"That first night, his hand in your hand wipes away all you ever knew about yourself and your wounds. Just his hand takes you away, like your father when his arms lifted you up in the air and your tiny body opened to the possibility of worlds it did not yet know. You did not sleep that night. You held a necklace and a bottle of perfume to your breast not sure where to hide them as you are without possessions or a cupboard you can lock. All your secrets are common knowledge, everyone is familiar with your doings and habits: a piece of paper, a cinema ticket hidden in your father's cupboard, in his jacket with the stars on the shoulder, and traces of all the surgery he performed with the scalpel there in the army hospital at Tel al-Kebir while you were still at the aubergine stage."
From Blue Aubergine by Miral al-Tahawy (1998/2002)
Miral al-Tahawy *1968
Another author who has been invited to Writers Unlimited, the International Literature Festival in Den Haag, running from 16-19 January 2014!
Becoming a praised author, being invited to various literary events, discussed and highlighted at universities around the globe, that is certainly not what was apparent on its way for Miral al-Tahawy; quite the contrary: she was born in Sharqiya to a family who is part of the Bedouin al-Hanadi tribe in the Al Sharqia Governorate, north-east to Cairo in Egypt. An old Bedouin tribe with strong traditional structures in which Miral was not allowed to leave her home without the company of a male family member. But she and her sister were lucky: her father, a progressive Bedouin, acknowledged his daughters' right to education and so they were sent to school. Afterwards Miral went to Zagazig University to gain her B.A. in Arabic literature. This gave her the comfort to become a school teacher supporting herself while other young women of the tribe had to marry.
Though supported at first by her father her 'Bildungsweg' clashed severely with her family when Miral decided to continue her education. She moved to Cairo to succeed her studies earning a Master's degree and finally writing her PhD on 'The Desert Novel in the Arabic Literature' at Cairo University.
And though she might seem to be limited in her literary background, remember that many of the folk narratives origin from the orally transmitted folk lores being told in tents, at fireplaces, at bed times; oral literature that has been passed down from one generation to the next giving those who were taught to read and write the opportunity to collect, transform and introduce it to a wider audience.
When Miral published her first book Riem al-barai al-mostahila (The Exceptional Steppe Antelope), a collection of short stories in 1995, she was actually presenting the oral literature her grandmother had passed on to her children and grandchildren.
Her first novel Al-Khibaa (The Tent) was published in 1996 by Hosni Soliman, owner of Dar Sharqiyyat who had already published several acclaimed Egyptian authors. Two other novels followed: Al-Badhingana al-zarqa (The Blue Aubergine) in 1998 and Naquarat al-Zibae (Gazelle Tracks) in 2002. With her second novel Al-Badhingana al-zarga (The Blue Aubergine), Miral won the state's literary encouragement price in 2000 becoming the first female writer in Egypt to win this prize.
In 2007, Miral decided to move further in her education and became assistant professor at the Appalachian State University of North Carolina in the foreign languages department additionally becoming coordinator of their Arabic programme. At the moment, Miral is assistant professor at Arizona State University.
Obviously, her background does not haunt her but encourages her to write about the tradition, the culture, the myths but also the alienation and pain that is cutting through families and its members being confronted with the modern times and its developments.
Her latest novel, Burukilin Hayts (Brooklyn Heights, 2010), depicts the life of an Egyptian women who immigrated to the United States. With this novel, Miral won the prestigious Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature and was nominated for the Arabic Booker Prize in 2011.
And now, Miral will be present at two events at the Literature Festival in Den Haag: on Friday Night Unlimited and Saturday Night Unlimited. Check their website for more information!
Becoming a praised author, being invited to various literary events, discussed and highlighted at universities around the globe, that is certainly not what was apparent on its way for Miral al-Tahawy; quite the contrary: she was born in Sharqiya to a family who is part of the Bedouin al-Hanadi tribe in the Al Sharqia Governorate, north-east to Cairo in Egypt. An old Bedouin tribe with strong traditional structures in which Miral was not allowed to leave her home without the company of a male family member. But she and her sister were lucky: her father, a progressive Bedouin, acknowledged his daughters' right to education and so they were sent to school. Afterwards Miral went to Zagazig University to gain her B.A. in Arabic literature. This gave her the comfort to become a school teacher supporting herself while other young women of the tribe had to marry.
