Happy Saturnalia! After an unannounced and unexpected pause that lasted around a year, I wanted to fill disappointed readers in and give them an update. I have, however, continued to document the visual side of things on Instagram @leipzig_is_lit. The primary reason for taking a break with…
Those readers who follow by Instagram (@leipzig_is_lit) feed might be wondering if I’ve given up the written word and devoted myself to pretty pictures. Indeed, the past month has been crammed full of events including two workshops (Leipzig, followed by Looren/Switzerland), a grab bag of readings a…
Last night at UT Connewitz, the old, former movie theater that now serves as an event location in the south of Leipzig, I was able to be in the audience for a rare and special occasion. Two translators sat on stage with an author and yet the event didn't focus on the author. Instead, the author…
Even though I know plenty of people who love to hate Frankfurt and the book fair that has been taking place there each autumn for centuries, I’m actually quite fond of the event. Full disclosure, I probably would not have started going to the fair in 2010 if my parents-in-law didn’t live at the end of …
Because I’m at the book fair in Frankfurt and haven’t yet had time to finish reading the book in question (review forthcoming), you’ll have to be satisfied with a short notice. For the first time in five years the winner of the German Book Prize is a woman! Inger-Maria Mahlke, who was already on the s…
As already mentioned in my overview of the six German Book Prize shortlisted nominees, Maxim Biller is no stranger to the German literary scene. However, one thing I was unaware of was that his elder sister Elena Lappin is also an accomplished writer. In fact, I happened to read her memoir What…
Even if you, Dear Reader, might have already thought this blog was self-centered, narcissistic, and boring, today I’m going to top that by doing something meta: blogging about an interview with a blogger who is on the jury of a literary prize (one that’s actually important). So click away or hold ont…
Initially conceived as an analog to the Man Booker Prize, the German Book Prize has been around for over ten years now and has produced many illustrious winners and highly lauded books on the short lists. However, despite increased awareness for gender disparities among literary prizes, this year’s s…