Claim Goethe Institut Claim Goethe Institut

Canada

Current Literature from Germany

Fliegende Seiten © Shutterstock

The literary scene in Germany is as diverse and colorful as the population and it is as vibrant as ever. Be it groups of young writers or magazines in very small editions and self-published, find out more about exciting things from the German literary scene!

Everybody reads

The structures of the publishing scene may be centuries old, but they have begun to move. Works from marginalized populations are finding their way into the reading rooms of the republic thanks to a fresh scene of magazines, clubs, and social media channels. 
 

Verzweifeln Sie bitte nicht,
wenn Sie das alles nicht gleich begreifen

Please do not despair, if you do not understand all this right away.
Charlotte Krafft „Die Hyperironie“ (from „Das Wetter“ #13, October 2017, S. 37+)

New books

📖 We have put together a collection of current reviews of books 📚 that you can also borrow from our library. For even more book reviews, we can recommend the Rosinenpicker-blog of our colleagues in Germany, also the source of the articles below.

Book covers of the nominated titles © S. Fischer, Suhrkamp, Rowohlt, Klett-Cotta, C.H. Beck

Cherrypicker | Literature
 The glorious six

The shortlist for this year's German Book Prize is out! It has now been decided which six authors can hope to win the prestigious and lucrative prize with their latest novels.
Books covers © Reprodukt, Edition Moderne, avant-verlag, Helvetiq / Canva

Cherrypicker | Literature
 Excellent comic books

New graphic novels demonstrate the diversity of the genre. Anke Feuchtenberger's magnum opus was honoured as literature, Sandra Rummler looks back on East Berlin and the post-reunification period. And the two Swiss authors Nando von Arb and Tobias Aeschbacher were awarded for works that could not be more different.
Barbi Marković „Minihorror“ © Cover: Residenz-Verlag, City: Shutterstock

Barbi Marković, "Mini horror"
 The Everyday Horror Show

Barbi Marković presents a multi-layered episodic novel in which she mixes everyday events with elements of the fantastic. The result: educational horror stories – and the award of the Leipzig Book Fair 2024.
Railroad station of Gittersee in Saxony, cover of the book "Gittersee" by Charlotte Gneuß © S. Fischer Verlag (Cover), Echtner, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons (Background)

Cherrypicker
 Strong anti-hero

Charlotte Gneuss’s everyday drama set in East Germany is surprising for its oppressive intensity and extraordinary, ordinary protagonist.
Rabe: Die Möglichkeit von Glück © Klett-Cotta (Cover), Matthias Süßen, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons (Hintergrund)

Cherrypicker
 All this violence

Anne Rabe’s remarkable family novel impressively traces a history of violence in (East) Germany. It stretches from the Nazi era to the present day.
Book Prize winner Tonio Schachinger presents his novel "Echtzeitalter". Photo (detail): © picture alliance / EPA | RONALD WITTEK

German Book Prize 2023
 Coming-of-age novel about a gamer

Awarding the German Book Prize to Tonio Schachinger is a very good decision. His novel “Echtzeitalter” is narratively mature, entertaining and full of esprit. A commentary.
Lutz Seiler at the award ceremony of the Berlin Literature Prize of the Stiftung Preußische Seehandlung (2023) © picture alliance/dpa | Jörg Carstensen

Büchner-Preis 2023
 Award for a Darkly Luminous Oeuvre

Lutz Seiler found his way to literature late in life. He first wrote poetry, celebrated his greatest successes with novels, and now received his literary accolade with the Georg Büchner Prize.

Cherry Picker
 An Ode to the Schwanzhund

Vicco von Bülow, nommé Loriot, aurait eu 100 ans le 12 novembre 2023. Pour célébrer le grand humoriste et artiste, nous recueillons nos moments préférés de Loriot. 

Birgit Birnbacher
 Staying power

Julia suffers from asthma. And she has just lost her job. Back in the village where she grew up, she is struggling to make a fresh start. But that’s not possible without confronting the demands and expectations of her family and the drab reality of village life. When Julia meets the “guy from the city”, a glimmer of hope emerges amid all the hopelessness.
 

Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre
 Utmost Attention

The publication of Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre’s new novel was a major event for the feuilletonists. What will remain after the excitement has died down? A lot of unanswered questions and, one hopes, a lot of attention for an important social topic.
Book cover: Stockhausen © Carlsen

Thomas von Steinaecker / David von Bassewitz
 Karlheinz Superstar

In a graphic novel, the composer and pioneer of electronic music Karlheinz Stockhausen seems like a being from another world to a small-town boy.

Clemens J. Setz
 A Tragic Contrarian

In Clemens J. Setz’s new novel, the main character believes that people do not live on, but inside the earth.

