Reading Luxembourg - Books from Luxembourg 2019 - Fiction by Agence luxembourgeoise d'action culturelle

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

Fiction

Fiction Table of contents

Introduction �� 5

NOVEL

The Dancing Ones TOMAS BJØRNSTAD �� 6

Black Tomcat Twice GAST GROEBER �� 8

Kaput SAMUEL HAMEN �� 12

Little History of Luxembourgish Literature GEORGES HAUSEMER �� 14

Magnetosaurus Nostalgodon JEAN-MARC LANTZ �� 18

Voiceless ANOUK MAHR �� 22

If Everything Could Always Be so Easy ROLAND MEYER �� 24

The Way It Wasn’t CLAUDINE MUNO �� 28

Make the Night Pass by MARCO SCHANK �� 32

Sabotage JEFF SCHINKER �� 36

In Search of Nothing Gone CLAUDE SCHMIT �� 40

Junkies at the Luxembourgers JACQUES STEIWER �� 44

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

Foreword �� 3

2019

Fiction

2019

SHORT FICTION

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

One Year in Berlin ROMAIN BUTTI �� 48

Not Too Late ANJA DI BARTOLOMEO �� 52

The Bubbles TOM REISEN �� 56

On the Edge ANNE-MARIE REUTER �� 58

Falling from Various Heights ELISE SCHMIT �� 60

The Scent of the Earth after the Rain YORICK SCHMIT �� 64

MISCELLANEOUS

Fresh from the Fountain – English Writing in Luxembourg [Anthology] �� 68

As Proof of Vestiges SAMUEL HAMEN & MARC ANGEL �� 72

Literary Prizes �� 76 Foreign Rights �� 77

Foreword

Moreover, most Luxembourgers naturally use different tongues throughout the day, switching back and forth between the three official languages Luxembourgish, German and French, plus English. This social and cultural diversity also shapes contemporary Luxembourg literature because it, too, finds expression in all four languages, represents every genre and displays a great plurality of subjects and forms. Every year, several major literary prizes, e.g. the Prix Batty Weber, the Prix Servais, the Lëtzebuerger Buchpräis and the Concours littéraire national are awarded to Luxembourg’s finest authors. To foster the reputation of Luxembourg’s literature at an international level, the Ministry of Culture set up the Reading Luxembourg programme in 2018. In partnership with the Agence luxembourgeoise d’action culturelle (ALAC), the programme provides a contact point for foreign publishers, literary agents and authors. The aim is to establish a wide-ranging international network, to support the country’s presence at book fairs, and to promote the licensing business, in part by subsidising translation costs for foreign publishers. It is very important to me that we increase the exposure of Luxembourg literature and encourage international trade professionals to discover our dynamic and multilingual publishing scene and literature. For a small country, literature in more than one language is both an opportunity and a challenge: an opportunity, because multiple cultural influences enrich the literature; a challenge, because it is not easy for a tiny, multilingual literary industry to prevail in an international market. With this in mind, I am especially proud that our diverse literature will once again be represented at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year. But over and above that, I would like to invite you to discover Luxembourg’s creative publishing industry and explore its cultural diversity.

Sam Tanson Minister for Culture, Luxembourg

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

In Luxembourg, the second-smallest EU member state, people live the European ideal every day. With some 610,000 inhabitants, almost half of them foreigners from more than 170 different nations, and with 190,000 cross-border commuters every day, Luxembourg proves that living as a multicultural community is possible in the smallest of areas.

