German Literature Promotion and Writers' Tour
A series of readings
Two distinguished German writers, Marcel Beyer and Hans-Ulrich
Treichel, will read from their work in London, Bristol and
Manchester. The readings will be bi-lingual and will represent the
highlight of the launch of the German Literature Promotion funded by
the Arts Council of England and the Goethe-Institut. 75 bookshops
throughout England will take part in this promotion in March, and 21
titles of German literature in English translation will be presented in
window and in-store displays. The promotion will be supplemented
by posters and bookmarks, as well as leaflets giving details about
the selected books and their authors.
Marcel Beyer and Hans-Ulrich Treichel will read at the following
venues:
1 March 2000 at 7.30pm
at the Voice Box, Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road, London SE1
8XX
Box office: 0171-960 4242, tickets £ 5 (concessions £ 3).
The reading will be introduced by Lawrence Norfolk, whose books
include Lempričre's Dictionary and The Pope's Rhinoceros.
2 March 2000 at 7.30pm
at the Arnolfini Bookshop, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA,
Tel: 0117-929 9191, tickets £ 2.50 (concessions £ 1.50).
The reading will be introduced by Dr Stuart Taberner, German
Department, University of Bristol.
3 March 2000 at 6.30pm
at Waterstone's, 91 Deansgate, Manchester M3 2BW
Tel: 0171-837 3000, tickets £ 3 (concessions £ 2).
The reading will be introduced by Dr Steven Parker, German
Department, University of Manchester.
Born in 1965 in Tailfingen/South Germany, Marcel Beyer now lives
in Dresden. He has published three collections of poetry and two
novels, including Flughunde, which has won international acclaim
and been translated into ten languages. In this outstanding book,
war-torn Germany is seen from two very different perspectives.
Hermann Karnau is a sound engineer who, sent to the Russian front
to pick up enemy transmissions, continues to pursue his secret
obsession of recording the screams of the wounded. Helga is the
eldest child of Joseph Goebbels. She first meets Karnau when her
father entrusts his five children to the sound engineer's care while
his wife gives birth to their sixth. During the final days of the Third
Reich, the two narrators are reunited in Hitler's Bunker, where
Karnau has been summoned to record the Leader's final utterances.
Marcel Beyer's stunning novel is "one of the most impressive books
about the last days of the war" (Der Spiegel). The excellent English
translation by John Brownjohn, The Karnau Tapes, was first
published in Britain in 1997 by Secker & Warburg.
Hans-Ulrich Treichel was born in 1952 in Versmold, Westphalia, and
currently divides his time between Berlin and Leipzig. He is a poet,
novelist and essayist as well as professor of German literature at
the University of Leipzig. His recent book, Der Verlorene, was
translated into English by Carol Brown Janeway and published in
the UK by Picador in January 2000. Lost is the story of a childhood
in the 1950s. Full of irony and humour, it is also a laconic version of
the parable of the prodigal son: Arnold was lost on the trek as his
family fled from the advancing Russian army in 1945. His younger
brother, the narrator of the story, learns this at the age of eight. As
he follows his parents' attempts to find their elder son, their dearest
wish becomes the young boy's nightmare: that the lost brother will
be found. "The end is splendid and not to be revealed" (Time Out).
Both funny and moving, this compelling novel "ticks from beginning
to end like expert, ominous clockwork" (Publishers Weekly).
The series of readings is a special joint event between the Arts
Council of England, the Times Literary Supplement and the Goethe-
Institut.
For further information about the German Literature Promotion
please contact: Siān Williams tel/fax: 0181-960 0602 or Barbara
Honrath tel 0171-596 4043, fax 0171-594 0213.
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