Though supported at first by her father her 'Bildungsweg' clashed severely with her family when Miral decided to continue her education. She moved to Cairo to succeed her studies earning a Master's degree and finally writing her PhD on 'The Desert Novel in the Arabic Literature' at Cairo University.
And though she might seem to be limited in her literary background, remember that many of the folk narratives origin from the orally transmitted folk lores being told in tents, at fireplaces, at bed times; oral literature that has been passed down from one generation to the next giving those who were taught to read and write the opportunity to collect, transform and introduce it to a wider audience.
When Miral published her first book Riem al-barai al-mostahila (The Exceptional Steppe Antelope), a collection of short stories in 1995, she was actually presenting the oral literature her grandmother had passed on to her children and grandchildren.
Her first novel Al-Khibaa (The Tent) was published in 1996 by Hosni Soliman, owner of Dar Sharqiyyat who had already published several acclaimed Egyptian authors. Two other novels followed: Al-Badhingana al-zarqa (The Blue Aubergine) in 1998 and Naquarat al-Zibae (Gazelle Tracks) in 2002. With her second novel Al-Badhingana al-zarga (The Blue Aubergine), Miral won the state's literary encouragement price in 2000 becoming the first female writer in Egypt to win this prize.
In 2007, Miral decided to move further in her education and became assistant professor at the Appalachian State University of North Carolina in the foreign languages department additionally becoming coordinator of their Arabic programme. At the moment, Miral is assistant professor at Arizona State University.
Obviously, her background does not haunt her but encourages her to write about the tradition, the culture, the myths but also the alienation and pain that is cutting through families and its members being confronted with the modern times and its developments.
Her latest novel, Burukilin Hayts (Brooklyn Heights, 2010), depicts the life of an Egyptian women who immigrated to the United States. With this novel, Miral won the prestigious Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature and was nominated for the Arabic Booker Prize in 2011.
And now, Miral will be present at two events at the Literature Festival in Den Haag: on Friday Night Unlimited and Saturday Night Unlimited. Check their website for more information!
Quote of the Month - November 2013
"'Agnes was not always this way,' she says. 'Before she was like you and me. And then she became crossed.' She removes the stool from beneath her, brushes the seat and sets it down.
'Please.'
Kai sits.
She offers him some of the groundnuts and leaves the room with Ishmail. Kai prepares to wait.
How many hours he sat there he would not later recall. At some point the boy, sleepy and tired of waiting outside, crept in to be with him and Kai allowed him to stay, sheltered beneath the wing of his arm. People were sent for. A neighbour. A young woman without a smile. An older woman with a creased face and white hair. Kai waited and listened without interrupting or speaking except to greet each new arrival, watch while they took a seat and were told what was required of them. He didn't speak even when they faltered; he offered no solace but left it to others. Each person told a part of the same story. And in telling another's story, they told their own. Kai took what they had given him and placed it together with what he already knew and those things Adrian had told him.
This was Agnes's story, the story of Agnes and Naasu. In hushed voices, told behind a curtain in a quiet room and in the eye of the night, from the lips of many. By the time the last speaker had finished the moon was well past its zenith and Kai understood the storytellers' courage."
From The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (2010)
'Please.'
Kai sits.
She offers him some of the groundnuts and leaves the room with Ishmail. Kai prepares to wait.
How many hours he sat there he would not later recall. At some point the boy, sleepy and tired of waiting outside, crept in to be with him and Kai allowed him to stay, sheltered beneath the wing of his arm. People were sent for. A neighbour. A young woman without a smile. An older woman with a creased face and white hair. Kai waited and listened without interrupting or speaking except to greet each new arrival, watch while they took a seat and were told what was required of them. He didn't speak even when they faltered; he offered no solace but left it to others. Each person told a part of the same story. And in telling another's story, they told their own. Kai took what they had given him and placed it together with what he already knew and those things Adrian had told him.
