This month we present writing from emerging German authors. These writers nod to literary tradition while taking fresh approaches to current political and social conditions, providing a new vision of contemporary German culture. Acclaimed novelist Olga Grjasnowa, whose debut novel, All Russians Love Birch Trees, was published by Other Press, jumpstarts her second with a harrowing scene of a young woman imprisoned and tortured for drag racing. Finn-Ole Heinrich stares into the yawning hole left by loss. The droll Francis Nenik tracks a surprising postwar delivery from the United States to Poland. In stories from other battles, Isabelle Lehn’s extras soldier through war games, and Noemi Schneider travels in, and with, the Mideast conflict. Stephanie Bart pulls a rickshaw and no punches. Playwright Marianna Salzmann visits a bemused strip club, while essayist Bettina Suleiman links primate and human activities. In poetry, Simone Kornappel takes a roundabout approach to sexuality, and Deniz Utlu’s riff on the Divine Comedy lands a transsexual Beatrice in a dark German wood. We thank our guest editor, Katy Derbyshire, who introduces the issue and contributes several translations.