de
www.grafit.de
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Switzerland (see page 40)
© Eke Miedaner
Sunil Mann was born to Indian
immigrants in the Bernese Highlands.
After high school, he enrolled to study
psychology and German in Zurich, and
successfully broke off both courses of
study. Sunil Mann is currently working
as a flight attendant, a job that leaves
him enough time to write. He has been
awarded numerous prizes for his short
stories. After Fangschuss (‘Coup de
grace’, 2010) and Lichterfest (‘Feast of
Lights’, 2011), Uferwechsel is his third
crime novel starring Indian-born private
detective, Vijay Kumar. Fangschuss was
awarded the Zürcher Krimipreis 2010
for the best crime fiction novel.
Previous works: Fangschuss (2010);
Lichterfest (2011)
For information on Grafit Verlag
please contact NBG.
Translation rights available from:
Argument Verlag
Tel: +49 40 4018 0011
Email: e.laudan@argument.de
Contact: Else Laudan
www.argument.de
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
© Svenja Lina Harten
Merle Kröger is co-author and
producer of the award-winning cinema
documentaries Day of the Sparrow
(2010) and Revision (2012). Kröger has
published three novels in Argument
Publishing House’s well-known Ariadne
series: following Cut! (2003) and
the critically acclaimed sequel, Kyai!
(2006), her latest novel Grenzfall
completes the trilogy. It jumped straight
to the top of Die Zeit’s monthly critics’
top ten crime fiction poll and was
awarded the German Crime Novel
Award 2013.
Prevous works: Cut! (2003);
Kyai! (2006)
Translation rights sold:
Spain (RBAlibros)
For information on Argument Verlag
please contact NBG.
CRIME Fiction 25

Gerhard Roth: Writer of Vienna
By Uwe Schütte
‘There can be no doubt’, the
renowned critic Ulrich Greiner
remarked in 1979, ‘that Gerhard
Roth, alongside Thomas Bernhard
and Peter Handke, is one of the
most important contemporary
writers in Austria.’ In the three
decades since Greiner made
this remarkable statement,
Roth has proved him absolutely
right. His next novel, the semiautobiographical
Stille Ozean
(‘The Calm Ocean’) appeared
in 1980 and triggered a most
unusual literary project: a cycle
of seven works called Archive des
Schweigens (‘Archives of Silence’)
comprising novels, essays and
documentary volumes.
Roth completed his heptalogy
in 1991 by framing it with a
collection of essays on Vienna and
a volume containing photographs
of rural Styria, where he had
settled in the early eighties. With
the Archive des Schweigens, Roth
achieved no less than a literary
diagnosis of the Austrian psyche.
He opened up the repressed,
disavowed, and silenced parts of
society to expose an uninterrupted
tradition of fascist values in the
Second Republic that included
xenophobia, authoritarianism,
anti-Semitism and an obsession
with hunting.
Although the Archive des
Schweigens consolidated Roth’s
literary fame, and despite his
popularity and media presence
in Austria, he has never been as
well known in Germany as Handke
or Bernhard. Like his colleagues,
he emerged from a humble,
provincial background and took
part in the literary movement of
26 Article
the sixties that turned the sleepy
town of Graz into a hothouse
of literary talent. Roth initially
wrote experimental fiction but
abandoned it in the mid-seventies
to craft a number of realist novels.
These books were structured
as crime novels but were really
about existential despair, the most
accomplished example being his
1978 tale Winterreise (‘Winter’s
Journey’), about a couple’s journey
through Italy.
During the eighties Roth
increasingly positioned himself
as one of the foremost public
intellectuals in Austria. His political
interventions responded to the
reactionary tendencies of Austrian
society – not just the Waldheim
controversy but also the everyday
occurrences of anti-Semitism, the
unstoppable rise of right-wing
parties and the racist murder of
four gypsies in the mid-nineties.
Death threats followed but did not
deter Roth. His passionate mission
has a biographical background:
his parents were members of the
Nazi party and refused to discuss
or even acknowledge Austria’s
involvement in the Holocaust.
Roth’s political commitment may
also explain his extraordinary
literary productivity. Following his
cycle of seven books Roth began
a second eight-volume cycle called
Orkus. Fascinatingly, these two
large-scale endeavours are both
subtly and explicitly interwoven,
like an intertwined double helix
– certain motifs and themes mirror
each other, while characters from
the first cycle reappear in Orkus
and mysteries left open in Archive
des Schweigens are resolved in
the second cycle.
Although the Orkus cycle opens
at Austria’s famous Neusiedler
Lake, the title’s allusion to Homer’s
Odyssey is telling: subsequent
novels are set in Spain, Japan,
Greece and Egypt, greatly
expanding the narrative scope
of the first cycle, which focused
on Austria. Roth’s Orkus cycle
also references major works of
world literature from Dante’s
Divine Comedy or Cervantes’
Don Quixote to modern classics
such as Herman Melville’s Moby
Dick and Fernando Pessoa’s
Book of Disquiet. While volumes
such as Der Plan (1998), Der
Berg (2000), Der Strom (2002)
and Das Labyrinth (2004) are
indispensable components of the
second cycle, they are also selfcontained
novels: travel stories
based on first-hand research by
Roth, but fictionalised and framed
in suspenseful crime stories. This
formula probably works best in
Der Plan, which tells the story of
a librarian who tears a sheet from
a Mozart manuscript and attempts
to sell it. Disaster strikes when
he travels to meet his mysterious
buyer in Japan.
In Die Stadt (2009), Roth collects
a number of topographical essays
dealing with sites in Vienna that
are far off the well-beaten tourist
track, such as the Institute of the
Blind, the Museum of Forensic
Medicine or a refugee camp. It is
a veritable companion piece to
his bestselling Eine Reise in das
Innere von Wien (‘A Journey
into the Inner Vienna’, 1991) from
the Archives of Silence, which
adheres to the same recipe and
has achieved cult status amongst
visitors to the Austrian capital.
Orkus is concluded by two major
volumes, both in excess of 700
pages. Das Alphabet der Zeit
(2007) is the autobiographical
account of Roth’s childhood and
youth. From playing amongst the
ruins of the destroyed city of Graz,
we learn how young Gerhard
grew increasingly suspicious of the
all-pervading conspiracy of silence
that strove to blank out Austria’s
involvement in the Nazis and the
Holocaust. In Orkus. Reise zu
den Toten (‘Orcus. Journey to the
Dead’, 2011), the major characters
of his literary double helix all
congregate in Vienna to meet their
author and Roth, too, turns into a
literary character, disappearing in
that strange dominion between
fact and fiction, dream and reality.
After completing an enterprise
undoubtedly unique in world
literature, Roth might have
deserved a rest, yet he keeps on
writing. His most recent book,
simply called Portraits, is a
collection of essays on major
figures of the Viennese cultural
scene, with many of whom Roth
was personally acquainted.
Apart from literary colleagues
such as Elias Canetti or Thomas
Bernhard, we also find incisive
portraits of the chancellor Bruno
Kreisky and the (in)famous Nazi
hunter Simon Wiesenthal, along
with touching essays on art brut
artists. Engaging and varied,
Portraits provides a perfect
entry point to discover one of the
most remarkable authors to have
emerged in Austrian post-war
literature.
Uwe Schütte
completed his
PhD thesis on
Gerhard Roth’s
Archive des
Schweigens
in 1996,
supervised by
W.G. Sebald at
the University of East Anglia. He is a
Reader in German at Aston University,
Birmingham and has written nine
books and numerous articles on
contemporary German and Austrian
literature. Forthcoming in 2014 is a
general introduction to the life and
works of Gerhard Roth, published by
Residenz Verlag.
Gerhard Roth in
English translation
The Autobiography of
Albert Einstein
(Atlas Press, 1992)
The Calm Ocean
(Ariadne Press, 1993)
The Story of Darkness
(Ariadne Press, 1999)
The Will to Sickness
(Burning Deck Press, 2006)
The Plan
(Ariadne Press, 2012)
© Philipp Horak
© private

