my favorite book shop in zurich, pile of books, hosts another poetry & songwriter night - this time featuring anne blonstein and bobby vacant. due to a limited number of seats, they will be playing two sets, the first one starting at 7:30 pm and the second at 9:00 pm. in any case, it is highly recommended to make reservations. admission is free, which is unusual for zurich, however, small donations would be very much appreciated.
but i've changed my mind due to the good progress i made in the past week.
i am working on my first novella.
[pregnant pause.]
and i am halfway through my second edit.
it's rather short overall, which is why i wouldn't want to call it a novel. after all, it's really only an attempt. but as this started off as a blog about my being a writer, i'd like to let you know how i proceed.
so far, i've managed to develop a story idea that has been around for a while - about a year or so - into a prose script i still enjoy working on. this is a good sign as it shows that the subject is deep enough to immerse myself in. it's a first person-narrative and there's still plenty of research to do, though, reading up on some history, looking at pictures and stuff. not necessarily because i want to incorporate everything in it, but to get in the mood for padding the draft somewhat later on. i do have a title in mind as well, which crossed my mind roughly a week ago and, in a way, drove the whole project home for me. even if it will eventually turn out to have been just a working title, having one at this point helps me focus on the essence of the text.
i am very excited about this. and happy, too, that i am finally, finally scripting. what is more, it feels good to tell you about this and to bring this blog back to its roots as a work log. having said this - i'll keep you posted.
lese eure stimmen / stimmt
dass sie in stille verschwanden
die stille die immer ist / aussen an jedem gehirn
es sind nicht die stimmen / die stimmen
es sind eure pausen / die luftholgedanken
die hängen an zeilen wie jenen die
raus sind aus eurem gekopf / aufs papier.
read your voices / right
they are now silence
like silence that's / outside of every brain
they are not voices / right
they are your silence / the deep breaths
that stick to your lines like the ones
that are outside your brainness / on paper.
DIE ZEIT has an article on johannes jansen, whom i read with at kaffee burger last december.
edition suhrkamp has published his new manifest, as they call it, this january: Im Durchgang.
there's more on johannes' work in general, adorned by one of ann cotten's drawings, over at in|ad|ae|qu|at.
harvard business publishing has suggestions on how to revise an email.
should you be more interested in learning how to revise prose, you should have a look at richard lanham's works: either the longman guide to revising prose (2006) or just revising prose (2000).
nora bossong is going to read from her second novel 'webers protokoll' on 17 april 2009 at STUDIO der schaubühne, Ku'damm 135, from 22:30 on. i haven't read that book, nor have i read 'gegend', her debut, but i do like her poetry, and am thinking that her readings might be worth a visit. as the attentive among you might know, i have been trying to translate her poem 'leichtes gefieder' before, but unfortunately to no avail (yet). cover charge for the LESbar reading is 5,- € and you can make reservations here.
der metroprolet dug out this today. (more on ron winkler @ wikipedia.)
so i didn't make it into the final 7 of the mdr literary prize. they said they received 1.890 short stories, many of which of "extraordinary quality". they will compile a book of some of those, but i certainly won't get my hopes up for being featured. it will be interesting to see who'll be going to win this prize, though. watch the readings and the award ceremony live on 4 may 2009 from 19.30 on MDR.
from the mdr literary prize team. i'm thinking that that's a bad sign, as they said they would get back in touch by the 15th of april - finalistis, it seems, should be informed in advance, since they need to make travel arrangements and stuff. well, i haven't heard anything yet, so go figure.
another thing i have been contemplating is writing a fresh piece for this year's open mike competition. it's just that i can barely write at this point. no ideas, no patience, no words. that's the worst. no words.
bluetenleser has reactivated their newsletter to inform the german-speaking world about tv and radio programmes dealing with all things literary. the following documentary sounded interesting: 9. April 2009, 23:40 Uhr, arte
WIE WIRD MAN BESTSELLER?
Dokumentation, Deutschland 2008, SWR. Erstausstrahlung
Der Erfolg eines Buches wird meist in Verkaufszahlen gemessen. Wie viel Marketing steckt hinter einem Bestseller und was haben Qualität und Erfolg miteinander zu tun? Thomas Palzer beleuchtet den deutschen und französischen Literaturbetrieb zwischen Anspruch und Big Business.
as WOAW turns two, i am looking back on my relatively unimportant existence as a writer. so far, i haven't written a novel nor published a collection of poetry. i haven't spoken to agents or publishing houses and never finished a first draft of anything substantial. i have completed a meager four short stories and was never truly happy with their final versions.
the heedful ones among you might anticipate year three of WOAW to be no more productive than year two was. well, i wouldn't know. the outcome of undertakings like a sponsored literary journey to zagreb later this year (more details to follow in time) and the mdr literary prize (what are the odds!) will certainly have an impact on my motivation to put my material out there. further out than online, i mean, if that is at all possible.
soon i'll be featured in a reknown german magazine for contemporary literature. they sent an email asking whether i'd like to submit a poem for their next issue. i was asked to submit. just like with that literary trip that i was offered. now that means success to me. and WOAW deserves credit for much of that.
you, too, deserve credit, 'cause if there wouldn't have been a loyal readership out there from the beginning, i might not have stuck with releasing my stuff to the public. and by the way, i have never understood why you guys like my work. i do see how it differs from the rest of them in style, but i do not see how it's comprehendable or just in any way important. i guess it's evidence of sorts, like proof that i have lived here and partaken. even if just as an absentee.
i like to believe that WOAW eases absence. it eases the absence of poets, translators, readers, the absence of words, and the absence of sleep. maybe to some of you even the absence of me. thank you for missing, please stick around.
+ + WOAW is on facebook + + + add WOAW to your google reader + +
thomas bernhard's prose piece meine preise. he wrote it in 1980, nine years before his death in feburary 1989. it's an angry piece, and a funny one, and most of all a brilliant one. i bought it only yesterday and have read it from cover to cover already.
another of his works i can greatly recommend is der untergeher (the loser), a fictional story around the life of famed pianist glenn gould.
habe mich leise vertanzt
in den trockenen gräsern des wildparks
hangabwärts zerstolpert
bin in deine arme gewankt
ich meine ich wäre dir mit meiner hand
in den nacken gekrochen verfallen am
zaunzeug das um uns verstand
das die tiere verhielt die lateinischen
affen und käfer und bären
uns zulaufen liess und beschnaufen
gewaltrand wo man sich noch sieht
im laub das zertreten
die schritte erinnert die kehrten.
following my high school motto, i have decided to say nothing about anything regarding books until the leipziger buchmesse is over. apart maybe from that bas böttcher has a new book out. this reminds me of a funny joke a friend of mine once made. awww, i'm in such a commemorating mood today.
