English (US) rights of Love in Case of Emergency sold to HarperVia

We have sold English (US) rights of Daniela Krien’s Love in Case of Emergency to HarperVia, the new HarperCollins imprint headed by Judith Curr. Recent rights sales also include Chinese rights (for simplified characters) to Beijing October Literature & Art and Romanian rights to Humanitas. As of today, Love in Case of Emergency will therefore be published in a total of 13 languages. Moreover, we are about to sell the film rights.

In terms of domestic sales, we also had reason to celebrate: More than 100'000 copies of the German edition of Daniela Krien’s Love in Case of Emergency have been sold so far! The book cracked the six-digit figure on 8 August and has been on the Spiegel bestseller list for almost half a year now, including three times at #1.

Please find the full list of publishers and languages here:
Catalan (Bromera) 
Chinese/CN (Beijing October Literature & Art)
Danish (Arvids) 
Dutch (Ambo|Anthos) 
English/UK (MacLehose Press) 
English/US (HarperVia)
French (Albin Michel) 
Italian (Corbaccio) 
Lithuanian (Gelmes)
Romanian (Humanitas)
Slovenian (Mladinska Knjiga)
Spanish (Grijalbo)

Just published and praised by the press: Andrej Kurkow Grey Bees

Beekeeper Sergej lives in Donbass, where Ukrainian fighters and pro-Russian separatists exchange gunfire on a daily basis. He survives by following the motto: Hear nothing, see nothing – stay out of it. His only concern is the well-being of his bees. Because while mankind wreaks havoc the bees’ world continues to be ruled by intelligent order and wonderful productivity. One spring, he sets off: He wants to bring the bees to a region where they can collect nectar in peace.

Grey Bees is a novel about a war that has almost been forgotten, a novel full of atmosphere and wisdom, which forces the reader to slow down, reminding him of what matters most: preserving the integrity of nature.

»With Grey Bees, Andrej Kurkow has produced a sharply-drawn picture of the festering conflict in the Ukraine, one from which the rest of Europe has long since averted its gaze.« 
Sigrid Löffler / Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Cologne

»Kurkow tells Sergej’s story in a predominantly light and humorous tone, but frequently interweaves grotesque scenes of destruction.«
Gisela Erbslöh / SWR2, Baden-Baden

»It is highly impressive how Andrej Kurkow manages to create a melancholic mood in his tale of the happiness seeker Sergej without descending into pathos.« 
Terrance Albrecht / WDR 5, Cologne

»With the novel Grey Bees, the author Andrej Kurkow has once again achieved a resounding success.«
Peter Budig / Nürnberger Nachrichten

»Andrej Kurkow’s novel illustrates the life of a civil society that lives in a war without being at war themselves.«
Simona Pinwinkler / Salzburger Nachrichten

»At the same time poetic and poignant.« 
Gala, Hamburg

If you would like to review this book, the Russian original manuscript as well as Diogenes’ German translation are available. 

Here’s the list of languages and international publishers of Grey Bees to date:
Danish (Mr. East)
English/world (Quercus)
French (Liana Levi)
Italian (Keller)
Persian (Ofoq)
Russian (Folio)
Ukrainian (Folio)

Doris Dörrie’s Living, Writing, Breathing enters the Spiegel non-fiction bestseller list at #11 on publication 

Doris Dörrie’s latest book Living, Writing, Breathing soars to #11 on next week’s Spiegel non-fiction bestseller list. This extraordinary book, a blend between a writing companion and an autobiography, is an invitation to write daily, intertwined with personal memories from the great author and director Doris Dörrie.

For her, to write is to consciously perceive one’s own life, to really see what lies before our eyes. And to rediscover what we have lost or forgotten. Writing is comfort, self-assurance, accusation, and a celebration of life. In this unique book, Doris Dörrie ponders autobiographical writing and gives tips and creative guidance. And she takes her own advice, telling stories from her life with enchanting honesty.

Everyone can write. You just have to get started.

Donna Leon awarded ›Lifetime Achievement Award‹ by The Strand Magazine and Unto Us a Son is Given shortlisted for the ›Dagger‹ award 2019

Donna Leon has been awarded the ›Lifetime Achievement Award‹ by The Strand Magazine (Birmingham, USA), together with Heather Graham. 

