You are cordially invited to attend a bi-lingual reading at the Goethe-Institut London. We are happy to offer complimentary tickets to members of the German Studies List. If you would like us to reserve comps for you, please send me an e-mail.
Barbara Honrath
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Mon 4 Nov 7pm
KAREN DUVE WITH BRIDGET O'CONNOR
This bi-lingual reading coincides with the publication of Anthea Bell's English translation of Karen Duve's celebrated literary debut, Rain.
When the writer Leon from Hamburg finds his dream house in the marshy East German countryside, an idyllic existence seems to lie ahead. But both the marshes and the mire of human relationships are treacherous. There is a plague of slugs in the garden, constant rain undermines the foundations of the house, and chilly indifference permeates Leon and his marriage. A stray dog and the erotic confusions around the austere Kay and her fat, insatiable sister Isadora hasten Leon's downfall... Duve's first novel is like the marshes in which it is set: pitiless and beautiful, incalculable, and full of scintillating details. "Karen Duve can do something of which few are capable: she can entertain without being shallow, write on sad themes without pathos or sentimentality, and present comedy without platitudes." (Stuttgarter Zeitung)
Born in 1961, Karen Duve lives near Hamburg. Apart from Rain, she has also published award-winning short stories. Her second novel, Dies ist kein Liebeslied, came out in Germany in September 2002.
Bridget O'Connor, born in 1961, won the Time Out London Writing Competition in 1990. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including the Picador Book of Contemporary Irish Fiction. Her short story collections Here Comes John (1995) and Tell Her You Love Her (1997) have won high praise for their originality, their wickedly funny style and their devastating expositions of contemporary metropolitan life.
In association with Bloomsbury
Tickets: £3
Venue: Goethe-Institut London, 50 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2PH, tel 020 7596 4000
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