The Department of German at NYU and Deutsches Haus at NYU present a reading by acclaimed author Marlene Streeruwitz, currently the DAAD Chair for Contemporary Poetics at NYU’s Department of German, from her latest novel, Days in May (S. Fischer Verlage, 2023); followed by a conversation – about the influence of Covid and war(s) on Marlene Streeruwitz’s thought process and writing practice – with renowned Germanist, writer, and mastermind of @neinquarterly, Eric Jarosinski. Welcoming remarks will be provided by Benedict Brisch (Director DAAD North America and Director DWIH-German Center for Research and Innovation New York) and the event will be introduced by Ulrich Baer (NYU).

About the book:

Konstanze is a translator, coming up for air after the COVID-19 lockdown. Veronica has dropped out of university and faces a future without the promise of happiness. The certainty in the connection between mother and daughter seems severed, conversations only possible over shared Netflix evenings. Marlene Streeruwitz's Days in May is a virtuoso novel that uses alternating perspectives to thematize alienation in a world in which war and conspiracy theories are once again becoming part of everyday life.

About the speakers:

Marlene Streeruwitz, born in Baden near Vienna, studied Slavic studies and art history. She began her career working as a director and author of plays and radio plays. She has received numerous awards for her novels, including most recently the Bremen Literature Prize and the Prize of the Literature Houses. Her novel Die Schmerzmacherin was shortlisted for the German Book Prize in 2011. Her novel Flammenwand was longlisted for the German Book Prize in 2019.

Eric Jarosinski is a writer, speaker, and German scholar. He is best known, however, as the editor of @NeinQuarterly, a Compendium of Utopian Negation found on Twitter

Date and Time: 5:30 - 7:00 pm on Monday, May 1st 2023

Location: In-person at Deutsches Haus at NYU, 42 Washington Mews, New York, NY 10003

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