Rights Guide Spring 2019 - Schöffling & Co - Schöffling
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Schöffling & Co. Rights Guide Spring 2019
About us
Celebrating 25 years of independent publishing
In fall 1994, the newly founded Schöffling & Co. Verlagsbuchhandlung in Frankfurt published
its first catalogue. It consisted of six books, among them works by Burkhard Spinnen and Klaus
Modick, and Karen Usborne’s comprehensive biography of Elizabeth von Arnim.
Until its 25th anniversary in 2019, Schöffling & Co. has published more than 400 titles by more
than 140 authors. Our list of German fiction includes renowned and established names like
Guntram Vesper and Ror Wolf as well as contemporary voices like Mirko Bonné, Sascha Reh
and Maike Wetzel. Authors in translation include David Albahari, Jami Attenberg, Joshua
Cohen, Miljenko Jergović, Clarice Lispector, and Juan Gabriel Vásquez.
Another important part of our publishing portfolio are our rediscoveries of modern classics with
a unique focus on German and European history from the 1920s to World War II and the post-
war years – Gabriele Tergit, Valentin Senger and Silvia Tennenbaum, to name only a few of those
voices that deeply resound in our present.
We’re proud to work with and for our authors, and with so many wonderful literary publishers
and professionals all over the world. Thank you for sharing our beliefs and our books!
»Pairing keen sense with unbowed curiosity, Schöffling & Co. continuously retrieves and supports
authors for almost a quarter-century now.«
The Jury of the Kurt Wolff-Prize
Contact
English sample translations, where available, can be downloaded from our website
http://www.schoeffling.de/foreignrights/new where you will find our complete catalogue.
For rights enquiries, please contact:
Schöffling & Co.
Anke Grahl
anke.grahl@schoeffling.de
phone: +49 69 92 07 87 15
fax: +49 69 92 07 87 20
Kaiserstr. 79
60329 Frankfurt
Germany
www.schoeffling.de
Selected titles are represented by:
This Book Travels – Foreign Rights Agency
Kathrin Scheel
ks@thisbooktravels.com
phone: +49 163 7292 168
www.thisbooktravels.com
Anselm Oelze
was born in 1986 in Erfurt, Germany and toured the rainforests of South America
for a year before studying Philosophy, Political Science and Philosophical Theology
in Freiburg and Oxford. After gaining his PhD from Berlin’s Humboldt University,
he conducted further research at the University of Helsinki. He currently teaches
at the LMU Munich and lives with his family in Leipzig.
photo: © Iona Dutz
Wallace
(Wallace), novel, 2019
262pp (64,000 words)
A literary memento to the British naturalist and explorer Nominated for the Lit.Cologne
Alfred Russel Wallace Debut Prize
Spring 1858. A letter leaves a small island in the English sample translation
new Moluccas. Its destination: southern England. Its contents:
an essay on the origin of species. Within a year, now
available
printed and bound, it is causing a huge sensation the audio book – Der Audio Verlag
world over and becomes known as the theory of evolu-
tion. Yet it is not the letter’s author, the species collector
Alfred Russel Wallace, who reaps the acclaim for this, but
rather its recipient, the naturalist Charles Darwin.
Aside from his eponymous faunal boundary line in the Malayan archipelago and
the longhorn beetle, Batocera wallacei, Wallace’s name is now little more than a
footnote in the annals of natural history.
One hundred and fifty years later, the museum nightwatchman Albrecht Bromberg
happens upon a book about the forgotten scientist’s fate. Fascinated, he delves
into Wallace’s life and his expeditions to distant lands. With the assistance of
Rosalie the librarian, he hatches a daring plan to make people sit up and take
notice of the bearded scientist’s legacy again.
WALLACE is a literary memento to all those whom life and history have over-
looked. This effortlessly entertaining tale of adventure and scientific endeavour,
shot through with philosophical inquiry, transports the reader from Brazil to
Indonesia via London and from there to a modern-day natural history museum in
Germany.