Klaus Kordon
Das Karussell
(The Carousel)
Beltz & Gelberg, September 2012, 456pp. ISBN: 978-3-407-81114-1
A wartime romance
The Carousel is a family chronicle spanning the First and
Second World Wars. It focuses on the life stories of Bertie
and Lisa, who grow up without knowing one another, yet
are always destined to be together. Herbert ‘Bertie’ Lenz
is placed in an orphanage by his mother while still a baby,
while Lisa Gerber loses her father in the First World War,
then moves to Berlin as an adolescent with her mother
and siblings. The carousel of the title refers to one of the
few happy episodes of Bertie’s childhood, when he is given
a miniature carousel by his half-sister, a gift which he
treasures for the rest of his life. The image of the carousel,
symbolising the circularity of the characters’ suffering, is
central to the novel.
Kordon’s harrowing account of Bertie’s early days, growing
up in the regimented and brutal environment of a Catholic
orphanage, stays with readers long after they finish reading.
Visited regularly by his silent and impassive mother, Bertie
dreams that one day she will take him home to live with
her. His mother never does remove him from the orphanage,
however, leaving him instead to grow up enduring savage
beatings and solitary confinement in an orphanage cell.
Bertie finally finds some measure of satisfaction by training
as a builder and leaving the orphanage behind.
Lisa’s story starts at the cusp of the First World War, when
she is growing up in the countryside with her parents and
three younger siblings. When her father is called to military
service and then killed in the war, Lisa’s mother has to go
out to work, and Lisa’s heavy domestic responsibilities
caring for her siblings begin. Then the family moves to Berlin
and Lisa becomes the family’s main breadwinner. Lisa and
Bertie eventually find their way to one another and live
happily together. However, their time with each other is cut
short by the Second World War, when Bertie is sent to the
Russian front, where he is eventually killed. The novel ends
with an afterword from the couple’s son, who learned of his
parents’ story shortly before his mother’s death, and vowed
one day to tell it.
Kordon writes with a pleasingly crisp narrative voice and
has an impressive eye for historical detail, conjured in the
vivid tableaux of the war-torn city of Berlin. This is a wellcrafted
and affecting novel which stands to be very well
received by young English-speaking readers.
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
© Jochen Thiele
Klaus Kordon
was born in 1943 and lives in Berlin.
He is among the most renowned
authors of books for children and
young adults in Germany and his
work has received numerous awards.
His latest novels are Kiko and the
historical novel Im Spinnenetz
(‘In the Spider’s Web’).
Previous works:
Krokodil im Nacken (2012)
Translation rights sold:
Korea, Estonia, Slowenia
‘A beautiful, poetic, and political novel
that is really too good to be presented
as purely a young adult book. Even
adult readers will devour it!’
– Westfälische Nachrichten
Translation rights available from:
Julius Beltz GmbH & Co. KG
Werderstr. 10
69469 Weinehim, Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 6201-6007327
Email: K.michaelis@beltz.de
Contact: Kerstin Michaelis
www.beltz.de
‘Klaus Kordon is the author of
many great young adult books on
contemporary history and has, with
Carousel, written perhaps his most
personal novel. [...] A touching book
about a fate that is representative of
many others of the time.’
– Münchner Merkur
‘The author tells his parents’ favourite
story story as an exciting snapshot of
the 1920s and the Second World War.’
– Süddeutsche Zeitung
Beltz & Gelberg
is the children’s book division of the
Beltz Verlagsgruppe, the publishing
venture which was established by the
printer Julius Beltz in 1868. Beltz &
Gelberg was set up in 1971 by Hans-
Joachim Gelberg and has offered a rich
range of children’s literature ever since.
The Gulliver paperback imprint was
founded in 1984. In 2002 Beltz took
over the book rights of Middelhauve,
and two years later initiated the
paperback series MINIMAX.
‘The work of a great teller of stories
and history.’ – Swiss Family
Children and younG Adults’ 27

Alexandra Hamann, Claudia Zea-Schmidt, Reinhold Leinfelder
Die große Transformation
(The Great Transformation)
Verlagshaus Jacoby & Stuart, February 2013, 144pp. ISBN: 978-3-941087-23-1
Global warming for beginners
This highly original book uses cartoon illustrations to
present scientific facts alongside a broad range of actions
that we can take against climate change. This is an
inspirational call for action which directly addresses
young readers as the future adult generation.
The Great Transformation sets out the key issues that are
having an impact on the environment today, including
the use of fossil fuels, the global challenges caused by
population growth, increasing food production, lack of
water resources and predictions of rising sea levels, freak
and extreme weather. It also sets out important solutions
in terms of renewable resources, energy efficiency in
housing and industry, alternative ways of travelling such
as magnetic high speed trains and cars, carbon trading
and new technologies. The authors advocate a new ‘age of
enlightenment’, a time when humankind is forced to rethink
old beliefs and structures in favour of a sustainable society.
Readers are presented with a wealth of reasons as to why
we should take responsibility as individuals and decisionmakers
across the world. There are things we can all do
– reviewing our energy consumption, eating less meat,
looking for sustainable food labelling, urban gardening – in
addition to duties required of governments – taking account
of the latest research, promoting technological innovation,
managing pressure groups. The science of climate change is
explained in a clear, concise way, and predictions about the
future are backed up by tight scientific argument. Among
many surprising facts, we learn why investing in green
energy works out cheaper in the long run than conventional
energy resources, and that China is actually leading the
world with the level of its investments in renewable energy
resources (followed by Germany and the USA).
Facts and figures, scientific data and new technologies
are brought to life in the style of a comic magazine. The
text is straightforward and easy to understand. Because
information is presented in a pithy, cartoon style, it has an
immediate and poignant impact. The narrative has been
stripped bare, and leaves readers with a strong sense both
of the gravity of the situation and of the encouraging
potential for us to make a lasting difference.
© Robert Nippoldt, © Jörg Hülsmann
Alexandra Hamann, a media
designer, and Claudia Zea-Schmidt,
a communications scientist, came up
with the idea for this book. Together
with geologist and geobiologist
Prof. Dr. Reinhold Leinfelder from
the German Advisory Council on Global
Change (WBGU), they developed the
concept and wrote the comic-strip
versions of interviews with nine expert
scientists from the WBGU.
Translation rights available from:
Verlagshaus Jacoby & Stuart GmbH
Straßburger Str. 11
10405 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49 (0)30-47 37 47 920
Email: ina.feist@jacobystuart.de
Contact: Ina Feist
www.jacobystuart.de
Jacoby & Stuart
was founded in March 2008. Jacoby
& Stuart’s list consists of ambitious
children’s books, non-fiction for adults,
coffeetable books, as well as inventive
and exquisite cookbooks. All books
are illustrated by brilliant artists,
contain texts penned by well-known
authors, and are carefully designed
and produced. The symbiosis of highly
informed texts and excellent design
and quality is a trademark of Jacoby &
Stuart’s books.
‘High calibre science, made
understandable!’ – Lovelybooks
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Switzerland/Germany (see page 40)
28 Children and younG Adults’

Christian Loeffelbein
Willkommen in Professor
Graghuls geheimer Monsterschule
(Professor Graghul’s Secret Monster School)
Arena Verlag, January 2013, 200pp. ISBN: 978-3-401-09935-4
A monstrous education
With its fast-paced action, lively dialogue and infectious
humour, Professor Graghul’s Secret Monster School is
guaranteed to capture the interest of young readers. The
short chapters would make excellent bedtime stories for
children from the age of five, who will delight in Christian
Loeffelbein’s imaginative descriptions of the monsters with
their comical names.
After their parents disappear in a plane crash, seven-yearold
twins Lukas and Lena are sent to live with their uncle,
Gregorius Graghul, who runs a boarding school for children
with behavioural problems. The school is housed in a spooky
castle and turns out to be a refuge for monsters from all
over the world who have come there to learn good manners.
Among scary ghouls, three-headed creatures and gruesome
vampires, Lukas and Lena are relieved to meet a normal boy
of their age. Nicki grew up in a French castle where he once
opened a forbidden door in the cellar. Since then he has
been plagued by a curse that will turn him into a monster
on his eighteenth birthday. The only one who knows how
to get rid of such a curse is the scariest of all monsters, the
Arrrgh!, who disappeared centuries ago. As the Arrrgh! has
proved impossible to locate, monsterologist Uncle Gregorius
strives to find a cure himself while at the same time trying
to hide his unusual pupils from the nasty school inspector,
Mrs Dungbeetle. If she were to succeed in closing down
the school, the monsters would be released into the world
and would quite possibly forget their good manners, Nicki
would be doomed, and Lena and Lukas would end up in
an orphanage.
At first glance, the story of orphaned children who are
sent to a special kind of boarding school seems to be
a commonplace premise, but the idea of an institution
teaching monsters good manners is brilliantly original.
The human characters allow easy identification for both
boys and girls while the monsters themselves are as weird
as they are likeable. The slapstick comedy scenes such as
one in which the monsters forget their table manners and
throw food at each other will make children laugh, and
there is plenty of suspense to guarantee goosebumps.
Christian Loeffelbein has created an imaginative novel of
international appeal that is enhanced by Ina Hattenhauer’s
quirky illustrations, emphasising the humorous and
grotesque element and ideally suited for the UK and
other English-language markets.
© Jens Wehde
Christian Loeffelbein
was born in Kiel, Germany in 1968;
he studied literature and art history
in his home town and worked for the
newspaper die tageszeitung (taz) in
Berlin as a journalist. He subsequently
worked as an editor for a magazine
publisher in Hamburg, where he started
to write his first children’s novel.
He is now a full-time writer.
Previous works:
Gate To A Thousand Worlds series
(3 titles since 2012)
Translation rights available from:
Arena Verlag GmbH
Rottendorfer Straße 16
D – 97074 Würzburg, Germany
Tel: +49 931 796 44 62
Email: tanja.dziewior@arena-verlag.de
Contact: Tanja Dziewior
www.arena-verlag.de
‘Loeffelbein creates captivating
excitement and emotions that move
the heart – Professor Graghul’s
Secret Monster School is a joy that
should not be missed.’
– Literaturmarkt
Arena Verlag was founded in 1949
and is one of the most important
publishers of books for children and
young adults in Germany. They publish
a broad range of titles in their fiction
and non-fiction lists, including titles for
all age groups – from toddlers to young
adults. Arena was the first German
children’s book publisher to start a
paperback programme in 1958. Arena
books have won numerous awards and
been translated into many languages.
They are also the German home of
such internationally renowned authors
as Cassandra Clare, Roderick Gordon
and Brian Williams, Tove Jansson, Steve
Augarde, Neil Gaiman and Jo Nesbo.
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
Children and younG Adults’ 29

