On a walk, Vesta Guhl, the widow of a professor, finds a note that includes some lines about the murder of a woman named Magda. Vesta tries to investigate. The novel takes us deeper and deeper into the mental edifice that Vesta creates around the crime, until she herself ultimately
Susan Taubes [*1928] emigrated from Hungary to the USA in 1939, taught history of religion and participated in the Open Thea ter. Shortly after the publication of her novel »Divorcing«, she took her own life in 1969 at the age of 41. The editor of her writings, Sigrid Weigel talks
A terrorist attack on a comic book store in central Gothenburg sets the stage for poet, writer, and playwright Anyuru’s dystopian novel, for which he won the prestigious August Prize and the Per-Olov-Enquist-Award. Later, the perspective shifts to a Gothenburg of the future, where all Muslims must sign a special
For ten years, journalist and writer Gabriele von Arnim cared for her husband after he suffered two strokes. Although mentally still wide awake, he could no longer communicate with others, walk, read, or write. A sensitive essay about the light and dark moments of their last years together. »It is
Louise Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, tells in her Pulitzer Prize 2021 winning novel »The Night Watchman« how her grandfather carried the protest against the dispossession of Native Americans from rural North Dakota to Washington. »A masterful epic. After reading it, one is deeply
Nicolas can’t stand another second with his parents, who do nothing but argue during their Caribbean vacation. He secretly leaves the cruise ship and rows to an uninhabited island. There, the state of Paidonesia is founded – with Nicolas as president! The »madcap adventure« [DIE ZEIT] is a novel based
Isabella loves to study maps and watch the stars. However, in an uncertain world, she is never allowed to leave her village on a remote island. But then her best friend Lupe disappears, and Isabella embarks on a dangerous rescue mission. Winner of thJo0nese Waterstones Prize and the British Book
Seven-year-old Kerstin loves her golden hair. And she also collects everything that is golden. When she finds a gold ring at school one day and her teacher asks the students if anyone has seen her wedding ring, Kerstin remains silent. This children’s novel, which has been awarded the Nils-Holgersson award,
The debate competition »Lesefüchse International«, organized by the Central Agency for Schools Abroad, under the auspices of Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, unites students of German across Europe with German young adult literature. In the final, students from ten different countries discuss »Mauerpost« by Maike Dugaro and Anne-Ev Ustorf, »Voll verkackt
Two authors, two essay memoirs in which the human body plays a central role: Billy-Ray Belcourt, a member of the Driftpile Creek Nation, writes about grief, colonial violence, queerness, love, happiness, and sex in his essay »A History of My Brief Body« [2020], while Toni Jensen, herself Métis, addresses various
Hans and Katharina meet by chance in East Berlin at the end of the 1980s. He is a writer, 50 years old, married. She is 19, an apprentice. An affair begins that will develop its own dynamic over the years. With great directness, Jenny Erpenbeck tells of the internal worlds
Francesca Melandri, whose German translation of the 2018 novel »Sangue guisto« [tr: Blood Right] spent ten weeks on the »Spiegel« bestseller list, offers insights into her current book project. In it, she continues her examination of the topic of colonialism: from a decidedly European perspective, she takes a look at
