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Emerging German Writers

July 2015

july-2015-hendrik-krawen-der-mensch
Image: Hendrik Krawen, "Der Mensch und sein Bild von sich” (the human being and one self’s image), 2008 100x140 cm, oil on canvas. Photograph by Uwe Walter.

Image: Hendrik Krawen, “Der Mensch und sein Bild von sich” (the human being and one self’s image), 2008 100×140 cm, oil on canvas. Photography by Uwe Walter.


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.

Introduction: Emerging German Writers
By Katy Derbyshire
Like many other literatures, contemporary German writing is part reaction against previous generations and part continuation of traditions.
You Turn Your Head, I Turn My Head
By Finn-Ole Heinrich
Do I build a tree house without you?
Translated from German by Katy Derbyshire
The Legal Haziness of a Marriage
By Olga Grjasnowa
Ten days was too long for a conversion and too short for a re-education.
Translated from German by Eva Bacon
Rickshaw Diaries
By Stephanie Bart
Anyone wearing such a provocative pair of lederhosen is asking for trouble and shouldn’t be surprised to get it.
Translated from German by Katy Derbyshire
Multilingual
Maidenhands and Monologues
By Marianna Salzmann
I roll myself up on the floor and purr like a cat.
Translated from German by Katy Derbyshire
Lessons from the Human Zoo
By Bettina Suleiman
How many werewolves have there been since 1850?
Translated from German by Katy Derbyshire
Multilingual
as a mouse
By Simone Kornappel
lower the needle each time only in the verysame spotspot
Translated from German by Jake Schneider
Aladdin
By Isabelle Lehn
If you’re dead you can go back to the barracks.
Translated from German by Katy Derbyshire
Multilingual
In Praise of an American Egg Wholesaler
By Francis Nenik
“American chicken breasts will keep Europe at peace!”
Translated from German by Amanda DeMarco
Multilingual
Fighter
By Noemi Schneider
He was an officer in an elite unit, and I don’t really want to know what that means.
Translated from German by Julie Winter
Multilingual
After Half a Life
By Deniz Utlu
Call me Beatrice, she says. I wasn’t sent by any god.
Translated from German by Jake Schneider
Multilingual