Jürg Schubiger & Jutta Bauer
Überall ist leicht zu verpassen
(Everywhere is easy to miss)
Verlagshaus Jacoby & Stuart, February 2012, 99pp. ISBN: 978-3-941787-65-0
A whimsical journey through the world
This is a quietly wonderful little book by a prize-winning
children’s author, beautifully put together, with gorgeous,
archetypal illustrations. Readers will be reminded of
Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince, perhaps of Toon Tellegen’s
Dutch animal stories, and even a little of the Moomin books.
A little girl – 1m 40 to be precise – is alone in the world
and needs some help. She is on her way to the first story
when she meets an English-speaking parrot. She is worried
that the parrot is going to follow her into the story, but
instead the parrot perches on the railing of a bridge, with
its head facing away from her. Would the story have been
truer, better or nicer without the parrot?, we are invited
to ponder. But there is no time, because the first story has
already begun.
In the first story, which explicitly echoes The Little Prince,
the little girl is alone in the round world, and in need of
help. She meets a wolf, who asks her where she is going.
Everywhere, says the girl. The wolf coughs: Everywhere is
easy to find and easy to miss. They go in search of the strong
bull, who may be able to provide some help. The bull can’t
help, and suggests that she consult the big woman. The
woman says everybody needs help, but she hasn’t any help
herself. A storm approaches. They all ponder the danger they
possibly face, but the storm moves on and the sun comes
back out. The little girl dries her clothes on the bull’s horns.
The woman suggests they meet again in a month, on the
mountain. The bull says he’ll be back tomorrow anyway.
‘Here ends the first story.’
And so they go on, the four of them (and sometimes the
parrot), ruminating and quietly helping one another. There
is a subtle sense of the little girl growing up, and of the
woman moving from being an archetype to a real human
being. The book has a circular repetitive quality, allowing
the reader to gain some insight into the world each time
they pass by. Meaning sometimes seems to be entirely
absent, but is sometimes there in the idea that looking is
more important than finding, and always present in the
sense that being together is better than being alone.
This is a wise book for children and adults of all ages.
Jürg Schubiger (author) was born in
Zurich in 1936 and is a philosopher and
psychologist. He has written numerous
tales for children as well as novels for
adults. He has received a number of
awards, among them the Deutscher
Jugendliteraturpreis (German Youth
Literature Award) and the Hans Christian
Andersen Award.
© Private
Jutta Bauer (illustrator) was born
in Hamburg in 1955 and is one of
Germany’s best-known and best-loved
author-illustrators. She was awarded
the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
for Schreimutter in 2001. In
2009, she received the Deutscher
Jugendliteraturpreis for her œuvre.
Her philosophising sheep Selma has
become something of a cult figure.
© Ute Karen Seggelke
Translation rights sold:
France, Taiwan, Hong-Kong, Macao
Translation rights available from:
Verlagshaus Jacoby & Stuart GmbH
Straßburger Str. 11
10405 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49 (0)30-47 37 47 920
Email: ina.feist@jacobystuart.de
Contact: Ina Feist
www.jacobystuart.de
‘An amazing text which was beautifully
illustrated by Jutta Bauer. It makes
sense to compare this to The Little
Prince.’ – ekz
‘A small, wise book that soothes the
soul.’ – WAZ
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Switzerland (see page 40)
Jacoby & Stuart
was founded in March 2008. Jacoby
& Stuart’s list consists of ambitious
children’s books, non-fiction for adults,
coffeetable books, as well as inventive
and exquisite cookbooks. All books
are illustrated by brilliant artists,
contain texts penned by well-known
authors, and are carefully designed
and produced. The symbiosis of highly
informed texts and excellent design
and quality is a trademark of Jacoby
& Stuart’s books.
30 Children and younG Adults’

Kai Meyer
Asche und Phönix
(Ash and Phoenix)
Carlsen Verlag, December 2012, 464pp. ISBN: 978-3-5515-8291-1
A diabolical deal
Parker Cale is a world-famous movie star following his lead role in
the Twilight-esque series ‘The Glamour’. But he has come to loathe
the obsessive adoration of teenage girls, who only see him as his
screen persona, Phoenix. Parker grows tired of being controlled by
his father, who is also the films’ producer, and publicly dissociates
himself from him. After striking up an unlikely friendship with a girl
called Ash, whom he catches trying to steal his money, they embark
together on an extraordinary journey into his family’s past. They
discover that Parker’s father made a Faustian pact with the demon
Libatique who promised him immense fame. Parker’s own life forms
part of the bargain and his split with his father provokes Libatique
to seek revenge. We follow Ash and Parker as they search for a way
to destroy Libatique, and fall in love along the way.
Ash and Phoenix, the latest book by internationally bestselling
author Kai Meyer, is a fast-paced thriller and an urban fantasy
novel rolled into one. The real-world settings range between
London, California and the south of France, while the book’s
supernatural elements provide out-of-this-world suspense.
Rosemarie Eichinger
Alles dreht sich
(Everything’s Spinning)
Carlsen Verlag, March 2013, 208pp. ISBN: 978-3-5515-2049-4
Digital rebellion
Fifteen-year-old Linda has just been diagnosed with a brain tumour.
As she sits in the park outside the clinic trying to make sense of
it all, a boy called Max speaks to her and tells her that he has
leukaemia. They join forces and decide to draw up a list of things
to do before they die – including visiting a hairdresser to get their
hair dyed blue. Before long, however, Max confesses that he does
not have cancer but was actually advised to visit the clinic by his
psychiatrist to see what is truly worth valuing in life. Unable to
admit this to Linda’s face, he sets up a web page to tell his side
of the story.
The novel’s focus shifts after anonymous comments are posted on
Max’s website pointing out the extremely high standard of living
which he enjoys in relation to most of the rest of the world. Shocked
into a sense of perspective, the teens resolve to campaign against
consumerism and exploitation and begin a series of protests which
send ripples across the city as more and more young people are
inspired to join in. Eichinger’s debut novel is a powerful take on
teenage rebellion for the digital generation.
Translation rights available from:
Carlsen Verlag GmbH
Tel: +49-40-93804-0
Email: daniela.steiner@carlsen.de
Contact: Daniela Steiner
www.carlsen.de
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
© unimak
Kai Meyer was born in 1969 and
studied film and theatre. He worked
as a journalist before becoming a
full-time writer in 1995. He has written
numerous bestsellers and is a widely
read fantasy author in Germany.
Previous works:
Arcadia Trilogy (2012)
Carlsen Verlag was founded in 1953
as a subsidiary of the Danish company
Carlsen, Copenhagen, so that its series
for younger children could be published
in German translation. Carlsen Verlag
Hamburg has been publishing its own
titles since 1964, ranging from picture
books for younger children to novels
for young adults. Educational series
include both fiction and non-fiction for
kindergarten and primary school levels.
Carlsen Comics was the first to introduce
comic books to the German market.
Translation rights available from:
Carlsen Verlag GmbH
Tel: +49-40-93804-0
Email: daniela.steiner@carlsen.de
Contact: Daniela Steiner
www.carlsen.de
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
© Hilke Schenck
Rosemarie Eichinger was born in
1970. She studied history in Vienna
where she still lives with her partner
and daughter. Her favourite place
to write is a small dark bathroom
where she tests first sentences and
concentrates on her story.
Carlsen Verlag was founded in 1953
as a subsidiary of the Danish company
Carlsen, Copenhagen, so that its series
for younger children could be published
in German translation. Carlsen Verlag
Hamburg has been publishing its own
titles since 1964, ranging from picture
books for younger children to novels
for young adults. Educational series
include both fiction and non-fiction
for kindergarten and primary school
levels. Carlsen Comics were the first
to introduce comic books to the
German market.
Children and younG Adults’ 31