Furthermore, Donna Leon’s Unto Us a Son is Given has made it onto the shortlist of the British Crime Writers’ Association’s ›Gold Dagger Award‹ (the main category).

The ›Dagger Award‹ for the best crime novel of the year is one of the oldest and most prestigious awards in crime writing in the English language and has been granted since 1955 (back then under the name ›Crossed Red Herrings Award‹). Today, there are ten categories of ›Dagger‹ awards. The ›Dagger Award‹ ceremony will be held on 24 October 2019. 

In 2000 Donna Leon won the ›Silver Dagger‹ for her novel Friends in High Places, a category that ceased to exist in 2005.

Unto Us a Son is Given is the 28th novel in her best-selling series about Venetian police commissioner Guido Brunetti.

Now published in translation: Bernhard Schlink Olga

Icelandic by Forlagid

»A carefully constructed plot, told with verve.« (Die Zeit) – Simone Lappert’s novel Jump has just come out and is lavishly praised

For one day and one night, a young woman holds a city in suspense. And for ten people, nothing will ever be the same again.

A young woman stands on a roof, refusing to come down. What is she thinking? Is she planning to jump? The police cordon off the building, onlookers zoom in on their phones. The woman’s boyfriend, her sister, a policeman and seven other people, directly or indirectly connected to her, miss a step. They fall out of their everyday routines, lose their grip – or take the plunge into a freedom they had no longer thought possible.

In Jump, Simone Lappert addresses the fragile equilibrium of our era. An authentic, unmistakable voice – Simone Lappert is a true find. 

»Simone Lappert is a gifted narrator: there is no question about this.«
Rainer Moritz / NZZ, Zurich

»A carefully constructed plot, told with verve.«
Anne-Sophie Scholl / Die Zeit, Hamburg  

»Simone Lappert is a stroke of luck for literature.«
Dagmar Kaindl / Buchkultur, Vienna

»In the last twenty years no other novel in this country has been as suspensefully narrated.«
Charles Linsmayer / Schaffhauser Nachrichten

»Lappert creates scenes in which the dialogue gives rise to subtly humorous comedy of the situation, giving these rather tragic figures a hint of levity.«
BuchMarkt, Meerbusch

»In this dance of the wounded Lappert is in keeping with the times and gets up close and personal with current social developments.«
Carsten Schrader / Kulturnews, Hamburg 

»Lappert brings together these lives and stories with a sure hand and connects them, sometimes closely, sometimes loosely.«
Birgit Ruf / Nürnberger Nachrichten 

Please let us know if you would like to see our English sample translation.

Chris Kraus’ Cold Blood praised by French press

Last week the French edition of Chris Kraus’ Cold Blood made headlines in Le Monde’s Friday issue – the first time after la rentrée. The full review was on the first page of the special issue Le Monde des livres. Here’s a quote:

»This barbarity which was continued in the shadows by the worst survivors, was awaiting its epic poem. Kraus has written it.«
Nicolas Weill / Le Monde, Paris 

Lukas Hartmann’s The Singer further praised by the press – English sample available

After being published three months ago, Lukas Hartmann’s novel The Singer continues to be praised by important German media:

»Joseph Schmidt’s voice did not leave anyone cold, and nor does this novel about the tenor’s life.«
Rose-Maria Gropp / Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

»A masterful balancing act.«
Elmar Krekeler / Die Welt, Berlin

»On the occasion of the author’s anniversary, Lukas Hartmann presents his compatriots with a novel which is both gripping and bitterly angry.«
Deutsche Welle, Bonn

Please let us know if you would like to receive our English sample translation.

Italian rights are sold to Ugo Guanda Editore.

Petros Markaris honoured by three literary festivals

This summer Petros Markaris has been honoured by no less than three literary festivals: He received the prize for his literary career by the literature festival El Segre de Negre, Lleida, Spain (›Premi a la trajectòria literària‹) and the ›Premio Contea di Bormio‹ by the festival La Milanesiana, Bormio, Italy. His fictional character Costas Haritos was awarded the ›Premi Cubelles Noir‹ by the Festival de Gènere Negre del Garraf, Barcelona, Spain. Obviously, Markaris didn’t send Haritos to pick up the prize, but went there himself.

Now published in translation: Bernhard Schlink Summer Lies

Italian by Neri Pozza