Julia Schoch
 The Slow Dissolution of a Great Love

They are three words, each of which means a beginning and an end: I love you. I’m leaving you. But what lies in between? In the case of the first-person narrator in Julia Schoch’s new novel, a 30-year relationship. First elation, celebration, then everyday life, children, betrayal, anger. 
Book cover: Völlig meschugge?! © Carlsen

Andreas Steinhöfel / Melanie Garanin
 A Shlimazel in the Mishpocha

Andreas Steinhöfel and Melanie Garanin have produced a moving and humorous graphic novel from a TV series about anti-Semitism and racism at school.
Book cover: Dschinns © Hanser

Fatma Aydemir
 “A web of stories and stories and stories”

As we know, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. In her second novel Fatma Aydemir tells the story of a family full of longings and disappointments who try to come together in spite of all their inner contradictions.
Book cover: Daheim © S. Fischer

Judith Hermann
 The old box trick

In her new novel, Judith Hermann tells the story of a women seeking to start a new life in an isolated seaside village. Having arrived, she is not only caught up by her past, but is also confronted by very different fates.
Book cover: Identitti © Carl Hanser

Mithu Sanyal
 On the merry-go-round of identity debates

Identity policy can be difficult, polarising and confusing. Incorporating lots of topical allusions to academic life and popular culture, cultural scientist and writer Mithu Sanyal successfully presents the struggle for identity and the authority to define it in her tongue-in-cheek debut novel.
Book cover: Es ist immer so schön mit dir © Rowohlt

Heinz Strunk
 From Low Energy to Sugar Daddy

After his dark hit novel “Der goldene Handschuh” (The Golden Glove) about a real-life Jack-the-Ripper, Heinz Strunk has now published a romance novel. After reading it, though, you may feel glad you’re single.
Book cover Studio Berlin Berghain Distanz

Studio Berlin Berghain
 Welcome to the Art Club

These are not good times, not for the art scene, not for clubs. The Boros Foundation and Berghain joined forces last year and turned the orphaned techno club into an exhibition space. The exhibition closed again a long time ago. But you can browse the exhibition catalogue.
Book cover: Vater und ich © Verbrecher Verlag

Dilek Güngör
 Gridlock of Words

Origin, family, language, identity: These are the subjects of journalist and author Dilek Güngör. In her new book, she writes about the speechlessness between a father and daughter. But silence needn’t necessarily mean a lack of closeness.

To the online catalog of the library (Montreal)

The diversity of German Literature

Sharon Dodua Otoo receiving the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize in 2016. Photo (detail): © picture alliance/dpa/ Susanne Hassler

Black German literature
 Asking the right questions

Being Black should be completely unremarkable in today’s multicultural Germany. Yet many people still struggle with everyday discrimination and sometimes even blatant racism. Their stories are increasingly finding their way into German literature.
They want to save contemporary literature with aesthetics and provocation: the Rich Kids of Literature in fur coats and bomber jackets (with club logo) playing table football. Photo (detail): © William Minke / Rich Kids of Literature

Rich Kids of Literature
 Provocation und performative aesthetics

Save contemporary literature – that’s what the Berlin collective “Rich Kids of Literature” has pledged to do. This colourful group of authors and students has been causing a riot on the German literature scene since 2016 – with a literature show, an independent publishing house and lots of interest on social media.
Utopia instead of dystopia: the future doesn’t always have to look bleak. Photo (detail): © Adobe

Contemporary Literature
Brave New Utopias

Interstellar warfare, climate collapse, dangerous mutants: science fiction narratives frequently conjure up a dystopian future. Some writers have made it their business to counteract this – and create positive utopias.
 
“Glitter” magazine publishes poems and selections from novels and plays by queer authors in particular. Photo (detail): © Glitter, Illustration: Jasmina El Bouamraoui, Design: Huy Do

Literature magazines in Germany
 The new diversity

Like research laboratories for the literary world, magazines present new voices, provide space for experimentation, and test formats. And right now diversity is higher than ever before.
Sharon Dodua Otoo © Ralf Steinberger

Contemporary Black Women’s Literature
“Who is heard and who is silenced?”

What we think of as world history is still dominated by white men. This dominance is not only based on the selection of stylised, allegedly epoch-making figures – but also on the perspectives and identities of those telling the story. An interview with author Sharon Dodua Otoo.
 
Black German literature can look back over a long history and includes a wide range of works Photo (detail): © Philipp Khabo Koepsell

Black German Literature
 Home, Identity and Racism

​Black German literature has a long history and embraces a broad spectrum – it ranges from poetry and autobiographies to academic and activist writings. Yet even today, black German authors are still less visible, especially when it comes to fiction.
Each One Teach One (EOTO), © Each One Teach One (EOTO)

Shaping the Past
Turning One's Attention to Knowledge

Each One Teach One (EOTO), a library and community centre in Berlin’s African Quarter, is a space that gives people of African descent the opportunity to transform their past into ideas for the future. Author and curator Michael Götting explains the importance and the history of this special place.

Back to "Literature"

Top