»An enchanting novel on success and the little bit of luck it takes ... and how to
give your luck a little boost if needed. (...) Oelze’s well-versed book will take
you on a dazzling fantasy ride.«
Dennis Scheck, Druckfrisch (TV)
»Thrilling, funny and amazingly well-written!«
kulturnews.de
Michael Roes
born in 1960, lives in Berlin. Years spent living in Yemen, Israel, Algeria and the
USA provide the inspiration for many of his books, essays, plays and films. His
novels have received numerous awards, and he was nominated for the German
Book Prize.
Foto: © privat
Herida Duro
(Herida Duro) novel, 2019
580pp (170,000 words)
An intelligent and poetic novel about gender, social roles
and breaking free
Herida Duro’s family has no male heir, so she is brought
new up in the Albanian mountains as a boy. As a Virgjinesha,
she has all the rights and freedoms of a man, but is for-
bidden to indulge in physical love. Leaving rural Lazarú,
scarred by partisan fighting, Herida travels to the capital,
Tirana, where she toils away at a slaughterhouse with
her friend Gjon.
While Gjon boards a refugee ship one day, trying to escape the misery and cen-
sorship, Herida – always a solitary observer among the other men – becomes a
respected filmmaker with the newly founded »Cinema Studio«. Yet the state
Albanian film industry is under the thumb of Socialist dictator Enver Hoxha; only
in exile in Rome can Herida develop her work freely. She makes friends with the
director Paolo Piermonte, and finds material that seems tailor-made for her in the
shimmering metropolis for her first independent film.
Writing with great narrative power, Michael Roes interweaves Herida’s story with
intoxicating dreams and archaic alternative worlds. He guides the reader through
a life lived beyond the feminine or the masculine, a life on the fringe, a life in
between – the place where true beauty lives.
»Michael Roes’ precision is amazing and his empathy boundless when it comes
to atmosphere, whether involving friendships, landscapes or cities.«
Gabriele Weingartner, Literaturblatt
»Roes has the language, style and tone to create a pull and a tension that cap-
tivates the reader.« Gavin Armour, goodreads
»Roes is a virtuoso, taking up different tones and forms. (…) An exciting fictional
autobiography.« Judith von Sternburg, Frankfurter Rundschau
Michael Roes
born in 1960, lives in Berlin. Years spent living in Yemen, Israel, Algeria and the
USA provide the inspiration for many of his books, essays, plays and films. His
novels have received numerous awards, and he was nominated for the German
Book Prize.
Foto: © privat
Zeithain
novel, 2017,
808pp (225,000 words)
In the eighteenth century, the small community of
Zeithain in Saxony witnessed one of the most harrowing
dramas in German history. The young Crown Prince
Frederick – later Frederick the Great – is suffocating
under the strict rule of his father, Frederick William I,
nicknamed the Soldier King, who is bringing up his son
with an iron fist.
In desperation, Frederick begs his friend Hans Hermann
von Katte to help him flee abroad. Katte, himself an
officer of the king, finds himself torn between friendship
and duty. Eventually, he agrees to help, but when the young prince’s disappearance
is discovered, it is Katte who must pay the price. To set an example, the furious
Soldier King has him executed in front of his son.
Nearly three centuries later: Philip Stanhope, a descendant of Katte, sets out to
learn more about his distant relative. Who was this Hans Hermann Katte?
Stanhope travels to the places where Katte lived, immersing himself in the pietistic
world of Prussia and revealing how powerfully its values and emotions still shape
us today.
Michael Roes’ novel is a fascinating historical journey, and a timeless literary
exploration of paternal expectation and filial rebellion, resulting in the most
dramatic father-son conflict in history.
»Breathtaking passages and unforgettable episodes. (…) Like a great adventure
novel, leading into distant lands.« Jörg Magenau, Süddeutsche Zeitung
»Michael Roes tells about how a historic tragedy was turned into a myth of
social ascent, and about what connects us with the past. An impressive
work.« Tim Evers, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk
»This novel is not only about enlightenment at that time, it is also about
enlightenment today. (…) A wonderfully readable book.« Mario Scalla,
Hessischer Rundfunk (hr2)
Julia Trompeter
was born in 1980 in Siegburg. She studied Philosophy, German and Classic
Literature in Cologne and obtained her doctorate later in Berlin and Bochum.
photo: © Bogenberger/autorenfotos.com
In 2010, she was a finalist in the open mike poetry slam competition.