2019

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

Fiction

Introduction

Literature made in Luxembourg

New releases in fiction written in the national language Lëtzebuergesch play an increasingly important role. Gast Groeber, for instance, writes with disarming humour in Zweemol schwarze Kueder (en.: Black Tomcat Twice) about the corrosive impact of careerism on relationships and the bourgeoisie’s glorification of materialistic values. In her multi-layered novel Sou wéi et net war (en.: The Way It Wasn’t), Claudine Muno explores with psychological astuteness individuals’ search for identity within their community and the potential for conflict it harbours. A new Luxembourgish voice to be reckoned with is that of Samuel Hamen. Interspersed with allusions to the local literary scene, his tale V wéi vreckt, w wéi Vitesse (en.: Kaput) about the dejected anti-hero Devid Risch is a sharp-tongued indictment of petty bourgeois pedantry which hails fiction as an antidote to a depressingly mediocre actuality. In Des camés chez les Luxos (en.: Junkies at the Luxembourgers), Jacques Steiwers’ police inspector Moulinart investigates for the fourth time now in French. Meanwhile, Claude Schmits’ librarian in À la recherche du rien perdu (en.: In Search of Nothing Gone) shares his disenchantingly nihilistic insights with visitors to the village book repository and Tom Reisen’s protagonists in Les Bulles (en.: The Bubbles) retreat from the hustle and bustle of New York into their own bubble. Thanks to the 2017 foundation of the Black Fountain Press, English-speaking authors have found a home in Luxembourg as well. The company’s first release was publisher Anne-Marie Reuter’s debut collection of short stories entitled On the Edge. Issued in 2019, the volume Fresh from the Fountain comprises poetry and short prose writings from as many as 29 authors. Due to the wide scope of its texts, it exemplifies the increasing importance of anglophone literature. Most authors, however, still write in German. There really is no need to worry about a shortage of upcomig talent. Romain Butti, for instance, is definitely a high-flyer: his first play went straight on to win Luxembourg’s National Literary Competition. In his recently published prose debut, the novella Ein Jahr in Berlin (en.: One Year in Berlin), he dares address the grand themes of love, life, depression. A tinge of mystery pervades Luxembourg’s literature since the appearance of Tomas Bjørnstad – obviously a pseudonym. Following an earlier poetry volume, Die Tanzenden (en.: The Dancing Ones) is his second book to be released, a novel playing with form and written as if in trance. Among other things, the enigmatic author addresses the speculations over his identity and lashes out, with capering ease, against intellectual and artistic complacency. What characterises this year’s literature are differentiations in role perception and shortcomings in society, borderline experiences as well as existential crises. And the sobering realisation that existential complexity rules out easy living. Authors tend to explore the downsides of life, to hone their observations and lace them with ironic undertones. With that in mind, I wish you interesting reading! Jérôme Jaminet – Literary critic

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

Literature from Luxembourg? Yes indeed! It even makes a considerable contribution to cross-cultural understanding. Luxembourg is the world in a nutshell. It is a country in which a plurality of ethnicities, cultures, mentalities and, primarily, languages meet. Which is why Luxembourgish authors express their craft in the three national languages: German, French and Lëtzebuergesch.

2019

If you merely associate Luxembourg with banks and letter-box companies, you miss out on quite a lot of important elements. Two of them are books and fiction.

Fiction

The Dancing Ones TOMAS BJØRNSTAD

2019

NOVEL

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

Tomas Bjørnstad, the protagonist of the novel, tells a story about people who are in search of new ways of living, between adaptation and rejection, people who don’t really want to commit themselves but can’t let go either. The Dancing Ones is a text about self-discovery and self-hatred. About lust and escape from conventions, as well as about distress, illness and addiction. The search for meaning and delusion are sometimes indistinguishable.

Genre Novel

Price 22 €

Publication date 2019

Format 13,4 x 21 cm Number of pages 272

ISBN 978-99959-42-37-3

Rights available World

Language German Original title: Die Tanzenden

Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Éditions Guy Binsfeld 14, place du Parc L-2313 Luxembourg Luxembourg +352 49 68 68 - 1 editions@binsfeld.lu www.editionsguybinsfeld.lu

TOMAS BJØRNSTAD The Dancing Ones

2019

NOVEL

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

Tomas Bjørnstad, born 1984 in Trondheim, lives and works in Luxembourg. The novel Die Tanzenden is his second publication, after the poetry volume Fjorde, also published by Éditions Guy Binsfeld.

