Sylvia Plath (1932-63) seems to be the Ingeborg Bachmann of North America. Her “relationship with her most famous work was not easy, but it retains its power after five decades.” In terms of today, she would be a writer with an Austrian/German “migration background.” >full article (c) THE IRISH TIMES, 2013
Another article: Who is Sylvia Plath? “Her role as a ‘casus belli’ in the battle of the sexes has also obscured the genius of this much-mythologised poet.” (c) FT 2013
In his recent Book of My Lives (p. 97-101), the Bosnian American author Aleksandar Hemon (see post above) digs out one of the best-hidden skeletons in the closets of the University of Sarajevo: Professor Nikola Nikola Koljević (1936-97), a Professor of English and internationally renowned Shakespeare expert. Continue reading
Ratlines, the latest novel by North Irish author Stuart Neville, is not only about the former Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Charles J Haughey, but also on the prominent Austrian SS-veteran Otto Skorzeny who lived in Ireland from the late 1950s (and was buried at the Döbling cemetery in Vienna after his death in 1975) > text (c) THE IRISH TIMES, 2013
Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and roots of Nazism are on the agenda at a Kassel
congress on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Grimm Bros. classic tales
>text (c) THE GUARDIAN, 2012
Ilustration by Benjamin Lacombe
“The Landscapes Through Which We Traveled” –
a text by Žarko Radaković (c) Open Letters Monthly 2012.
In the text there are no words about the photo: The bridge over the river Drina in Višegrad, Bosnia-Herzegovina – setting for a famous novel and for a less famous genocide…
My birthday wishes for Peter Handke would be a bit harsher – unfortunately they are only available in German…
Austrian and German movie makers are successfully taking up with the boom of film adaptations of literature – and so in the coming weeks moviegoers can also expect some exciting glimpses into the world of Austrian literature: they will be able to see Die Wand by Marlen Haushofer or Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann in a cinema version. >Text & photo (c) wieninternational.at 2012
“In a collection of his letters newly-translated and edited by [our dear young colleague] Michael Hofmann, Joseph Roth is given a new stage for his linguistic genius and vigilant criticism, as well as his inability to use that critical vision to save himself from himself.” Review (c) THE VIENNA REVIEW, 2012
“The funeral of germanist Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler in Vienna´s Zentralfriedhof. His lectures on Austrian literature at the university of Vienna were always crowded and a large crowd of friends, colleagues and students turned up to bid him farewell. Continue reading
“What does ‘Bambi’ have to do with a Viennese prostitute of the 19th century? What is the ‘cushion method’ or even a ‘porcelain ride’? These and similar questions are answered in the guided walk ‘Josefine Mutzenbacher – the paths of desire in Old Vienna’. Curious?”
“On 28 June, which is the anniversary of the battle of Kosovo, the Bosnian Serb film maker was going to inaugurate Andrićgrad: a town (theme park?) built to celebrate the work of writer Ivo Andrić. Belgrade journalist Boško Jakšić dénonces a project, which he claims is intent on instrumentalising history and memory for nationalist ends.” Full text (c) presseurop.eu 2012
Another text (c) THE GUARDIAN, 2012
delirium clemens 