Spring in Utrecht
(Frühling in Utrecht), novel, 2019
258pp (52,000 words)
Klara just wants to get out – out of the rubble of a bro-
ken relationship and a failed career as a pub landlady,
and above all out of Berlin. Choosing Utrecht for her
new
fresh start, she keeps a diary in which she notes down the
sometimes miniscule but still confusing differences bet-
ween her former city and her tranquil new home.
Yet her new life proves less than straightforward. Soon
she is overwhelmed by memories, and realises she has to
come to terms with her past and with her split from her
ex-boyfriend Hauke. Playing an important role in this
process is Thijs, a handsome man with light-brown curls who is scandalously
ten years younger than her. Yet Klara doesn’t find herself through him either;
ulti-mately, she comes to understand that freedom is something you have to
obtain for yourself – and that emotional security can only be found by looking
within.
This title is represented
Julia Trompeter captures the emotional world of young people who feel at home by This Book Travels
throughout Europe and in several languages, yet are sometimes lost and lonely. A Kathrin Scheel
wise and wonderfully buoyant novel about today’s unbearable lightness of ks@thisbooktravels.com
being.
»Julia Trompeter writes fine, vivid and intelligent sentences.« die tageszeitung
Julia Trompeter, The Agent
(Die Mittlerin), novel, 2014, 216pp (55,300 words)
North Rhine-Westphalia Advancement Award
What do you do when a literary agent commissions you
to write a novel, but unfortunately you know nothing
about communicating a story?
The young woman tasked with playing the challenging
role of narrator is thrown into consternation. She tries to
set about writing under the influence of the Austrian
author Thomas Bernhard and the ancient philosopher
Aristotle. But before she can face up to who she really is,
she has to deal with the outside world, and is drawn into
a maelstrom of absurd events.
»Julia Trompeter and her narrator only need a few sentences to create an enti-
re world. An enchanting page-turner.« Frankfurter Rundschau
Julia Trompeter, Within Our Grasp
(Zum Begreifen nah), poems, 112pp (24,000 words)
Poetry Debut Prize
Like the objects around us, Julia Trompeter’s poems are
just within our grasp. They manifest a peculiar kind of
doubt about the possibility of insight; here a playful, life-
affirming, curious and surprisingly comical scepticism is
at work. A wealth of poetic riches in a language both
fresh and, hovering, somnambulistic.
»A stroke of luck of poetry that is as dynamic as mentally free. With Trompeter
we see a tomorrow, a sparkling spot on a poetic horizon.« ZEIT online
Maike Wetzel
was born in 1974 and works as a writer and screenwriter in Berlin. She studied at
the Munich Film School and in the UK. Her short stories have been translated into
numerous languages and won multiple awards. Maike Wetzel held residencies in
Wellington, Pécs, Liverpool & Lancaster, Hald Hovedgaard and scholarships at the
Villa Autora in Los Angeles and Villa Serpentara in Olevano Romano.
photo: © Susanne Schleyer
For the unfinished manuscript of ELLY, she received the Robert Gernhardt Prize
and the Martha Saalfeld Prize.
Elly
(Elly), novel, 2018
152pp (25,000 words)
Elly is missing. One day the eleven-year-old vanishes English sample translation
from her family home without a trace, and everything available
changes. Her parents and older sister, Ines, try to perse-
vere despite their loss, but Elly remains ever-present in Robert Gernhardt Prize
their thoughts and deeds – and in their sense of guilt.
Martha Saalfeld Prize
Their search is never-ending, and each of them creates
their own substitute for the missing girl.
English World – Scribe
Finland – Like
Then, four years later, Elly suddenly reappears. Her
parents are overjoyed, yet at the same time plagued by
creeping doubts. What do you do when your own child has become a stranger
you barely recognise? Is it truly Elly who has returned, or is she an interloper?
ELLY is the powerful and deeply moving portrait of a family turned upside down,
a family whose longing for a missing child overwhelms and distorts reality. With
virtuoso skill, Maike Wetzel toys with the limits of perception and explores how
we construct identity and how we look at our loved ones.
