Reviews

Before directing her own productions, the author Jenny Erpenbeck studied dramatics and music theatre-directing and later worked as assistant director at the opera in Graz. In the 1990s, she started her career as a writer with her debut novel “Story of the Old Child”. For her works, she was awarded many prizes such as the “Solothurner Literaturpreis” and the “Preis der LiteraTourNord”. In 2008, Jenny Erpenbeck published her latest novel “Visitation”.

A house by a lake in Brandenburg forms the centre of her latest novel. It used to be her grandmother’s house until the family lost it after a trial with the original owner. Not the material loss but the memories connected to that place, made Jenny Erpenbeck begin to search for the house’s and its residents’ stories. This journey brought her to South Africa and Warsaw. Without being a documentary record, “Visitation” is the extraordinary result of her research. The facts only provide a certain structure for the story but Jenny Erpenbeck’s imagination embellishes this framework. 100 years of German history are reconstructed by the characters’ personal fates. The different residents witness the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, the war and its end, the GDR, the reunification and the time after.

In her book, Jenny Erpenbeck shows much empathy without taking sides. Her literary work has been highly praised by critics. “Der Spiegel” described “Visitation” as a “masterpiece” while “The Guardian” wrote about “an extraordinarily strong book”.

Following an invitation from the Adelaide Writers’ Festival and the Goethe-Institut, Jenny Erpenbeck is coming to Australia and will be guest author at the Writers´ Week at the Adelaide Festival:

Programdetails: Jenny Erpenbeck, Writers´ Week, Adelaide Festival


After the Adelaide Writers’ Week the author will travel to Sydney for a reading at the Goethe-Institut.

8 March 2012, 6.30pm
Jenny Erpenbeck: Visitation
Reading
Goethe-Institut Australien, Sydney