Reading by Dana Grigorcea from her new novel "Die nicht sterben"

This year's reading as part of the "Erzählzeit ohne Grenzen" literary festival was particularly atmospheric. In the setting of the auditorium at the Klostergut Paradies and before a backdrop that brought the park indoors, Dana Grigorcea read several extracts from her new novel, "Die nicht sterben". It was the first open public event to be hosted on site since 2019. Around 30 guests responded to the invitation and enjoyed the personal encounters with the Iron Library team. Although the weather prevented it from taking place in the gardens, as had been hoped, the predicted storms did not materialize. That said, they might have provided soundscape fitting for a novel interwoven with the mythology of Dracula! 

The enraptured audience was taken by the narrator into a past world with foreign rituals and life rhythms but familiar sensations that called it into vivid and colorful reality in the mind's eye. The author's well-chosen extracts contrasted with one another in mood and tantalized listeners with a cross section of the novel that exhibited the painterly qualities of her writing yet without giving away the plot.

The lively discussion and question round that followed provided insights into Grigorcea's writing process, illuminating the more personal themes in the author's life that she brought into the novel, such as one of her leading questions about whether art can save people from extremism, and if so then how.

We thank Dana Grigorcea and the moderator Georg Freivogel for the successful event!

Here you can find impressions of the event and more information about the author and the book.