The Brothers Grimm turn 200
New GrIMM
Grimm Tales for Young
and Old
Philip Pullman
Penguin
Award-winning His Dark Materials author
Philip Pullman has chosen his fifty favourite
stories from the Brothers Grimm and presents
them in a ‘clear as water’ retelling. Though
keeping a hold on the classics, he has also
selected lesser-known tales such as ‘The
Three Snake Leaves’, ‘Hans my Hedgehog’
and ‘Godfather Death’. Each story is followed
by a brief commentary on its background
and history and the collection opens with
Pullman’s introduction to get to the heart of
the tales’ meaning and importance.
‘Pullman adds himself to the great line of
storytellers, achieving his aim of clarity, as well as a sense of these tales as living,
mutable things that still transmit deep truths.’ – Daily Telegraph
Grimms Märchen
ohne Worte
Frank Flöthmann
DuMont
DuMont Verlag, renowned in particular
for its visual arts titles, presents a quirky
alternative to the oral tradition of the
Grimms: a highly striking graphic novel
without a single word. ‘After all, just
between us, the brothers were real
blabbermouths… and isn’t there already
quite enough talking in the world?’ Frank
Flöthmann’s book of ‘silent movie versions’
of Grimm is released in March 2013 and
presents the well-known tales as they have
never been seen before…
Selected Tales of the
Brothers Grimm
Selected and translated
by Peter Wortsman
archipelago
The first of two exceptional Grimm
publications by Peter Wortsman, this
collection was selected and translated
from the 1857 edition of the German
original, the last edition reviewed and
approved by the brothers in their lifetime.
In Wortsman’s words, it is a return to ‘a
tincture of concentrated man-eating ogre and ground hag tooth, diluted in blood,
sweat and tears, as a potent vaccine against the crippling effects of fear and fury.’
These ‘fortifying imaginative vaccines’ against the Disneyfication of Grimm are
accompanied by twenty-four full-colour illustrations by Haitian artists.
‘The stories do not pause for breath; even less so in Wortsman’s translations.’
– Geoffrey O’Brien, Bookforum
32 news and information
Grimms Erben
Florian Weber
Walde-Graf
Ignatz is a storyteller – or, rather, a
fairytale-teller. When he is murdered by the
Nazis during the war, his brother Zacharias
dons his storytelling mantle and lives
out his years in a fantastical world of his
own making. That is, until he mysteriously
disappears and his grandson August begins
to exact brutal revenge on his tormentors.
Florian Weber (who is also drummer and
lyricist for the band Sportfreunde Stiller)
reinterprets the Grimms’ tales in this novel
full of dark humour and anarchic wit.
‘Florian Weber…achieves with Grimms Erben his contribution to the
Grimm Year 2013: it’s imaginative, allusive, witty, and also gruesome.’
– ZDF Aspekte, Dunja Stamer
Grrrimm
Karen Duve
KiWi
Bestselling author Karen Duve treats her
readers to an updating of five Grimm tales,
told with her characteristic wry humour.
These re-imaginings see Snow White feign
a coma in order to avoid unwelcome
advances from one of the dwarves;
Sleeping Beauty fall in love with the king’s
great-nephew, initially spurning his doddery
115-year-old highness; and Little Red Riding
Hood come face to face with a wolfdog
whose bark goes ‘Grrrimm’, while her
grandmother turns out to be a werewolf.
‘Duve strikes several different notes in her modern versions, but, like Angela Carter,
she knows how to respect her originals, for all the irreverent modern sidelights –
and that takes skill and a real feeling for the folktale genre.’ – Anthea Bell
Tales of the German
Imagination from the
Brothers Grimm to
Ingeborg Bachmann
Selected and translated
by Peter Wortsman
Penguin
The book is a new collection of darkly
funny stories written in German over the
past 200 years selected and translated by
Peter Wortsman, by authors ranging from
the Brothers Grimm, Hoffmann and von
Chamisso, to Musil, Mynona and Kurt
Schwitters. Wortsman’s informative
introduction sets out to show that there
was much before Kafka; and also much after him. It includes Hoffmann’s
hallucinatory portrait of terror and insanity ‘The Sandman’; Chamisso’s influential
black masterpiece ‘Peter Schlemiel’; Kafka’s disturbing satire ‘In the Penal Colony’;
the Dadaist surrealism of Kurt Schwitters’ ‘The Onion’; and Bachmann’s modern
fairy tale ‘The Secrets of the Princess of Kagran’.

November 2012 saw the two-hundredth anniversary of the publication of Grimms Märchen, which has
become the most published, most translated and best-known book in German literary history. The jubilee
has been marked by a wealth of publications in German and English, from new editions of the tales to
fictional and graphic re-imaginings, both bringing back the lesser-known fairytales and rejuvenating
(or in some cases, re-darkening) the most famous classics. By Jen Calleja.
GRIMM FOR CHILDREN
Grimms Märchen
Illustrated by
Ruth Koser-Michaëls
Knauer
From ‘Hansel and Gretel’ to ‘Rapunzel’
to ‘Snow White’ – Koser-Michaëls’
lush, traditional illustrations present
the most-famous of the fairytales for
grandparents to give, parents to read
aloud, and children to be amazed by.
‘A first-class anthology’ – KULT!
Aschenputtel, der
goldene Schuh und
der Prinz mit der Beule
Kirsten John, illustrated
by Bianca Schaalburg
Arena
Mia and her frog Jakob have fallen into
the story of Cinderella by accident. Of
course they want to go home, but first
they must convince the Prince of who
his real bride is: and it’s absolutely not
Mia! Even if the golden slipper fits, and
she looks a lot like Cinderella…
Die Brüder Grimm
und das Rätsel des
Froschkönigs
Andreas Venzke, illustrated
by Klaus Puth and Joachim
Knappe
Arena
Jakob and Wilhelm lived for the
German language and its origins
– with feather quill in hand, no
research task was too troublesome for
the inseparable brothers. Venzke puts a
twist on Grimm fairytales by telling the
tale of the brothers themselves through
this authentic biographical story with
more sophisticated illustrations aimed
at older children.
Küss den Wolf:
Rotkäppchens
zauberhafte Lovestory
Gabriella Engelmann
Arena
Pippa is in love with Leo, the most
attractive and charming guy the world has
ever seen! Happy as ever, she is on her
way to her Grandmother’s, but in the idyllic
cottage in the woods one inexplicable
disaster happens after another. Something’s
going on, and Pippa wonders what the
mysterious Marc has to do with it…
A SELECTION OF NEW EDITIONS OF THE CLASSICS
Grimms Märchenreise:
Ein Wimmelbuch
Thienemann
Re-issued GDR edition
of the Märchen
Illustrated by Werner Klemke
Beltz
Sieben auf einen Streich
(Seven in one blow)
NordSüd
Der Froschkönig
(The Frog Prince)
Coppenrath
Coming up for Grimm in real life: ‘Märchenwelten’ Exhibition at the Goethe-Institut London 3-22 June 2013
The Goethe-Institut London is celebrating the Grimms’ bicentenary with a worldwide fairytale exhibition for children and young people.
news and information 33