This was Agnes's story, the story of Agnes and Naasu. In hushed voices, told behind a curtain in a quiet room and in the eye of the night, from the lips of many. By the time the last speaker had finished the moon was well past its zenith and Kai understood the storytellers' courage."
From The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (2010)
Aminatta Forna *1964
From the former student, Evie Wyld, we come to a Professor at Bath Spa University: Aminatta Forna, born in Glasgow, Scotland, UK is holding the position of Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University next to her current post of Sterling Brown Distinguished Visiting Professor at Williams College, Massachusetts in the US. And, and this is in reference to the current subject of The English Book Club that I run, she is also winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 'Best Book Award' of 2011 with her novel The Memory of Love.
When I learned about the various places she lived throughout her past life I was wondering, referring to my post in May this year, which place she would call 'home', which place she would 'return to': Aminatta was raised in Sierra Leone, being her father's background, and Britain, being her mother's background, with periods in Iran, Thailand and Zambia. Presently, she lives in London but regularly spends time in Sierra Leone where she has been running a school project, the Rogbonko Project, since 2003.
She also worked for the BBC as reporter and document maker and is known for several documentaries on Africa. One of my favourites: The Lost Libraries of Timbuktu, the documentary on "its long-hidden legacy of hundreds of thousands of ancient manuscripts" (see 'link' to the BBC).
How to present an author showered with awards: her first book The Devil that Danced on the Water (2002) was runner up to the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2003 and chosen for the Barnes & Nobel Discover New Writers Series. Her second novel Ancestor Stones (2006) was winner of the Hurston Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction, the LiBeraturpreis in Germany and the Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize, additionally nominated for the International Dublin IMPAC Award. The Memory of Love (2010), Aminatta's third novel, was not only winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 'Best Book Award', as mentioned above, but also short-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2011, the IMPAC Award in 2012, the Warwick Prize 2011 and nominated for the European Prize for Fiction in 2013. Her latest novel, The Hired Man had only been published in March 2013 and already highly acclaimed.
But it is obvious that Aminatta does not work and write for praise or prizes - she is too much concerned and involved about the various forms of private and official conflicts. When I learned about her background, her father had been imprisoned twice and hanged in 1975, and her works, the way she tries to 'handle' guilt, shame, anger and loss after wartimes, it all reminded me of Tahmima Anam (presented here on May 2012) also trying to come to terms with the "wounds that war leaves on souls" (quote by Tahmima, see also May 2012) or as someone once said: "War does not end with a peace contract"(unfortunately, I cannot recall who said or wrote it).
At the moment, I am reading her third novel, The Memory of Love: about the various characters and their lives in Africa and how they and history weave together leaving no one untouched, not even the expats, thinking to be only observers or onlookers. It's not because the book received all the prizes and praise that I am reading the novel at the moment. My main interest in reading the novel is to be prepared when she will be part of the Dutch literary festival "Writers Unlimited" in January 2014 in Den Haag. Check their site for dates and schedules. I am sure that it will be an interesting meeting with an outstanding author! Expect more from her on my blog.
When I learned about the various places she lived throughout her past life I was wondering, referring to my post in May this year, which place she would call 'home', which place she would 'return to': Aminatta was raised in Sierra Leone, being her father's background, and Britain, being her mother's background, with periods in Iran, Thailand and Zambia. Presently, she lives in London but regularly spends time in Sierra Leone where she has been running a school project, the Rogbonko Project, since 2003.
She also worked for the BBC as reporter and document maker and is known for several documentaries on Africa. One of my favourites: The Lost Libraries of Timbuktu, the documentary on "its long-hidden legacy of hundreds of thousands of ancient manuscripts" (see 'link' to the BBC).