»ELLY is a book about the dark side of longing.«
Hubert Spiegel, Speech at the Robert Gernhardt Prize
»In few yet incredibly precise words, Maike Wetzel creates an oppressive tension
around a family falling apart. A book that will not let you go.«
Brigitte Woman
»Wetzel’s literature gets right to the core of human existence. How she conveys
primal fears and their consequences is captivating and unsettling. (…) This
book fits only too well in a time when assumed certainties and principles are
shattered.« Michael Au, Südwestdeutscher Rundfunk
»Reminiscent of Ian McEwan’s A Child in Time, ELLY will have wide appeal.
(…) Maike Wetzel’s fresh, original take on the popular literary theme of
missing children is delivered in her clear, understated prose with its unflinching
eye for detail.« New Books in German
Sascha Reh
born in 1974, studied History, Philosophy and German Literature in Bochum and
Vienna. He has been honored with several prizes and scholarships, among them the
Ruhr Literature Prize, Lower Rhine Literature Award, Residencies at the Casa Baldi
in Rome and at the Sylt Foundation. Sascha Reh lives with his family in Berlin.
photo: © Ekaterina Zershikova
Aurora
(Aurora), novel, 2018
184pp (36,000 words)
Just before Christmas Eve, a fierce snowstorm breaks Shortlisted for the Wilhelm
across the usually mild island of Bornholm. Ole, a local Raabe Literature Prize 2018
reporter sent to report on the storm, feels the job is
beneath him. English sample translation
By a quirk of fate he ends up in a tank with Eric, a young available
soldier on an urgent errand: a woman is about to give
birth in a village cut off by the snow, and Eric has appa-
rently been instructed to transport the midwife to her.
Yet as soon as the midwife gets into the vehicle, trouble
begins to brew between these three very different people.
When the tank gets stuck in a snowdrift, the reporter realizes where he can find
the big story he so urgently needs: in the psyche of his travelling companions.
AURORA is not simply an alternative, satirical retelling of the Christmas story,
it is also an intimate snapshot of the relationship between men and women in
contemporary society, claustrophobic, fast-paced and sparkling with wit.
»This author’s many gifts are almost frightening.« DER SPIEGEL
»A fast-paced novel with a clever take on contemporary dynamics between men
and women. AURORA plays on Scandi noir conventions while adding
humorous and personal brushstrokes to the crime plot, which turns out not to
be a crime at all. The novel handles big questions – the ›crisis‹ of masculinity, This title is represented
the pressure of fertility and the desire to fit in – with a light touch. These by This Book Travels
elements combine to produce a rich and exciting read which is difficult to put Kathrin Scheel
down.« New Books in German - special US Jury Pick ks@thisbooktravels.com
»Reh takes a look at the worries and needs of today’s men – delicately wrapped
up in a breathtaking story.« Britta Heidemann, Westdeutsche Allgemeine
Zeitung
Gabriele Tergit
The writer and journalist Gabriele Tergit (1894–1982) became known for her court
reporting as well as her novels, articles and other prose pieces. In November 1933,
she emigrated to Palestine, moving to London in 1938. From 1957 to 1981, she
was secretary of the PEN Centre for German-language writers abroad.
photo: © Jens Brüning
The Effingers
(Effingers), edited by Nicole Henneberg, novel, 2019 [1951]
900pp (235,000 words)
A Jewish family saga from 1878 to 1948, in the tradition
of Buddenbrooks
Stretching across four generations, this modern epic
new follows the Effingers, a Jewish family that attains con-
siderable wealth through hard work, good luck and
talent. Beginning with the relatively comfortable life of
a working family in a south German town, when
Germany under Bismarck seemed to have a bright
future, the novel reaches its apex in cosmopolitan
Berlin in the Roaring Twenties, where the Effingers are
leading elegant, upper-middle-class lives.
Vividly detailed and true-to-life, the novel conjures up this German-Jewish
world for the reader, a world sustained and populated by a cast of distinctive,
carefully drawn characters, like the intelligent and very modest Paul Effinger or
the artistically gifted, graceful but naïve Sofie Oppner. Yet, like so many other
families, the Effingers were ultimately torn apart by the devastating currents of
history: the horrors of the twentieth century, its two world wars, proved their
undoing.
