This bilingual reading brings together two writers whose works are inspired by the area around Lake Constance which encompasses parts of Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and which has long been perceived as a transnational cultural space. Alissa Walser will read from Am Anfang war die Nacht Musik (2010) [Mesmerized, trans. by Jamie Bulloch, 2012], which tells the story of the enigmatic healer Franz Mesmer. Verena Roßbacher will read from Ich war Diener im Hause Hobbs (2018) [I was a Servant in the Hobbs Household], a gripping story told through the untrustworthy eyes of the butler. 

The readings will be in German and English and followed by a Q&A.

Verena Roßbacher (*1979 in Bludenz) is an Austrian writer. She studied in Zurich and Leipzig and now lives and works in Berlin and Berne, where she teaches creative writing. Ich war Diener im Hause Hobbs is her third novel.

Alissa Walser (*1961 in Friedrichshafen) is a German writer, painter and translator. Her painterly eye is attuned to the situations of everyday life and she condenses these into precise analytical phrases.

Moderators: Jürgen Thaler (Director, Voralberger Literaturarchiv) and Rüdiger Görner (Director, Centre for Anglo-German Cultural Relations, Queen Mary University of London)

This event also forms part of the Bodensee conference (8-10 May 2019), which will approach German-speaking literatures from this region from a cross-cultural angle.  For further details and advance registration (required) click here.

The conference will also include a reading by the Swiss writer Arno Camenisch on 9 May. Further details and advance registration click here.