How to present an author showered with awards: her first book The Devil that Danced on the Water (2002) was runner up to the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2003 and chosen for the Barnes & Nobel Discover New Writers Series. Her second novel Ancestor Stones (2006) was winner of the Hurston Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction, the LiBeraturpreis in Germany and the Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize, additionally nominated for the International Dublin IMPAC Award. The Memory of Love (2010), Aminatta's third novel, was not only winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 'Best Book Award', as mentioned above, but also short-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2011, the IMPAC Award in 2012, the Warwick Prize 2011 and nominated for the European Prize for Fiction in 2013. Her latest novel, The Hired Man had only been published in March 2013 and already highly acclaimed.
But it is obvious that Aminatta does not work and write for praise or prizes - she is too much concerned and involved about the various forms of private and official conflicts. When I learned about her background, her father had been imprisoned twice and hanged in 1975, and her works, the way she tries to 'handle' guilt, shame, anger and loss after wartimes, it all reminded me of Tahmima Anam (presented here on May 2012) also trying to come to terms with the "wounds that war leaves on souls" (quote by Tahmima, see also May 2012) or as someone once said: "War does not end with a peace contract"(unfortunately, I cannot recall who said or wrote it).
At the moment, I am reading her third novel, The Memory of Love: about the various characters and their lives in Africa and how they and history weave together leaving no one untouched, not even the expats, thinking to be only observers or onlookers. It's not because the book received all the prizes and praise that I am reading the novel at the moment. My main interest in reading the novel is to be prepared when she will be part of the Dutch literary festival "Writers Unlimited" in January 2014 in Den Haag. Check their site for dates and schedules. I am sure that it will be an interesting meeting with an outstanding author! Expect more from her on my blog.
Quote of the Month - October 2013
"In the morning Greg traces the scars with his fingers.
'Those are hell good,' he says with real admiration in his voice.
'How'd you get 'em?'
I turn and look at him and feel that countdown, how it could go either way. 'Bad relationship.' Greg shifts up the bed and puts his hand on the back of my neck, like there's something I deserve comfort for. I can let myself believe it just for now that I am some kind of victim. He lifts my hair up and I can feel him looking. He kisses the top bone of my spine and says, 'I'll kill him.' And there it is, the lie, and it becomes real, another contract signed, stamped and dated."
From 'After the Hedland', an excerpt from All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld (published 2013; the excerpt in GRANTA, Issue 123, 2013)
'Those are hell good,' he says with real admiration in his voice.
'How'd you get 'em?'
I turn and look at him and feel that countdown, how it could go either way. 'Bad relationship.' Greg shifts up the bed and puts his hand on the back of my neck, like there's something I deserve comfort for. I can let myself believe it just for now that I am some kind of victim. He lifts my hair up and I can feel him looking. He kisses the top bone of my spine and says, 'I'll kill him.' And there it is, the lie, and it becomes real, another contract signed, stamped and dated."
From 'After the Hedland', an excerpt from All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld (published 2013; the excerpt in GRANTA, Issue 123, 2013)
Evie Wyld *1980
Another author from the EdBookFest 2013: Evie Wyld presenting her second novel All the Birds, Singing. And another of the GRANTA 'Best of Young British Novelists' 2013 presented on this blog: May '13: Zadie Smith, June '12: Kamila Shamsie and May '12: Tahmima Anam.
Evie's first novel After the Fire, A Still Small Voice was published in 2009 and received the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Betty Trask Award while shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers, the Commonwealth Writer's Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. On top of all, she was listed for the Culture Show's Best New British Novelist in 2011. A strong beginning and a very impressive one as well.
In contrast, her stories, and especially her characters, are certainly not to entertain the reader. They are broken lives with broken backgrounds. When I read the excerpt in GRANTA, I was puzzled by the protagonist: is it a male or female character, the way she is set in this male dominated world of sheep shearers? Additionally, Jake is not particularly a female name. In an interview with Culture Street Evie even claims: "I wanted a person as a protagonist, rather than a romantic lead" which set me thinking about other female characters.