It’s hard to believe that Gabriele Tergit, the famous journalist and writer of the
Weimar Era, struggled to find a publisher for the novel after the Second World
War. Evidently many people found the material too controversial so soon after
the Holocaust. Yet this book is neither a lament nor an accusation; its insight
and diversity of voices make THE EFFINGERS a masterpiece, full of humour,
quick dialogue, poetic sensitivity and profound human empathy.
»This wide-ranging book is astonishing, courageous and significant.«
Axel Eggebrecht, Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (1951)
»Admirably impartial.« Frankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungGabriele Tergit, Käsebier Takes Berlin
(Käsebier erobert den Kurfürstendamm) novel, 2016 [1931]
240pp (79,900 words)
In six frenzied weeks, Gabriele Tergit wrote her first Full English, French and
novel, which made her instantly famous upon its publi- Spanish translations
cation in 1931. KÄSEBIER TAKES BERLIN is the story available
of the rise and fall of Käsebier, an entertainer discovered
by a newspaper reporter at a cheap variety show. France – Christian Bourgois
The Netherlands – Van
Literally overnight, the unknown singer is turned into a
Maaskant Haun
megastar and relentlessly promoted by the media. The
Spain (Castilian) – Minuscula
charm of this novel lies in its trenchant dialogues and its
US (English World) – The New
precise descriptions of contemporary society in 1920s York Review of Books
Berlin. book club – Büchergilde
Gutenberg
paperback – Random House / btb
»The image of an urban society on the slide.« Süddeutsche Zeitung audio book – Der Audio Verlag
»A mesmerizing book. (…) This fast-paced novel is on par with books by Hans
Fallada and Erich Kästner.« Neue Zürcher Zeitung am Sonntag
Gabriele Tergit, Something Altogether Rare
(Etwas Seltenes überhaupt) memoir, 2018 [1983]
320pp (80,400 words)
The remarkable autobiography of a remarkable woman: first serial – Literarische Welt
Gabriele Tergit was the first female court reporter in the paperback – Random House / btb
1920s, a sharp-minded intellectual who recognised the
major problems and issues of her epoch, forced into
exile in 1933. Her extraordinary autobiography is now
available for the first time in a carefully edited new
edition.
»Tergit’s memories show a clever, courageous woman full of wit and a pro-
found understanding of human nature. « Jens Bisky, Süddeutsche ZeitungBora Ćosić
born in Zagreb in 1932, grew up in Belgrade, Serbia. Having worked as a journalist
and editor of various literary magazines, he left the country in 1992 out of protest
against the Milošević regime and later settled in Berlin. He is the author of some
thirty novels, story collections and essays, including his magnum opus Tutori (The
Tutors) which won the Prize of the Leipzig Book Fair.
Ćosić is one of the last authors to describe his native language as Serbo-Croatian
photo: © Bogdan Pedović
in a rejection of nationalist literature. Today he lives in Berlin and Rovinj.
In a State of Quiet Collapse
(Im Zustand stiller Auflösung), novel, 2018
128pp (25,000 words)
A writer’s journey on the trail of Marcel Proust goes
awry right from square one: his friends and travelling
companions, a French married couple, insist on seeing
the small Breton town of Tréboul, which Proust never
actually visited. Their little group sets up camp at the
Hotel Armor, where an intrusive and forceful doorman,
bristling with clichés about »us« and »the others«, gives
the ailing writer plenty of food for thought.
Left to his own devices in dreary Tréboul, he channels his
observations about decadence and boredom into his own
unique search for lost time. Full of self-irony and humour, the narrator picks apart
one supposed certainty after another, including, ultimately, his own dream of
writing a book about Proust.
IN A STATE OF QUIET COLLAPSE is a hilarious tirade in the style of Ćosić’s
prize-winning family epic THE TUTORS. Behind its grouchy wit is a bold critique
of the disintegration of European culture.
