Reading with Renate Ahrens ‟Der andere Himmel“
The Goethe-Institut is delighted to welcome author Renate Ahrens for a reading from her latest novel Der andere Himmel on 4 March 2020. The Irish-based Swiss author Gabrielle Alioth will be introducing and moderating the evening which will be followed by a wine reception. The reading will take place in English. Attendance is free, however, booking via Eventbrite is essential.
About the book:
We were afraid we might lose our lives. Instead, we lost our happiness.
The moving autobiography of the famous writer Frank Hollmann is making headlines throughout Germany, as it tells of an attempt to escape from East Germany in the 1970s which ends in disaster. At some point Irina Lohrisch can no longer ignore the many reviews and panel discussions, no matter how hard she tries. For Irina, Frank is not just any writer, and he does not describe just any escape attempt - this story is her story, the story of the love of her life. And the testimony of a bitter betrayal. Or can there be more than one version of the truth?
Der andere Himmel | Novel | KnaurVerlag, Munich, 2019.
About the author:
Renate Ahrens, born in 1955 in Herford, Germany, studied English and French at the universities of Marburg, Lille and Hamburg, and worked as a teacher for a few years. She moved to Dublin in 1986, where her husband became professor of history at Trinity College. Since then she has been a freelance writer. She publishes in German and English, at first mainly texts for German children's radio, scripts for children's television, and a radio play for RTE. She has written many children’s books, several stage plays for adults, among them When the Wall Came Down, which had its world premiere in Dublin in 1998, and a large number of novels. Fremde Schwestern, published in 2011, made her known to a wider audience. Many of her novels and children’s books contain Irish-German elements. Her work has received several awards. Reading tours have taken her through Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the USA. She lived in Cape Town in 1996-97 and in Rome in 2002-03. In summer 2019 she and her husband left Ireland and returned to Hamburg. Renate Ahrens is a member of the PEN Centre of German-Speaking Writers Abroad.
This event is supported by the Goethe-Institut Irland and the DAAD writer-in-residence scheme in coordination with UL, NUIG and UCD.
Other upcoming readings by Renate Ahrens in Ireland include:
2 March at 10am – NUI Galway
Information Technology Building IT202 (public event)
2 March at 4pm – "Centre for Irish-German Studies", University of Limerick
Room ERB007 (public event as part of the Limericker Literaturgespräche)
5 March at 10am – University College Dublin
School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics (Reading for Students & German Speakers)