Stefan Kornelius
Angela Merkel –
Die Kanzlerin und ihre Welt
(Angela Merkel – The chancellor and her world)
Hoffmann und Campe Verlag, March 2013, 270pp. ISBN: 978-3-4555-0291-6
What makes Merkel tick?
Angela Merkel is one of the most powerful women in
the world. Stefan Kornelius – a highly regarded political
journalist in Germany for over twenty years – has personally
known and worked with Merkel since the start of her
political career in the ’90s. As a first-hand witness to her
meteoric rise to power, his biography sheds light on Merkel’s
phenomenal political career, made all the more remarkable
by the fact that she spent the first thirty-five years of her
life in the former East Germany.
This is a thought-provoking and extensively researched
analysis of Merkel’s life, both in the GDR and in reunited
Germany. We learn how she dealt with reunification, how
fast she learned to adapt in the West and what she has
carried over from her former life. It covers her position in
world politics as well as during the ongoing Euro crisis.
Kornelius describes Merkel’s fascinating transition from
citizen within an autocratic regime to leader of a major
democratic power, while preserving the humanistic values
shaped by her upbringing as the daughter of a Lutheran
pastor. Kornelius illuminates Merkel’s strengths and
weaknesses, her astute way of finding her feet in united
Germany’s politics, her remarkable analytical acumen
and systematic way of working, her straightforwardness,
openness and honesty.
The emphasis of this biography is on Angela Merkel’s
personal and political relationships, as well as on her
outstanding qualities and idiosyncrasies. Merkel’s
relationships with other world leaders, particularly in China,
Israel and Europe, are considered in detail. Her pragmatism
in dealing with fundamental policies and issues is based
on a solid political philosophy guided by the core values
of freedom and tolerance. Kornelius considers Merkel as
someone who thrives under pressure, and the Euro crisis of
recent years has seen her position strengthened rather than
weakened, partly due to her remarkable memory, her detailed
grasp of complicated processes, her robust constitution and
her sometimes mischievous sense of humour.
Even though she has been in power for nearly eight years,
there is no biography of Merkel in English as yet. Angela
Merkel is an engaging read by an accomplished biographer
which will appeal to a broad readership.
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
© Jörg Buschmann
Stefan Kornelius
was born in 1966 and is head of
the foreign policy department of
Süddeutsche Zeitung. He met Merkel
for the first time in 1989 in East Berlin
when she was the Speaker of the
Democratic Awakening. Later Kornelius
was a correspondent in Bonn where he
was responsible for the CDU party, and
where Merkel was a minister in Kohl’s
Cabinet and served as an important
source for Kornelius. After years
working as a foreign correspondent
in Washington, Kornelius returned to
Berlin in 1999 – just in time for the
CDU funding scandal and Merkel’s rise
to the head of CDU party. Since 2000
Kornelius has been responsible for
foreign policy reporting and is in close
contact with the Chancellor and her
main advisers.
Previous works:
Al Gore – Mission Klima: Sein Leben
– seine Ziele (2007); Der unerklärte
Krieg: Deutschlands Selbstbetrug in
Afghanistan (2009); Barack Obama:
Aufstieg, Krise, zweite Chance (2012)
Translation rights available from:
Hoffmann und Campe Verlag GmbH
Harvestehuder Weg 42
20149 Hamburg, Germany
Tel: +49 40 44188326
Email: foreign.rights@hoca.de
Contact: Katharina Muders
www.hoffmann-und-campe.de
Hoffmann und Campe
was founded in 1781 and is one of
Germany’s largest and most successful
general publishers with a portfolio that
embraces the works of famous authors
and young talents. Since 1951, all
works by the eminent writer Siegfried
Lenz have been published by Hoffmann
und Campe. Hoffmann und Campe also
holds world rights to authors such as
Irene Dische, Matthias Politycki, Nicol
Ljubic and Wolf Haas. The non-fiction
list includes Stefan Aust, Joachim Bauer,
Gerhard Schröder, Helmut Schmidt and
Peer Steinbrück.
34 NON-Fiction

Eveline Hasler
Mit dem letzten Schiff. Der
gefährliche Auftrag von Varian Fry
(The Last Boat Out. Varian Fry’s Dangerous Mission)
Nagel & Kimche, January 2013, 224pp. ISBN: 978-3-312-00553-6
A twentieth-century hero
The Last Boat Out describes the heroic work of Varian Fry,
an American journalist who saved the lives of hundreds of
leading European intellectuals during World War II. The flight
of European refugees from fascism has proven of great and
lasting interest to English-language readers, and this work
will be no exception.
In 1940, Fry, who wrote for The New York Times and was
among the first to alert the American public to the dangers
of Nazism, was asked by the newly-formed Emergency
Rescue Committee to establish an office for them in France.
The purpose of the ERC was to arrange the safe passage
to the United States of leading European writers, artists,
and intellectuals. Fry agreed and founded the Centre
Américain de Secours (American Relief Centre) in Marseilles
that same year. While operating as a legal French relief
organisation, the Centre also illegally procured exit visas
and passports that would allow their recipients to exit
Vichy France for Spain and Portugal. Fry and his co-workers
devoted themselves to this hazardous task in the face of
growing opposition not only from the Vichy government,
but from American officials in France. Fry was considered
too progressive, placed under surveillance as a Communist
sympathiser, and finally forced to return to the United States
in 1941. In the short time that Fry was working in Marseilles,
he saved hundreds of lives: an illustrious list of exiles and
refugees that includes Heinrich Mann, Anna Seghers, Marcel
Duchamp, André Breton and Walter Benjamin.
Eveline Hasler’s captivating historical drama is full of
personal anecdotes that give the reader a sense of the real
Fry. The book’s final section covers the years following Fry’s
return to the United States, where he was barred from the
office of the ERC after publicly criticising it, and continued
to be accused of Communist sympathies. Varian Fry died at
home in 1967, while working on an edition of his memoirs
for young people. Thirty years after his death he became
the first American to be honoured with the title ‘Righteous
Among the Nations’ by Yad Vashem.
The Last Boat Out joins a growing body of rescue literature,
including Fry’s own Surrender on Demand and the
forthcoming English translation of Anna Seghers’ novel,
Transit, whose enduring popularity is due not least to the
great contributions to world literature and thought made
by those who were rescued.
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Switzerland (see page 40)
© Yvonne Böhler
Eveline Hasler
was born in Glarus, Switzerland,
and now lives in Ticino in Switzerland.
Her novels have been translated
into many languages and have
won numerous awards.
Previous works:
Stein bedeutet Liebe (2007),
Und werde immer Ihr Freund sein
(2010), Der Engel und das schwarze
Herz (2012)
‘Eveline Hasler singles out individual
characters and describes the
circumstances in which they find
themselves by slipping inside their
heads in a way that allows readers
to feel as if they were trapped in the
moment alongside them.’ – SRF1
Translation rights available from:
Carl Hanser Verlag
Kolbergerstr. 22
81679 München,
Germany
Tel: +49 89 998 30 509
Email: Barakat@hanser.de
Contact: Friederike Barakat
www.hanser-literaturverlage.de
‘A profoundly absorbing portrait
which perfectly captures the gloomy
oppression of the era. The author
succeeds in delineating Fry’s individual
protégées with a realism bordering
on caricature and crafting a readily
accessible narrative from a complex
mesh of events.’ – Berner Zeitung
Carl Hanser Verlag was established
by its eponymous owner in 1928 in
Munich, and its founder’s interests in
both literature and science have been
maintained to the present day. The firm
publishes fiction and non-fiction for
both adults and children. Its authors
include Italo Calvino, Umberto Eco,
Jostein Gaarder, Lars Gustafsson,
Milan Kundera, Harry Mulisch, Philip
Roth, Susan Sontag, Botho Strauß,
Raoul Schrott, Rafik Schami, Alfred
Brendel, Elke Heidenreich and ten
Nobel prizewinners, among them
Elias Canetti, whose works have
been translated into more than thirty
different languages.
NON-Fiction 35