»Ćosić is one of the grand old, serenely sly men of the Serbian avant-garde:
strong in polemic and even better in reminiscence.«
Marko Martin, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
»Ćosić has made a name for himself as the James Joyce from the Balkans. One
thing he certainly has in common with the Irish grand master of modernity:
a distinctive linguistic virtuosity.« ORF matinee
»At a time when people dully retreat to their own ›identity‹, such books natu-
rally have a hard stand, yet the more necessary they are« Jochen Schimmang,
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
»Like in most of his works, the author demonstrates a far-sightedness that has
nothing pretenti-ous but pointedly and humorously represents a world that is
sick of itself.« Marko Dinić, Süddeutsche ZeitungIrina Liebmann
born in Moscow, now lives in Berlin and has worked as a freelance writer since
1975. She has won numerous prizes, including the Berlin Literary Prize and the
Prize of the Leipzig Book Fair.
photo: © Renate von Mangoldt
In Berlin
(In Berlin), novel, 2018
176pp (35,000 words)
IN BERLIN is one of the most unusual and intense
Berlin novels ever written. Set in the early nineties, it
explores the climate of upheaval and the conflicted inner
worlds of characters who wanted to leave the East yet
find a sense of liberation impossible to obtain even in
the West.
Liebmann’s language is fast-paced and distinctive, trans-
forming everyday incidents and the atmosphere of the
city into extraordinarily powerful prose. In doing so she
preserves a Berlin that no longer exists, yet in which the
contemporary city, its significance and mutability is
grounded.
IN BERLIN depicts the disorientation of life during a time of radical change,
when social and political systems were in flux, yet the novel remains timelessly
current and pressing.
»There is a magic about language that carries the reader or listener along with
the rhythm of the story, creating a kind of understanding that the intellect can
only later corroborate. Irina Liebmann possesses exactly this linguistic
magic.« Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
»Liebmann strikes as a cool observer, deeply stirred by a way of life that was
expected to commit to clear lines but found itself in disruption.«
Hans-Dieter Schütt, Neues Deutschland
»In her concise, sober language and with a surprisingly fresh voice, Liebmann
resurrects an era of turmoil.« Norddeutscher Rundfunk
»What a book! The dense language, the intense atmosphere, the originality.«
Dirk Pilz, Berliner ZeitungBurkhard Spinnen
born in 1956, received a PhD from Münster University and held several lectureships.
Until 2014, he was Head of the Jury for the prestigious Ingeborg Bachmann Award
at the Festival of German-Language Literature held annually in Klagenfurt, Austria.
Burkhard Spinnen has received many awards for his literary work. He lives in
Münster with his family.
photo: © Hermann Köhler
And All without Love. Fontane’s Timeless Heroines
(Und alles ohne Liebe: Fontanes zeitlose Heldinnen), prose, 2019
112pp (23,000 words)
An entertaining literary introduction to Fontane’s fema-
le characters
Burkhard Spinnen takes a journey through the work of
new Theodor Fontane, the great storyteller of German rea-
lism. A journey that is both respectful and radical:
Spinnen reads Fontane’s eight »Berlin novels« without
any interest in historical dress or local colour, as though
they didn’t take place in nineteenth-century Germany
but in a timeless here and now. In doing so, elements
emerge that are still current or are becoming so again.
Spinnen takes a direct look at the timeless striving of the female characters for
self-determination and happiness.
AND ALL WITHOUT LOVE arranges the characters in Fontane’s social novels
into a literary family, stretching from the steadfast Poggenpuhl sisters to the eter-
nally childlike Effi Briest, the self-effacing Lene Nimptsch and Mathilde Möhring,
who stands on her own two feet. Spinnen illustrates the internal coherence of
Fontane’s oeuvre, making his work accessible to younger readers.
»I want to encourage readers to read Fontane’s novels as an exploration of burning
questions that still demand answers.« Burkhard Spinnen
»One of the most important authors of recent German literature with his subtle
sense of humour and his discret irony as well as his ›Kleist‹s sense for the
tragicomical.«
Adenauer Literary Award, The JuryBurkhard Spinnen
born in 1956, received a PhD from Münster University and held several lectureships.
Until 2014, he was Head of the Jury for the prestigious Ingeborg Bachmann Award
at the Festival of German-Language Literature held annually in Klagenfurt, Austria.
Burkhard Spinnen has received many awards for his literary work. He lives in
Münster with his family.
photo: © Hermann Köhler
The Book. An Homage
(Das Buch. Eine Hommage), non-fiction, 2016
144pp (22,400 words)
Includes illustrations by award-winning
illustrator Line Hoven
A love letter to the printed word by one of Germany’s
most renowned authors
Is 500 years of book culture coming to an end? Is the Full English translation available
eBook replacing the printed page as quickly and comple-
tely as the car and tractor once replaced the horse and China (simplified) – Horizon Books
cart? What will become of our reading culture? France – Piranha
Norway – Pax
Republic of Korea – Sam & Parkers
Burkhard Spinnen, author and reader, poses the questions we should all be asking.
