Frankfurt Book Fair 2013

The figures of Jasmin Ramadan and Carola Saavedra have one thing in common: the will to escape from one’s own life at least for a little while, to venture a new beginning. They fled from a shattered three-way relationship, from an oddball family, from Hamburg’s lower class social background – only to realise that the past stays with you in the present. The unusually-structured, laconically-told novel “Paisagem com dromedário” (Landcape with dromedary) by Brazilian author Carola Saavedra – which was published in German this year – transports the reader to an almost unreal island. With “Das Schwein unter den Fischen” (Pig among fish) Jasmin Ramadan – who made her debut in 2009 with “Soul Kitchen” – published the amusing, touching and true-to-life story of a fresh start. She will be working in Brazil in November within the structure of an author residency sponsored by the Goethe-Institut. The two authors talk about their novels and life as an author in Germany and Brazil, as well as ideas and clichés associated with both countries.

Cooperation: Goethe-Institut, ARTE