Norbert Mappes-Niediek
Arme Roma, böse Zigeuner
(Poor Roma, Evil Gypsies)
Ch. Links Verlag, August 2012, 207pp. ISBN: 978-3-86153-684-0
Beyond Big Fat Gypsy Weddings
This timely book charts the fascinating history of the Roma
people and considers their position within contemporary
European society. Mappes-Niediek is a highly-respected
journalist and writer and this well-written and clearly
presented work is an authoritative contribution to an issue
which is so often a target for sensational media coverage.
Poor Roma, Evil Gypsies begins by surveying the perceived
‘Roma problem’ which has been the focus of growing
attention since the latest wave of EU expansion. The book
is divided into seven chapters, each of which deals with a
different aspect of the Roma way of life. The first chapter
looks at why the Roma have not managed to lift themselves
out of poverty and dispels the myth that they are naturally
less intelligent and less prudent than other groups. The
second chapter deals with Roma migration to Western
Europe. There is particular focus on European countries that
have a policy of ‘returning’ Roma children born abroad to
their parents’ country of origin and the misery that this can
cause. The myth of the Roma as a nomadic people is also
dealt with here. Mappes-Niediek goes on to confront the
sensitive issue of criminality among the Roma and comes to
some surprising conclusions. He describes how begging is
not generally organised by Roma gangs, but that this is just
what people in the West tell themselves to assuage feelings
of guilt when faced with beggars on the street.
Mappes-Niediek traces the history and culture of the Roma
– their origins, their value systems, traditions and languages,
as well as their background as slaves in the 19th century
and how this affects them today. The wealth of interesting
and memorable examples in the book is drawn from
interviews, historical material, urban legends and folk tales.
The author considers whether the Roma can be considered
a nation or just an ‘underclass’, and the final two chapters
look at the NGOs that make up the ‘Gypsy industry’, which
some believe does more harm than good. Mappes-Niediek
concludes by suggesting that the European infrastructure
must be changed so that the ‘Roma problem’ can be solved,
since it is not the Roma themselves or their perceived lack
of recognition that makes things so difficult for them, but
rather the fact that they continue to live in grinding poverty.
Poor Roma, Evil Gypsies is a great read – pacey yet balanced
– which fills a notable gap in the non-fiction market.
© Ch. Links Verlag
Norbert Mappes-Niediek
was born in 1953, has lived since 1992
as a freelance correspondent for Austria
and Southeastern Europe in Styria,
Austria. In 1994-5 he was Adviser to
the UN Special Representative for the
former Yugoslavia, Yasushi Akashi. He
writes for the Frankfurter Rundschau,
Der Standard (Vienna) and the NRC
Handelsblad (Rotterdam).
‘Poor Roma, Evil Gypsies earns
credibility by presenting no easy
answers. Instead, it shows that things
are much more complicated and often
more diverse than they first appear.’
– Deutschlandradio
Translation rights available from:
Ch. Links Verlag GmbH
Schönhauser Allee 36
10435 Berlin
Tel: +49 (0)30 44 02 32 0
Email:
foreign-rights@christoph-links-verlag.de
Contact: Margit Stragies
www.christoph-links-verlag.de
‘It would probably be best if we
just forget everything we think we
know about the Roma, stop reading
euphemistic books, and turn instead to
a much more plausible and informative
book such as this one – especially
since it is also so well written.’
– Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger
Ch. Links Verlag
was one of the first independent
publishing houses to be launched
after the abolition of censorship in the
German Democratic Republic in the
autumn of 1989. The list concentrated
on the history of Stalinism and
communism in the GDR, before
expanding to cover such non-fiction
areas as the Federal Republic of
Germany, the history of German
colonialism and the legacy of National
Socialism. It now includes international
history and politics.
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
36 NON-Fiction

Pola Kinski
Kindermund
(Out of the Mouths of Babes)
Insel Verlag (Suhrkamp), January 2013, 267pp. ISBN: 978-3-458-17571-1
A real-life Lolita
Actress Pola Kinski is the eldest child of German film star
Klaus Kinski, who rose to fame during his long-standing
collaboration with director Werner Herzog in the 1970s and
80s. In her autobiography Pola Kinski, now 60, reveals that
she was sexually abused by her father for a period of fifteen
years. Her decision to speak out about the abuse now, more
than twenty years after Klaus Kinski’s death, reflects her
wish to stem the rising tide of adulation for her father and
set the record straight.
The incestuous abuse began when Pola was just five years
old and continued until, already an accomplished actress,
she was able to move away from her father’s orbit at the
age of nineteen. Pola describes how her father paid her
‘to be his little sex object, placed on silk cushions. I kept
quiet for years because he forbade me from talking about
it.’ By the time the abuse began, Kinski had already divorced
Pola’s mother and the parents were sharing custody of their
daughter. Pola’s mother lost interest in her daughter after
remarrying and Pola became isolated and lonely.
Klaus Kinski also married again and fathered another
child. As his fame grew he travelled the world, living an
eccentric life with many lovers. But he always returned to
Pola, taking her to expensive stores where he would deck
her out in suggestive underwear and fashionable clothes.
Their luxurious world was one of fine restaurants, fast cars
and beautiful villas in Italy and Spain, which held certain
attractions for a young child but for which Kinski extracted
the appallingly high price of fondling and raping his
daughter.
Pola Kinski’s memoir is difficult to put down. On one level
it is a sensational celebrity book which will interest the
many people who followed Klaus Kinski’s high profile career.
On the other hand this beautifully written book is also a
sensitive description of how a parent can come to exert
total power over a child. Pola documents the lamentably
common scenario in which sexual abuse is perpetrated over
many years, with all sorts of relatives around, including a
mother who is likely to have known what was going on.
In contrast to much more explicit accounts by other writers,
Pola Kinski describes the abuse in a sensitive, cautious way.
This lack of shock value adds to the credibility of the book
and builds a strong sympathy for the author.
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Germany (see page 40)
© Stefan Klüter
Pola Kinski
was born in 1952 as the oldest
daughter of actor Klaus Kinski. She
studied acting at the Otto-Falckenberg-
Schule in Munich. Pola Kinski lives
in Berlin.
Translation rights sold:
France (Michel Lafon), Italy (Newton
Compton), Poland (Black Publishing),
Czech Republic (Euromedia)
Translation rights available from:
Suhrkamp Verlag
Pappelallee 78-79
10437 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49-30-740744-0
Email: mercurio@suhrkamp.de
Contact: Nora Mercurio
www.suhrkamp.de/foreignrights
‘Pola Kinski’s Kindermund is more
than just payback. It is also a memoir
of literary excellence.’
– Frankfurter Rundschau
Suhrkamp Verlag
was founded in 1950 by Peter
Suhrkamp and directed for over forty
years by Dr. Siegfried Unseld. The
independent publishing company
now includes Insel Verlag (founded in
Leipzig in 1899), the Jüdischer Verlag
(founded in Berlin in 1902), as well
as the Deutscher Klassiker Verlag
(established in 1981) and the newly
founded Verlag der Weltreligionen
(established in 2006). Suhrkamp
focuses on both contemporary
literature and the humanities. Its
distinguished list includes leading
writers from Germany, Switzerland
and Austria, many of whom made their
debuts with the firm, besides major
international authors of both fiction
and non-fiction, including several
Nobel Prize winners.
NON-Fiction 37