US (English World) – David R.
But instead of debating the pros and cons, he delves into the past, remembering
Godine
what the printed book has meant to him and to us, and considering the ways it
has deeply affected our everyday lives. Focusing on all kinds of books – big and
small, right and wrong, borrowed and given, lost and found – he writes about Foreign editions
collecting books, and how we live with them.
THE BOOK is a perceptive, affectionate and personal homage to the book – to
its (and our) future.
»A very personal book that entices the reader to stick their nose once more
between yellowed pages that smell of paper and dust.« Die Welt
»Spinnen is an amusing and likeable guide through the world of books, some-
times nostalgic but never regretful. (…) THE BOOK is accessible and very
readable, communicating complex, often academic ideas in a way that feels
fresh and conversational.« New Books in GermanKarlheinz Braun
born in Frankfurt am Main in 1932, studied Philology and Philosophy in Frankfurt
and Paris. While a student he headed the »neue bühne« (new stage) group, before
becoming head of the Suhrkamp Theaterverlag in 1959 and co-founder of the
»Verlag der Autoren« (Author’s Publishing House) in 1969. From 1976–79 he was
photo: © Alexander Paul Englert
managing director of the Schauspiel Frankfurt. In the course of his career, Karlheinz
Braun has also collaborated on numerous theatre festivals.
At the Heart. Living with Authors
(Herzstücke. Leben mit Autoren), prose, 2019
672pp (261,000 words)
No one has lived and breathed the German-language
theatrical world more intensively over the past sixty
years than Karlheinz Braun. From the Frankfurt neue
bühne with its first performances of everything from
new Günter Grass to Nelly Sachs, he joined the publisher
Suhrkamp Verlag in 1959, where he published plays
by Max Frisch, Peter Weiss, Martin Walser and Peter
Handke.
Braun belonged to the legendary circle of editors who
left Suhrkamp after the »Editors’ Uprising« and foun-
ded the publisher Verlag der Autoren (Author’s Publishing House), which deve-
loped over the following decades into the most important institution in Germany
for authors of theatre and film. AT THE HEART tells this story, as well as those
of hundreds of authors, including Botho Strauß, Dea Loher, Heiner Müller,
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Thea Dorn and Wim Wenders.
Braun’s memoirs are a passionate theatre insider’s perspective on a life lived among
authors, their successes and defeats, and a sweeping eyewitness account of
German theatre and film.
»Braun embodies like few others the intersection between literature, theatre and
art in Germany.« Claus-Jürgen Göpfert, Frankfurter Rundschau
»A grand cultural tableau.«
Michael Hierholzer, Frankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungJörg Schröder / Ernst Herhaus, Siegfried
(Siegfried), novel, 2018 [1972], 544pp (93,000 words)
One of the most exciting books in German literature
SIEGFRIED is the tell-all book about the legendary, first serial – Neues Deutschland
culturally revolutionary publisher März-Verlag and its
founder, Jörg Schröder.
Covering his childhood, his training at a bookshop, his
jobs at various publishers and eventually the setting-up
of his own publishing house, Jörg Schröder has described
his colourful life to biographer Ernst Herhaus. His
memoir is a reckoning with the cultural establishment –
distasteful, fascinating and candid. Numerous legal cases were brought against
SIEGFRIED, all but one of them won by Jörg Schröder. Later editions of
SIEGFRIED appeared with several blacked-out passages.
This new edition features an extensive appendix tracing the work and its recepti-
on history to the present day.