Interesting to see someone that young focusing on disturbing her readership. But Evie, obviously, loves to irritate: she revealed in an interview with GRANTA magazine in 2008 that she grew up in Peckham Rye, UK, and not as previously boasted in Australia, well having dual nationality. As she is frequently going back and forth between the two countries "the feeling of homesickness is what drives a lot of my writing, and so far I haven't quite worked out which country is home" (GRANTA, 11 May 2008). Whereas she dreamt of becoming a painter she realized that she was stronger in storytelling. So she turned to Creative Writing and obtained her B.A. from Bath Spa University and an M.A. from Goldsmiths, at the University of London.
Another quote: "I am interested in the idea that it's not the person who is brute but that the things that happen are brutish" (GRANTA, 2008). The brutishness of wartimes which is the background of Evie's first novel is skilfully summarized by Elizabeth O'Reilly on the BC website: "In Wyld's poignant and masterful portrait of several generations of one family, there is no individual person who can be pinpointed as the source of blame, for each one is caught up in a complex web of dysfunctional family relationships exacerbated by the devastating effects of war and bereavement. The history of war in the family goes back generations: Leon's parents, Roman and Maureen, are European immigrants who escaped the Nazi holocaust and emigrated to Australia. [...] As Maureen fears, Roman never recovers from the psychological effects of war, and the damage that is subsequently inflicted on Leon [...] is in turn passed on to the next generation, Frank." (British Council). And here we go again: though Evie is from another time and background, the devastating effects of WWII echo on (see my previous blog).
Do read her novels because Evie is considered a very gifted writer: "Her pacing is impeccable and the trickle of information she marshals lends tension and compassion to Jake's troubled, solitary existence. How did she get those scars on her back? What could have happened in Australia that makes standing in a field, the wind whipping sheep dung in her face, preferable?" (Tim Lewis in The Observer). Certainly, a rewarding new experience of a new way of seeing the world that surrounds us. I will keep trace of this notable young author and you informed!
Evie's first novel After the Fire, A Still Small Voice was published in 2009 and received the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Betty Trask Award while shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers, the Commonwealth Writer's Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. On top of all, she was listed for the Culture Show's Best New British Novelist in 2011. A strong beginning and a very impressive one as well.
In contrast, her stories, and especially her characters, are certainly not to entertain the reader. They are broken lives with broken backgrounds. When I read the excerpt in GRANTA, I was puzzled by the protagonist: is it a male or female character, the way she is set in this male dominated world of sheep shearers? Additionally, Jake is not particularly a female name. In an interview with Culture Street Evie even claims: "I wanted a person as a protagonist, rather than a romantic lead" which set me thinking about other female characters.
Interesting to see someone that young focusing on disturbing her readership. But Evie, obviously, loves to irritate: she revealed in an interview with GRANTA magazine in 2008 that she grew up in Peckham Rye, UK, and not as previously boasted in Australia, well having dual nationality. As she is frequently going back and forth between the two countries "the feeling of homesickness is what drives a lot of my writing, and so far I haven't quite worked out which country is home" (GRANTA, 11 May 2008). Whereas she dreamt of becoming a painter she realized that she was stronger in storytelling. So she turned to Creative Writing and obtained her B.A. from Bath Spa University and an M.A. from Goldsmiths, at the University of London.
Another quote: "I am interested in the idea that it's not the person who is brute but that the things that happen are brutish" (GRANTA, 2008). The brutishness of wartimes which is the background of Evie's first novel is skilfully summarized by Elizabeth O'Reilly on the BC website: "In Wyld's poignant and masterful portrait of several generations of one family, there is no individual person who can be pinpointed as the source of blame, for each one is caught up in a complex web of dysfunctional family relationships exacerbated by the devastating effects of war and bereavement. The history of war in the family goes back generations: Leon's parents, Roman and Maureen, are European immigrants who escaped the Nazi holocaust and emigrated to Australia. [...] As Maureen fears, Roman never recovers from the psychological effects of war, and the damage that is subsequently inflicted on Leon [...] is in turn passed on to the next generation, Frank." (British Council). And here we go again: though Evie is from another time and background, the devastating effects of WWII echo on (see my previous blog).