A Forgotten Gem
Rudolf Brunngraber (1901–1960)
was an Austrian novelist and journalist
whose novels have been translated into
eighteen languages. The son of a mason,
Brunngraber grew up in a workingclass
district of Vienna. He trained as a
teacher and studied at the Academy of
Applied Arts in Vienna before working
as an industrial designer and in a series
of other jobs. A social democrat with
a profound interest in social statistics,
between 1928 and 1934 Brunngaber
worked at Otto Neurath’s Social and
Economic Museum. Brunngraber’s
first novel, Karl und das zwanzigste
Jahrhundert, was heavily influenced
by Neurath’s statistical work. In 1933
Brunngraber was elected as chairman of
the newly founded Austrian Association
of Socialist Writers. Brunngraber’s
reputation is stained somewhat by his
willingness in 1938 to become a member
of the Reichsschrifttumkammer (Reich
Chamber of Literature) after Austria’s
annexation by the Nazis. His 1941
novel Zucker aus Kuba, published by
Rowohlt, became a bestseller. After the
war, however, Brunngraber returned to
social-democratic politics in Austria, and
continued to produce ‘fact’-based novels
with a sociological character, marked by
an increasing cultural pessimism and
anti-technological scepticism.
Translation rights available from:
MILENA Verlag
Wickenburggasse 21/1-2
1080 Wien, Austria
Tel: +43 1 4025990
Email: steinthaler@milena-verlag.at
Contact: Evelyn Steinthaler
www.milena-verlag.at
Application for assistance
with translation costs:
Austria (see page 40)
© Österr. Nationalbibliothek, Wien
Rudolf Brunngraber
Karl und das
zwanzigste Jahrhundert
(Karl and the Twentieth Century)
Milena Verlag, 2010, 300pp. ISBN: 978-3852861906
The Viennese novelist Rudolf Brunngraber (1901-60) is today a relatively obscure name, even to many admirers
of Austrian literature, yet between the 1930s and 1950s he was an extremely popular author, known for his
socially critical novels about scientific and economic subjects that are rarely the subject of literary fiction. The
history of the element radium, the development of radio broadcasting, and the global trade in heroin provide
the focus for three of his best known novels, for example. Whilst these later works of fiction, which he referred
to as ‘Tatsachenromane’ (fact novels), are bold and interesting, it is his debut novel, published in 1933, that is
Brunngraber’s true ‘masterpiece’, as Claudio Magris puts it in his (also magisterial) Danube. The remarkable,
innovative and self-consciously ‘epochal’ novel, Karl und das zwanzigste Jahrhundert (Karl and the
Twentieth Century) made his name, and for a time Brunngraber was one of the few Austrian authors thought
to be able to capture the Zeitgeist in the way that, internationally, groundbreaking novelists such as Alfred
Döblin or John Dos Passos had done. It is today undeservedly forgotten both in the German-speaking world
and internationally.
A product of and response to the global Great Depression of the early 1930s, the novel presents the life story of
Karl Lakner, who is born at the end of the nineteenth century in working-class Vienna, and whose life is largely
shaped by political, industrial and above all economic powers that remain entirely beyond his control. The
novel, a story of a ‘little man’ comparable with the figures typical of contemporaries such as Hans Fallada, is at
one level an example of literary ‘Neue Sachlichkeit’ (New Objectivity), a trend that is more usually associated
with Weimar Berlin than Vienna. It is a novel of contemporary life concerned to ground its narrative not only,
naturalistically, in ‘real life’, but in demonstrable, statistically provable reality. Brunngraber thus embeds the
life story of his unfortunate protagonist in a montage, or perhaps more accurately a network of interconnected
statistics, data, and information relating to global events far beyond what seems immediately relevant to the
story at hand. In doing so, he puts into practice lessons learnt under one of the most extraordinary contributors
to intellectual life in Vienna in the interwar period. Otto Neurath (1882-1945), a polymath philosopher and
theorist, developed an innovative approach to education and learning – his so-called Viennese Method – that
employed, above all, statistical methods. This socially motivated project was realised via his Gesellschaftsund
Wirtschaftsmuseum (Social and Economic Museum), aimed at the working classes, in which statistical
analysis of aspects of everyday life was brought to life in vivid pictorial form, a product of the collaboration
with the German socialist artist Gerd Arntz (1900-88). These ‘isotypes’ have had a lasting influence.
Brunngraber’s challenge was to translate this pictorial method into narrative form, and the resulting
‘Tatsachenroman’ is original, effective, and even moving. The reason has a lot to do with the context in which
the novel was written and the society that Brunngraber was seeking to depict. Far from understanding Vienna
as a self-contained world, he sees it primarily as an urban, industrial environment dependent entirely upon
global networks, relationships, trends, and influences. As such, the impact of the global economic crisis of the
early 1930s was keenly felt in Vienna; in his protagonist Karl, and in the mass of data in which his story is
enveloped, Brunngraber attempted to present an illustration of what he saw as our collective helplessness, of
the way in which individual lives, whether it was understood or not, were often shaped and steered by forces
beyond our control, and by chains of cause and effect that can be traced back many years before our birth.
Today, as we live through a period of renewed financial and economic crisis on a global scale, in which the
‘networked’ and contingent nature of reality is as apparent as it is hard to grasp, Karl und das zwanzigste
Jahrhundert stands out as a significant Modernist text of the early twentieth century that is ripe for
rediscovery and reappraisal.
Jon Hughes is Senior Lecturer in German and Head of the School of Modern Languages, Literatures and
Cultures at Royal Holloway, University of London. He has published widely on German and Austrian literature
of the early twentieth century, particularly on the work of Joseph Roth.
38 A forgotten gem

Ann Cotten was born in the United States but
emigrated to Vienna with her parents at the age
of five. She writes in both English and German,
translating her German poetry into English and
vice versa. She is thus not only one of the most
exciting young poets writing in German, but also
an NBG writer par excellence – spanning the
gap between the two literatures. The bilingual
poems ‘de atra bile’ particularly reflect this
bridging, generated at the point of encounter
between the two languages.
Write no more. As the writing clatters
as it weighs heavy in the ties.
Exhausting looks and lies,
it lies and looks,
uncommittal, annoying, expectant,
at the wall: I would be there
at the floor: Why am I not dancing?
at the mind, with a derisory sigh.
© Suhrkamp Verlag
De atra bile
(of black bile)
Eine schreckliche Klaue hat mich
it lives in the photograph wall
don’t ask me what it is I don’t
know but that it is
atrum a black device
there is less vocabulary
am Rand von Zigaretten
nice only terrible anymore
the hoof at the temple
the edge of something weniger
than was ich je gewesen
over forward when I close them
a key to what I don’t
want to know um vier Uhr früh in einem dunklen Regen
rests of it loiter around in the sky
and the children laugh the leaves flat
I don’t believe nature not a word
puhle den Dreck von den cobblestones
regne terrible pure dread of my two
rooms since my nails all many of them
lost and swollen with whiteish crustitudes are
turned to screws in incomprehensible night
FEELING THE UNIVERSE/DIALLING
weigh (tch, tch) and nod and (tch)
so (tch) on, no? (tch, tch, tch) just like
me (tch) and you and the (tch, tch) of the (tch)
the street and (tch) garbage disposal, refrigerator
(tch, tch, tch, tch) and whatever makes noise
(tch, tch, tch, tch) and beer (tch) we too
(tch, tch, tch, tch) syntactically, Syntax, very be
(tch)fuddled (tch) and I (tch) lose myself,
who (tch) belonged, eh? (tch) heard (tch
tch, tch, tch, tch) her writing was (tch) like me (tch)?!
glad it is over (tch, tch, tch, tch)
SELF-ESTEEM
The Oil must leak.
The tongue must toil.
Man must use
both tongue and oil.
The man licks the donor,
the tongue licks the oil.
The oil invents
a concept of honor.
© The German poem ‘de atra
bile’ was published in the volume
Florida-Räume (Suhrkamp, 2010)
Ann Cotten was born in 1982 in
Iowa, but moved to Vienna with her
parents in 1987. She studied German
De atra bile
literature and now lives between
A terrible claw has hit me
Vienna and Berlin. Cotten has
es wohnt in der fototapete
published several volumes of poetry
in both German and English, and has
frag mich nicht I don’t know
been awarded numerous prizes. Her
what it is aber es ist
most recent publication in German is
atrum ein schwarzes gerät
Florida-Räume (Suhrkamp, 2010).
es gibt weniger vokabel
at the edge of cigarettes
nett nur mehr furchtbar
war der huf an der schläfe
die kante von etwas less
denn what I’ve ever been
vornüber wenn ich sie zumache
ein schlüssel zu was ich nicht
wissen will at four at night in a dark rain
lümmeln morgens reste davon am himmel
und lachen die kinder die blätter platt
ich glaub der natur kein einziges wort
grab the grit from the pflastersteine
regne terrible pures entsetzen meiner beiden
Florida-Räume
zimmer seit meine nägel alle sämtlichen
verschollen aufgequollen mit weißlichem aufschlag sind
zu schrauben geworden in unverständlicher nacht
Solidus
The one in the corner / the woofs and the breezes / the noses / the goading
/ the needs and the freezes / the iconoclastics / the jeopards / the beatniks /
the coat-hanger lovers / the moated / the stupid / the notes / the convening /
the look in the breezes / the mold in the joisted / the folding / the deuces / the
goofed in their preening / the carried-on flaskers / the bolshevik presses / the
stewards in dresses / their drunken careening / the happy noblesse / the topheavy
jinx when the blasted infer / the journal of sleeping / the doping caresses
/ the chafing / the coaster / the surf / oh the chaste / so moulded and leering /
as ghastly and weaning / the case of the groping / the foible / the sigh
the lope of the egret / the notice on joking / for fondling the fondness / and
softly / the ghostess / as probing / to jeeter / magnificent lacing / the faces of
mankind / the faces of men / the wasteland / too gently / the brazen of ribbon /
the gibbering / tasteless / forever asway / no good for tomorrow / the politicks’
reason / the treason / the pillow / as hoping / and gutter / as rain for the pining
/ as rain in the window / and shaping / and guises / and minors / then shallow
/ and fish in the distance / and ropes in the skyline / and silhouettes finding /
a bluebox / for lining / a biting / for guests / and a longing for shame / and all
they put up with / for gazing / for sighing/ is genomes / and corny / like James
in the slough / ricochet / and flaming / the kelp and / a sigh
but for all they throw up with / whatever they do / the venomous / generous /
help us to jest / and caress our pathetics / in boast and in leads / and the rotary
spitters / the fountains in spite / the incredulous soapists / the sailors in true
/ make living / forsaken / and signs for the printing / the pining / the nooses /
the knowing / in ruses / the ones in the living room / twice in the living room
/ thrice in the living room / mice in the living room / nice in the living room /
know what to do
POETRY 39

