GEORG KLEIN: LIBIDISSI
Georg Klein is one of the most fascinating and original writers among
those German-speaking authors who published their first books in the
90s. John Brownjohn's translation of his novel Libidissi will be
published in by Picador at the end of May 2001. There are very few books
by emerging German writers that have received such unanimous praise by
critics as well as by readers. And this brilliant book definitely
deserves all the acclaim it got - this is a selection of reactions by
German critics:
* "A novel located between Kafka and Grisham: mysterious and
thrilling." (Stern)
* "An amazingly suggestive and sophisticatedly structured first
novel." (Der Spiegel)
* "The beginning of a new era in literature: one feels inclined to
call this the start of a new modernism." (Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung)
* "Mind-blowing: every sentence, every observation and every
adjective is in the right place." (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
To mark the publication of the English translation of Libidissi, the
Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes has organised a tour of bi-lingual
readings:
* Tuesday 29 May 7.30pm Goethe-Institut London, 50 Princes Gate,
Exhibition Road, London SW7
* Wednesday 30 May 4pm Festival of Literature, Hay-on-Wye
* Thursday 31 May 7pm German Department, The University of Leeds,
Leeds LS2
* Friday 1 June 7pm Waterstone's Bookshop, Sauchiehall Street,
Glasgow
This is some more detailed information about the first event in this
series. Please note that the Goethe-Institut London is pleased to offer
COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS to members of the German Studies list. However, it
is essential to book complimentary tickes in advance
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Tue 29 May 7.30pm
GEORG KLEIN WITH MAYA JAGGI
A bi-lingual event to mark the publication of John Brownjohn's
translation of Georg Klein's Libidissi (Picador, May 2001).
Libidissi is a town in the East, in a near future when people look back
wistfully on the year 2000. On the roof of the airport an agent - who
has neglected his undercover duties for too long - awaits his
replacement. He knows that to be replaced means that he must die. This
40-year-old, who calls himself I=Spaik, has become deeply immersed in
the shady, corrupt underbelly of Libidissi. When Spaik's replacement
arrives, a deadly pursuit begins through the foreboding streets of
Libidissi.
Libidissi came out in Germany in 1998, and Klein has since published a
collection of stories, Anrufung des Blinden Fisches (1999), and a new
novel, Barbar Rosa (2001). He also frequently contributes stories and
essays to several leading German papers and periodicals. His awards
include the Brothers Grimm Prize (1999) and the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize
(2000). Georg Klein lives with his family in Berlin and a small village
in North Germany.
Maya Jaggi is an award-winning feature writer and lead reviewer for The
Guardian. She formerly worked on the Guardian's foreign desk, used to be
literary editor of the Third World Quarterly, and is a contributor to
Black British Culture and Society (2000), The Salon.com Reader's Guide
(2000) and The Bloomsbury Guide to Women's Literature (1992).
In association with Picador.
For further information please ring 020 7596 4046 or email
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Tickets: £3.
Venue: Goethe-Institut London, 50 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London
SW7 (nearest underground station: South Kensington)
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