Do read her novels because Evie is considered a very gifted writer: "Her pacing is impeccable and the trickle of information she marshals lends tension and compassion to Jake's troubled, solitary existence. How did she get those scars on her back? What could have happened in Australia that makes standing in a field, the wind whipping sheep dung in her face, preferable?" (Tim Lewis in The Observer). Certainly, a rewarding new experience of a new way of seeing the world that surrounds us. I will keep trace of this notable young author and you informed!
Quote of the Month - September 2013
We the Peoples of the United Nations Determined
* to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
* to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
* to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
* to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom
Beginning of the Preamble of the Charter of the United Nations (1945)
* to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
* to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
* to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
* to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom
Beginning of the Preamble of the Charter of the United Nations (1945)
Judith Kerr *1923
Still, 68 years after the birth of the United Nations there are too many wars raging - terrible scenes of mistreaded children, men and women from numerous countries flicker on the screens of the various media - you'd think we've learned from a single one?!
It was WWII and its cruelties and sufferings which caused various countries to unite - the birth of the UN.
The time I have read Judith Kerr's book When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit (D: Als Hitler das rosa Kaninchen stahl; NL:?) I was in my teenage years. WWII seemed a long time ago. I was very much impressed by Judith's recollection of her time fleeing Germany and adjusting to a new life in various countries, her obstacles and fears. A very personal and impressive book reaching out to the young ones as it is written from the point of view of Anna, the youngest child.
To me then, Judith as an author must have seemed an 'old woman', somewhere above the 40s and nearly dying - as one thinks when under the 20s (she was actually 50 when her book was translated into German). So growing up myself, I forgot about her. The more I was overwhelmed to learn that she was to read at the Edinburgh Book Festival this year celebrating her life and work at her 90th birthday. I wish I could have gone...
Again, Judith is not a very unknown author: English readers probably remember mainly her children's books as The Tiger Who Came to Tea and her 17 books on Mog, the cat. German readers on the other hand remember her mainly from When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and the other two books of the trilogy. Nevertheless, I still think that Judith is an important literary figure to be mentioned on this blog. Obviously, she isn't widely known to Dutch readers as there are only four books translated and non of her trilogy on her childhood experiences.
Judith Kerr was born in Berlin, Germany. Her father, Alfred Kerr (née Kempner), was an influential essayist and theatre critic, widely known in Germany as the 'culture pope' (His influence on actors is also mentioned in Charles Lewinsky's book on Kurt Gerron (D: Gerron; NL: Terugkeer ongewenst; UK:?) who had once been a famous actor and film director in Berlin). Judith spent her early childhood years in Berlin, growing up in a safe and comfortable surrounding. In 1933, when the NSDAP won the election and Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, Alfred Kerr who had been publicly scathing the party and its leader was warned by a friend to leave Germany. The family followed and met the father in Switzerland, moving on to France where they lived for two years. They finally settled in the UK in 1936 where Judith worked as a Red Cross Nurse during WWII. After the war Judith visited the Central School of Arts and Crafts (Now: Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design) where she studied the art of illustration which became her profession. Later on she worked at the BBC where she met her husband Nigel Kneale, both working as screenwriters. They have two children, Matthew a successful writer, and Tacy who works in the special effects industry.
Numerous readings with Judith at various book festivals in the UK (Brighton, Hay, Edinburgh) as well as numerous articles in newspapers in the UK and abroad featuring her life and work mark her 90th birthday this year. At the Bilderbuchmuseum ('Museum of the Illustrated Book'; sorry, no English language site) at Troisdorf close to Bonn (D) a special exhibition showed her book illustrations. An initiative by the journalist Ute Wegmann who interviewed Judith in 2011 in which Judith confesses that she is first an illustrator and only second an author: 'It is about seeing the world and wanting to rearrange it the way you would like it'. Part of the interview with Judith can be listened to while Ute herself is being interviewed for the opening of the exhibition (WDR3, mainly German, parts in English). http://www.wdr3.de/literatur/kolumba134.html
But all of you (myself included) who couldn't make it to the Edinburgh Book Festival this year: the EdBookFest has put her reading online - feel free to klick on the link to listen to Judith's reading at the festival herself. https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/media-gallery/item/kerr-judith
P.S.: For those who agree with the remark that her experience sounds too 'nice' - there is a book by Myron Levoy called Alan and Naomi (D: Der Gelbe Vogel) which is showing the hideous effects of the harassements on children, even after the war had ended...
