On
8 April 2021, the German author
Dörte Hansen will be our guest for the European Book Club. Together with the Irish writer Mia Gallagher, she will speak (in English) about her book "This House is Mine".
DÖRTE HANSEN: "This House is Mine"
Dörte Hansen, born in Husum in 1964, studied linguistics in Kiel and Galway. She did her doctorate in the graduate school “Multilingualism and Language Contacts” at the University of Hamburg and then worked as an editor and author for radio and print media. In her work as a sociolinguist, she dealt with small European languages such as Gaelic and Frisian. Dörte Hansen lives with her family in a village on the North Sea.
"This House is Mine" is Dörte Hansen's debut novel. It was published in 2015 and has been translated into 10 languages and into English by Anne Stokes. The novel is about Vera, who fled as a young girl in 1945 with her mother from East Prussia to a farm in the Altes Land. Sixty years later, she lives alone on that farm and is suddenly surprised by her niece. She, too, flees with her son from the middle-class Hamburg-Ottensen, where keeping up appearances is more important than being and the father of her son is cheating on her. The grumpy loner Vera acts very strangely towards the intruders on her farm. But surprisingly she finds the family she has never looked for.
MIA GALLAGHER
Mia Gallagher will moderate the event. The Irish author writes novels, short stories and non-fiction books, but was also active in the theater sector. Just like Dörte Hansen, she has her roots in northern Germany. Her grandmother moved from Mecklenburg to Ireland in the 1930s. Mia herself lived in Freiburg in the 80s and has German history flow into her novels again and again. Mia is the editor of The Stinging Fly and a member of Aosdána, an association of artists known for their positive contribution to Irish society.
EUROPEAN BOOK CLUB
The European Book Club takes place once a month with different authors from all over Europe. It is supported by the EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture) organizations in Ireland. The purpose of EUNIC is to create a lasting partnership and network between the participating institutions in order to enhance and promote cultural diversity and understanding between European societies, as well as to strengthen international dialogue and cooperation with countries outside Europe.
Next events:
6 May, 6pm GMT Spanish author Andrés Barba
3 June, 6pm GMT Irish author Anne Enright
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