Charles Lewinsky’s Halfbeard longlisted for the German Book Prize

Charles Lewinsky’s latest novel Halfbeard is one of the titles longlisted for the German Book Prize 2020.

The longlist is comprised of 20 novels, out of which the jury will select six titles for the shortlist, to be announced on 15 September 2020. The award ceremony will be held in October. The annual prize, which comes with an honorarium of EUR 37’500, is awarded by the Foundation for Book Culture and the Promotion of Reading of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. 

Furthermore, Halfbeard soared straight to the top of the Swiss bestseller list on publication – and we have just received a first offer for Italian rights.

The novel's teenage hero and narrator Sebi is not exactly tailored to the rough medieval world he’s born into: gifted with youthful wisdom, he is more of a storyteller than a warhorse. With these qualities, he hardly meets the demands of life in a rural Swiss village in 1313. However from Halfbeard, a stranger from a distant region, the boy discovers both the good and the bad in humanity – and comes into his own as he dedicates himself to the power of narration: the truth is in the telling.

Charles Lewinsky’s works have been published in 14 languages so far.

Here’s the first bit of praise for Halfbeard by the press:

»Like this figure its creator Charles Lewinsky is a storytelling machine who proves his versatility in his new novel Halfbeard.« 
Tobias Sedlmaier / NZZ am Sonntag, Zurich

»The art of storytelling is critically examined and rapturously appreciated. That is both a celebration and a joy.« 
Martin Oehlen / Frankfurter Rundschau, Frankfurt

»But he also tells touching, moving events, he portrays highly differentiated characters with inner lives that cannot be fully unearthed.« 
Roman Bucheli / NZZ, Zurich

»Above all Lewinsky reveals the power stories possess and what terrible realities can come out of them.«
Fabienne Nägeli / SRF 2, Zurich

»The lines between fiction and reality blur. This is what good literature is.«
Frank Pommer / Die Rheinpfalz, Ludwigshafen

»Exciting, funny and drastic, distressing and sensitive – and saturated with a melancholy faith in reason.«
Hansruedi Kugler / Aargauer Zeitung

»Lewinsky is in top form with his narrative exuberance.«
Rico Bandle / Der Bund, Bern

Please let us know if you would like to see the English sample of Halfbeard. 
 

Daniela Krien receives the Saxonian Prize for Literature

Daniela Krien will receive this year’s Saxonian Prize for Literature (Sächsischer Literaturpreis) for her work. The award comes with an honorarium of EUR 10,000, donated by the federal state of Saxony’s Literary Council and the Ministry of Science, Culture and Tourism. The award ceremony will be held at the beginning of December 2020. 

Jury chairperson Undine Materni gives the following reasons for their choice: »Daniela Krien’s debut in 2011 was a remarkable novel, the title of which can be read as a programme for her literary intention: Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything. It is this arc of suspense between someday and everything which is narrated in the best possible sense: atmospherically, accurately, without mercy, in a clear and sensuous voice that follows its own rhythm.«

The Saxonian Prize for Literature was established in 2012 and is awarded every two years. It is aimed at authors with a connection to Saxony and can be awarded for a single exceptional publication or for their oeuvre up to this point.

Rights of Daniela Krien's work have so far been sold for 20 languages.

Now published in translation: Benedict Wells' Almost ingenious

Dutch edition by Meulenhoff

Now published in translation: Daniela Krien's Love in Case of Emergency

Danish edition by Arvids, where her debut novel Someday We'll Tell Each Other Everything was already published.

If it is humour we need, ...

... a little Dürrenmatt always helps:

Zeno: We cannot afford the luxury of petty suspicions between our two empires. We have to save our culture now.
Romulus: Why, is culture something that you can save?

from: Romulus the Great, premiered 1949 in Basel

Praised by the press: Kalmann by Joachim B. Schmidt

»It can get pretty dark beneath a polar bear.«

Kalmann is the self-appointed sheriff of Raufarhöfn, and has everything under control. There’s no need to worry. Day by day, he treks the wide plains which surround the almost deserted village, hunts Arctic foxes and lays shark bait in the sea — to process the fish into the Icelandic fermented delicacy, hákarl. But inside Kalmann’s head, the wheels sometimes spin backwards. One winter, after he discovers a pool of blood in the snow, the swiftly unfolding events threaten to overwhelm him. But with his naive wisdom and pure-hearted courage, he makes sure everything takes a turn for the better. There’s no need to worry.

»This is an incredibly funny, highly suspenseful, very beautiful and affectionate novel.« 
Johannes Kößler / ORF, Vienna

»A gripping novel with a light criminal plot.« 
Pia Zesilsky / WDR 2 Lesen, Cologne

»He lets the Icelandic world shine from within and you grow fond of the main character.«  
Manfred Papst / NZZ am Sonntag, Zurich

Gatopardo Ediciones are going to publish Joachim B. Schmidt’s Kalmann in Spanish.

Please let us know if you would like to see the English sample of Kalmann.

Rights of Bernhard Schlink’s Colours of Farewell sold for 9 languages

Colours of Farewell is going to be published in 9 languages – so far. We will keep you posted. The book has remained in the top ten of the Spiegel bestseller list for six weeks, and counting.

And the press is still raving:
»Schlink possesses an unmistakable sense for unexpected turns of events, for drama and suspense.«
Lothar Schröder / Rheinische Post, Düsseldorf

»Bernhard Schlink understands how to put a whole life into the small shape of a story.« 
Britta Helmbold / Ruhr Nachrichten, Dortmund

»Powerful stories, told without frills.« 
Manfred Papst / NZZ am Sonntag, Zurich

»There are few authors who can fill the pages of a book with such simple elegance.« 
Günter Keil / Landshuter Zeitung, Landshut
 

#30 on the Spiegel bestseller list: Doris Dörrie, The World on a Plate

When Doris Dörrie writes about food, it reads as though she’s embracing the entire world. She tells of melon moments from her childhood, of pure pasta joy and her love for hearty soups. She encourages us to be grateful for onigiri and ponders cultural tolerance over Valencian paella. She rethinks her consumption of eggs on account of a chicken called Brownie, and we learn how to connect with ourselves in the kitchen while chopping, grating and kneading.

Doris Dörrie’s stories about food stay with us, and give us an appetite — both for food and life itself.

The World on a Plate started out at  #30 of the Spiegel bestseller list upon publication. 

Just published: Petros Markaris, Times of Hypocrisy

Petros Markaris’ latest Greek mystery novel Times of Hypocrisy, just released in August, would have fit last month’s newsletter: a suspense novel with a touch of holidays. 

The press agrees:
»A thrilling yet pleasingly never hectic Greek crime novel.« 
Franziska Trost / Kronen Zeitung, Vienna

»Markaris’ novels aspire to show social realities without falling into the trap of overzealousness.«
Torsten Kohlschein / Freie Presse, Chemnitz

Foreign rights sold:
Catalan: Tusquets
Danish: Solidaritet
French: Seuil
Italian: La Nave di Teseo
Spanish: Tusquets