»As exciting today as ever – a volcano, still distinctive and scandalous.«
Peter W. Jansen, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
»A book about the sexual revolution finding its feet.«
Florian Felix Weyh, Deutschlandfunk
Cover of the 2nd edition 21st edition Paperback
21st and 22nd edition
23rd edition Paperback 24th edition 25th special editionCarolin Callies
born in Mannheim in 1980, lives in Ladenburg near Heidelberg. She has published
work in journals (Bella triste, Allmende, POET and Neue Rundschau) and
anthologies. In 2009 she took part in the seventeenth open mike competition for
poetry and prose.
photo: © Dirk Skiba
Carolin Callies, scrapes & coffers
(schatullen & bredouillen), poetry, 2019
100pp (8,500 words)
Carolin Callies’s vivid world enchants her readers; she
opens spaces, landscapes and relationships, peering
deep into trenches. Her poems are utterly contempo-
rary, fresh and bold, lyrical on the highest level, with an
new unforgettable voice. In her new collection, scrapes &
coffers, we read pittance & puppetry, skim atlas of a
rendezvous, flick through a bulwark of breadcrumbs or
landscapes without crusts. In these new poems,
countless small areas are measured, occupied, popula-
ted, displaced or erased, including (trap-)doors, caskets,
boxes, enclosures, defences, sifters and holes.
Praise for Carolin Callies’ first poetry volume five senses and only one
cutlery box:
»The most important poetry debut of the season.«
Richard Kämmerlings, Literarische Welt
»An astounding debut, extremely courageous … the Song of Solomon under
other auspices.« Insa Wilke, Deutschlandfunk
»A brilliant debut, a new poetic voice, which has developed a very sensual,
burlesque poetry of the body, flirting with obscenities.« Michael Braun,
Neue Zürcher ZeitungMirko Bonné
born 1965 in Tegernsee, lives in Hamburg. Besides translations of, among others,
Sherwood Anderson, Robert Creeley, E.E. Cummings, Emily Dickinson, John Keats,
photo: © Bogenberger/autorenfotos.com
Grace Paley and William Butler Yeats, he has published several novels, volumes of
poetry, travel journals and essays. For his work he has received many awards.
Lashes and Ashes
(Wimpern und Asche), poetry, 2018, 148pp
In this collection, Mirko Bonné reaffirms himself as one
of the most distinctive voices in contemporary German
poetry.
In language subtle and precise, these poems depict the
beauty and destruction of our world. Surprising shapes
and cleverly delineated chapters create a flow that draws
the reader into a world rich in experience. These are
poems that seek their ilk, lingering in the mind.
»They do still exist: poets who dedicate themselves to life’s big questions with
existential seriousness.« Dorothea von Törne, Literarische Welt
»A linguistically magical style, indebted to the Modernists, summoning the
fragile power of memory – this seems to be the true element of his poetry.«
Tom Schulz, Der Tagesspiegel
»A neo-romantic who is not afraid to incorporate devastation in his roman-
ticising.«
Gregor Dotzauer, Deutschlandfunk Kultur
»Literature as an extension of consciousness.« Jan Bürger, Deutschlandfunk
Kultur
»The sensuality of these poems unfolds through perception and observation.«
Helmut Böttiger, Süddeutsche Zeitung
»A neo-romantic who is not afraid to incorporate devastation in his roman-
ticising.« Gregor Dotzauer, Deutschlandfunk KulturLiterary treats for garden lovers
Paula Almqvist, New Missives from My Garden
(Neue Mitteilungen aus meinem Garten), prose, 2019
158pp (21,000 words)
new
Paula Almqvist has drawn together her best columns
from the popular women’s magazine Brigitte Woman.
Entertaining, upbeat and (self-)ironic, she chats her way
through beds, bushes and borders, showing how you
can get even more enjoyment out of your favourite
place. She describes her favourite colours of flowers,
evokes gardening flea markets and floral holiday souve-
nirs, and jokes about black holes in the garden, where
you can lose everything from gloves to saws – as well as
much, much more.
Paula Almqvist, Missives from My Garden
(Mitteilungen aus meinem Garten), prose, 2016
168pp (23,500 words)
Paula Almqvist simply seems to know what is preoccu-
pying us in our gardens. When, with the best intentions,
you go to your flowerbeds and then everything turns out
differently from what you planned, you read in her con-
soling column that it’s just the same for her. When you
make fun of men with chainsaws, that’s what she writes
about. And when your thoughts turn to murder because
snails like fresh lettuce just as much as you do.
»An absolutely pleasant read.« Gartenliteratur.deYou can also read