Jakob Arjouni
8.10.1964 – 17.1.2013
Jakob Arjouni, the German writer, crime novelist and playwright,
was born on 8 October 1964 in Frankfurt am Main and died of
cancer on 17 January 2013 at the age of 48. He passed away
at home in Berlin, with his family around him.
Arjouni was only twenty-one years old when his acclaimed debut,
Happy birthday, Turk! was published and its main character, the
Frankfurt-based private detective Kemal Kayankaya, took on his very
first investigation. In 1991, the book was made into a film, directed
by Doris Dörrie. Three further cases followed; for the third, One Man,
One Murder, Jakob Arjouni was awarded the 1992 German Crime Fiction
Prize. Brother Kemal, the fifth volume starring the German-Turkish
investigator was published in autumn 2012 (see the review in issue
32 of New Books in German). The series is now firmly established
as a classic amongst crime literature.
Apart from his stage plays, Arjouni’s work also includes the Berlin
novels Magic Hoffmann (1996) and Holy Eddy (2009) as well as
Idiots. Five Fairy Tales (2003). His novel Chez Max (2009) is widely
acknowledged as one of the most thoughtful literary responses to
9/11 and now features on school reading lists.
© Regine Mosimann / Diogenes Verlag AG
Arjouni’s readers loved him for his thrilling, sharp-tongued, witty and
linguistically unpretentious books. His work has been published around
the world in 23 languages, including by Melville House in the USA and
No Exit Press in the UK. Anthea Bell’s English translation of Brother
Kemal will be published later this year.
Translation Grants – How to Apply
Once a publisher has acquired the translation rights to a work of literature by a German writer, and a contract
has been signed between the publisher and a translator, the publisher can apply for a translation grant.
All fiction books featured in New Books in German and bought by an English-language publisher
are guaranteed a grant. Non-Fiction books by German and Swiss authors are guaranteed a grant.
Germany
Applications should be made to the Goethe-Institut in your country.
The local Goethe-Institut will then check whether your application is
complete and pass it on to the Goethe-Institut’s head office in Munich
with their comments.
If you are interested in publishing a title not featured in New Books in
German, please contact your local Goethe-Institut directly.
The form to be filled out for these applications is available at the
following webpage, which has much useful information in English:
http://www.goethe.de/kue/lit/prj/uef/enindex.htm
Contact person in London:
Elisabeth Pyroth, Goethe-Insitut London
Tel: +44 20 7596 4020 elisabeth.pyroth@london.goethe.org
Contact person in North America:
Brigitte Doellgast, Goethe-Institut New York
Tel: +1 212 439 8694 doellgast@newyork.goethe.org
Contact person in the Goethe-Institut Head Office:
Andreas Schmohl, Goethe-Institut Munich
Tel: +49 89 15921-852 schmohl@goethe.de
Austria
Applications for adult fiction or children’s books should be made to
the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture
in good time before the book goes to print.
Applications should include:
n copies of the contracts between the publishing houses and
with the translator
n information about the translator (CV and list of translated works)
n the translation or partial translation (where possible)
40 news and information
Switzerland
Pro Helvetia covers up to 100% of the effective translation costs for
literary works by Swiss authors (fiction and poetry), books for children and
teenagers (where they may cover part of the licensing fees), non-fiction
books by Swiss authors on cultural and and artistic topics pertaining to
Switzerland, and plays by Swiss dramatists (including surtitles).
Applications must be submitted to Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council by the
licensed publisher. Pro Helvetia accepts applications at any time, but they
must be submitted at least three months before a book goes to print.
Application portal: www.myprohelvetia.ch
Applications should include:
n signed copies of the licence agreement and the translation contract
n original text and its translation (at least 20 pages)
Translation fees will be paid out directly to the translator by Pro Helvetia
upon publication. Translation fees are based on the translation contract
and calculated according to the established rates in the country in question.
Contact Person:
Angelika Salvisberg, Head, Literature and Society
Tel: +41 44 267 71 26 asalvisberg@prohelvetia.ch www.prohelvetia.ch.
The application form can be downloaded from:
www.bmukk.gv.at/medienpool/15055/form_foerderungsersuchen.pdf
This form is in German but help is on hand from:
Dr. Robert Stocker:
Gerhard Auinger:
Tel: +43-1-53120-6850 Tel: +43-1-53120-6852
robert.stocker@bmukk.gv.at gerhard.auinger@bmukk.gv.at

Issue 33 – The Editorial Committee
Editorial Committee for this issue:
Anthea Bell, Translator; Jen Calleja, NBG Editorial Assistant;
Laura Diehl, Goethe-Institut; Tanja Howarth, Tanja Howarth Literary
Agency; Andreas Langenbacher, Pro Helvetia; Sheridan Marshall,
NBG Editorial Consultant; Carly McLaughlin, NBG Editorial Assistant;
Elisabeth Koegler, Austrian Cultural Forum; Elisabeth Pyroth,
Goethe-Institut; Jon Riley, Quercus; Jonathan Ruppin, Foyles Bookshop;
Charlotte Ryland, NBG Editor; Sabine Schuster, Literaturhaus Wien;
Jamie Lee Searle, Translator; Michal Shavit, Harvill Secker; Shaun
Whiteside, British Centre for Literary Translation
Editorial Committee in the USA:
Brigitte Doellgast, Goethe-Institut New York; Edna McCown,
Goethe-Institut New York; Sarah McNally, McNally Jackson Books;
Grace Moss, German Book Office; Michael Orthofer, The Complete Review;
Barbara Perlmutter, Publishing Representative/Agent; Daniela Rapp, St.
Martin’s Press; Sal Robinson, Melville House; Bettina Schrewe, Bettina
Schrewe Literary Scouting Agency; Riky Stock, German Book Office
This issue was produced in co-operation with the German Book
Office New York and the Goethe-Institut New York.
Contacts
Published by: The British Centre for Literary Translation,
University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ
Editor:
Editorial
Consultant:
Associate
in the USA:
Charlotte Ryland
New Books in German
c/o Goethe-Institut
50 Princes Gate
Exhibition Road
London SW7 2PH
Email: nbg@london.goethe.org
www.new-books-in-german.com
Sheridan Marshall
nbg-reviews@london.goethe.org
Riky Stock
Director, German Book Office New York,
72 Spring Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10012
Tel: +1 (212) 794-2851 Fax: +1 (212) 794-2870
Email: stock@newyork.gbo.org
Financial and moral support for New Books in German
is provided by the Foreign Ministries of Austria, Germany and
Switzerland, Pro Helvetia (Arts Council of Switzerland), the Austrian
Cultural Forum, the Goethe-Institut in Munich and London, the Frankfurt
Book Fair and the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels.
Steering Committee for New Books in German:
Barbara Becker (Frankfurt Book Fair); Franziska Heimgartner (Embassy
of Switzerland); Tanja Howarth (Tanja Howarth Literary Agency);
Elisabeth Koegler (Austrian Cultural Forum); Sheridan Marshall (NBG
Editorial Consultant); Charlotte Ryland (NBG Editor); Elisabeth Pyroth
(Goethe-Institut); Eva Schmitt (Goethe-Institut); Christin Stein (German
Embassy); Shaun Whiteside (British Centre for Literary Translation)
For information on the background to New Books in German,
or if you have questions on distribution or would like to be
added to the mailing list, please contact the editor.
Printed by: SGC Printing, Stephens & George Ltd
© The British Centre for Literary Translation and contributors
respectively, 2013

IN GERMAN
ERMAN NEW
N NEW BOO
EW BOOKS I
Anita Augustin Rosemarie Eichinger Barbara Frischmuth
n n
Alexandra Hamann Eveline Hasler Monika Held Andreas Izquierdo
n n n
Pola Kinski Michael Köhlmeier Klaus Kordon Stefan Kornelius
n n n
Merle Kröger Hartmut Lange Christian Loeffelbein Jonas Lüscher
n n n
Inger-Maria Mahlke Sunil Mann Norbert Mappes-Niediek Eva Menasse
n n n
Kai Meyer Joachim Meyerhoff Pyotr Magnus Nedov Astrid Rosenfeld
n n n
Robert Schindel Jürg Schubiger & Jutta Bauer Hannes Stein
n n
Isabella Straub Matthias Zschokke
n
New Books in German
c/o Goethe-Institut, 50 Princes Gate
Exhibition Road, London SW7 2PH
Tel: +44 20 7596 4023
Email: nbg@london.goethe.org