Those of you, living in the Netherlands and a book lover like myself, are probably aware of the 10 days of bookmania in The Netherlands called: "boekenweek" (~'book week'). Every year in March, the so called CPNB = Collective Promotion of the Dutch Book is busy promoting Dutch titles. If you happen to buy a Dutch title during those 10 days for at least € 12.50 (currently) you'll get a "boekenweek cadeau", a so-called 'present', with the title specifically written for this occasion.
Each year one particular theme becomes a sort background canvas for various activities in bookshops, public libraries, schools, theatres and other locations. You cannot possibly miss it if you love books.
And this year's theme is closely connected to the fact that The Netherlands & Flanders will be 'guest of honour' at the book fair in Frankfurt/Main (D). Therefore, the focus of the book week is on their 'eastern neighbour', Germany, with the title: "Was ich noch zu sagen hätte", part of a song by singer-songwriter Reinhard Mey (loosely translated as "oh, and by the way, what I still wanted to mention"). As being a German bookmania myself I was very much looking forward to possible activities around the theme and I was expecting some interesting readings related to the huge variety of German literature. 
I have to admit that I was a bit worried the time the theme was made public last year. The focus of the CPNB was mainly on the shared history of Germany and the Netherlands: WW II. And, to include some literature, some historical authors as Goethe, Schiller and, astonishingly, Günter Grass were mentioned (I am surprised that Günter Grass is still in vogue in The Netherlands as he had lied about his military status during WWII). Actually, I don't mind talking about WWII and Germany's responsibility, especially with the strengthening neo-Nazis and the political right wing thrift these days. And I don't mind talking about Goethe, Schiller and Nobel prize winner Günter Grass, but I missed the latest developments in literature.
And the Goethe Institut in the Netherlands invited a handful of German authors to present their writing during the week like Karen Köhler, Ingo Schulz, Jenny Erpenbeck and poet Jan Wagner. Please feel free to check their site: http://www.boekenweek.nl/optredens-duitse-auteurs-in-nederland/
Still, as the theme is 'what I still wanted to mention', I've decided to give a tiny, very personal, glimpse of some German authors I think are worth mentioning. This will be a tiny sand grain in the huge choice of books and titles available each year in Germany.
I have started my presentation with a quote by Judith Schalansky. Judith is one of the younger generation of authors, as are Juli Zeh, Katharina Hacker, Julia Franck, and very lately with a debut novel, Karen Köhler (who will be in The Netherlands during the 'book week'), all born in the 1970s (and to my knowledge all translate into Dutch and/or English). Born a decennia earlier: Independent Foreign Fiction Prize winner Jenny Erpenbeck, German Book Prize winners Lutz Seiler and Uwe Tellkamp, nominated authors Ingo Schulze and Karen Duve, linguistic artist Sibylle Berg, award winning author Felicitas Hoppe, Ilija Trojanow, and one of my favourite authors Feridun Zaimoglu. If you tend to remark, that the last two might not belong to a list of German authors...please be reminded that Emine Sevgi Özdamar, Turkish born author, is a member of the German Academy for Language and Literature. And if you would ask people in the streets about Rafik Schami or Wladimir Kaminer, both born outside Germany, people would still recognize them clearly as German authors. German literature is so much more than some people apprehend.
But even if you haven't heard of all the above mentioned authors (though you must be oblivious if you have never heard of Jenny Erpenbeck), I still miss the other 'established' German authors like Hans Magnus Enzensberger (also a publisher of a wonderful 'library'), Uwe Timm, Christa Wolf, Martin Walser, Botho Strauss and Sarah Kirsch. And what about Nobel prize winner Herta Müller?!
Let's go back even further: Siegfried Lenz, Heinrich Böll, Thomas Mann and another favourite of mine: Erich Kästner, the only author being present in Berlin 1933 when his books were being burnt at the book burning in Berlin. Just only lately, Hans Fallada has been discovered by the Dutch audience, an author writing about the social and political critical times of the Weimar Republic.And I haven't even started about all the marvellous poets along the line like Kurt Tucholsky, Ringelnatz, Erich Fried, Peter Rühmkopf, Robert Gernhardt, Ulla Hahn, Hilde Domin and so many, many more.
Still, a lot to discover at least for those who would and want to take the time and energy to be curious about German literature. I hope you do.
And for those, who haven't listened yet to the complete song by Reinhard Mey, here's a live recording: https://youtu.be/bBXSa0FzUxs
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| Foto: Johannes Wallat (RuhrNachrichten.de) |