It was WWII and its cruelties and sufferings which caused various countries to unite - the birth of the UN.
The time I have read Judith Kerr's book When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit (D: Als Hitler das rosa Kaninchen stahl; NL:?) I was in my teenage years. WWII seemed a long time ago. I was very much impressed by Judith's recollection of her time fleeing Germany and adjusting to a new life in various countries, her obstacles and fears. A very personal and impressive book reaching out to the young ones as it is written from the point of view of Anna, the youngest child.
To me then, Judith as an author must have seemed an 'old woman', somewhere above the 40s and nearly dying - as one thinks when under the 20s (she was actually 50 when her book was translated into German). So growing up myself, I forgot about her. The more I was overwhelmed to learn that she was to read at the Edinburgh Book Festival this year celebrating her life and work at her 90th birthday. I wish I could have gone...
Again, Judith is not a very unknown author: English readers probably remember mainly her children's books as The Tiger Who Came to Tea and her 17 books on Mog, the cat. German readers on the other hand remember her mainly from When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and the other two books of the trilogy. Nevertheless, I still think that Judith is an important literary figure to be mentioned on this blog. Obviously, she isn't widely known to Dutch readers as there are only four books translated and non of her trilogy on her childhood experiences.
Judith Kerr was born in Berlin, Germany. Her father, Alfred Kerr (née Kempner), was an influential essayist and theatre critic, widely known in Germany as the 'culture pope' (His influence on actors is also mentioned in Charles Lewinsky's book on Kurt Gerron (D: Gerron; NL: Terugkeer ongewenst; UK:?) who had once been a famous actor and film director in Berlin). Judith spent her early childhood years in Berlin, growing up in a safe and comfortable surrounding. In 1933, when the NSDAP won the election and Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, Alfred Kerr who had been publicly scathing the party and its leader was warned by a friend to leave Germany. The family followed and met the father in Switzerland, moving on to France where they lived for two years. They finally settled in the UK in 1936 where Judith worked as a Red Cross Nurse during WWII. After the war Judith visited the Central School of Arts and Crafts (Now: Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design) where she studied the art of illustration which became her profession. Later on she worked at the BBC where she met her husband Nigel Kneale, both working as screenwriters. They have two children, Matthew a successful writer, and Tacy who works in the special effects industry.
Numerous readings with Judith at various book festivals in the UK (Brighton, Hay, Edinburgh) as well as numerous articles in newspapers in the UK and abroad featuring her life and work mark her 90th birthday this year. At the Bilderbuchmuseum ('Museum of the Illustrated Book'; sorry, no English language site) at Troisdorf close to Bonn (D) a special exhibition showed her book illustrations. An initiative by the journalist Ute Wegmann who interviewed Judith in 2011 in which Judith confesses that she is first an illustrator and only second an author: 'It is about seeing the world and wanting to rearrange it the way you would like it'. Part of the interview with Judith can be listened to while Ute herself is being interviewed for the opening of the exhibition (WDR3, mainly German, parts in English). http://www.wdr3.de/literatur/kolumba134.html
But all of you (myself included) who couldn't make it to the Edinburgh Book Festival this year: the EdBookFest has put her reading online - feel free to klick on the link to listen to Judith's reading at the festival herself. https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/media-gallery/item/kerr-judith
P.S.: For those who agree with the remark that her experience sounds too 'nice' - there is a book by Myron Levoy called Alan and Naomi (D: Der Gelbe Vogel) which is showing the hideous effects of the harassements on children, even after the war had ended...
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