Die Tanzenden

The Dancing Ones

TOMAS BJØRNSTAD

„Ich weiß nicht, wie ich mich fühlen soll. Ob ich mich überhaupt noch fühle, ob ‚ich‘ und ‚mich‘ noch irgendeine Bedeutung haben, ob diese soundund lichtdurchfetzte heterogene Menge nicht alle Bedeutung auflöst. Worte, Sätze, Gedanken, im Getöse der Morgensonne sich auflösende Schneeinseln. Ist dies nun ein als Urzeit- oder Endzeittanz inszenierter Nervenzusammenbruch oder ein wohl durchdachter Versuch der Selbst findung ? Keine Ahnung. Sieh doch mal am Ausgang nach !“

“I don’t know how I should feel. Whether I still feel myself at all, whether ‘I’ and ‘myself ’ still have any meaning, whether this heterogeneous crowd, flooded with sound and light, does not dissolve all meaning. Words, sentences, thoughts, islands of snow dissolving in the roar of the morning sun. Is this a nervous breakdown staged as a primaeval or apocalyptic dance or a well-thought-out attempt at self-discovery? No idea. Go and have a look at the exit!”

Fiction

Black Tomcat Twice GAST GROEBER

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG Gast Groeber Zweemol schwaarze Kueder

2019

NOVEL

It is Friday, start of the weekend. Pierre, also named Jogg, and Florence, a well-to-do middle class couple, should attend the opening of an exhibition this evening. But, no sooner has Florence arrived at home, exhausted form work, than Jogg calls her from his running course: he were in need of help, a black cat had attacked him. Florence can’t reach the family doctor, persuades in her agitation the veterinarian to drive along to the running course. Once out in the fields, memories, wishes, dis appointments and reality come thick and fast, Florence and Jogg no longer see a way out of their mutual recriminations. The vet cannot prevent the situation from escalating.

Gast Groeber

Zweemol schwaarze

Kueder Novell

192

Genre Novel

Price 13,90 €

Publication date 2018

Format 11,5 x 18,6 cm Number of pages 128

ISBN 78-2-87967-236-6

Rights available World

Language Luxembourgish Original title: Zweemol schwaarze Kueder

Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Op der Lay 2A, Z.A.R.E. Ilot Est L-4385 Ehlerange Luxembourg info@opderlay.lu www.opderlay.lu

GAST GROEBER Black Tomcat Twice

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

Gast Groeber (*1960) has been publishing since 2010. All of his five first works figured on the Lëtzebuerger Buchpräis shortlist. In 2014, All Dag verstoppt en aneren, a volume of 9 short stories, is awarded the Lëtzebuerger Buchpräis. In 2016, it wins the European Union Prize for Literature. In 2018, Groeber’s story Aktuelle Wetterwarnung: überwiegend dichter Nebel is awarded the MEP’s Prize of the EUPL Writing Contest. His latest work Zweemol schwaarze Kueder was published in November 2018.

All Dag verstoppt en aneren has been translated into Bulgarian and Serbian.

Fiction

Zweemol schwaarze Kueder

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

GAST GROEBER

De Veterinär hëlt seng Wallis bei sech, sicht Gazen an eng Fläsch Botzalkohol dorausser zesummen. – Entschëllegt, dat kann elo picken, mee verschidde vun deene Wonnen sinn zolidd déif, déi wäschen ech léiwer emol direkt aus. D’Florence kënnt méi no erbäi getrëppelt. – Dokter, déi Tollwut ? Dat ass jo dach awer geféierlech ! Hie schrauft d’Fläsch op, dränkt d’Gaze mat Flëssegkeet, dee schaarfe Geroch pickt an der Nues. – Hm, dat ass net esou pauschal ze gesinn. Geféierlech, jo an neen. Wësst Dir, et hänkt alles dovunner of, wéi schnell d’Infektioun identifizéiert gëtt a wéi duerno reagéiert gëtt. De Rabiesvirus vergréissert seng Populatioun déi éischt dräi Deeg am Tissu rondrëm den Antrëttswonnen. Duerno bleift am Normalfall, wann da keng Viren an d’Bluttbunne gerode sinn, nach eng Inkubatiounszäit vu wéinstens engem Mount. Well mir awer elo direkt dat Néidegst ënnerhuelen, gëtt et an dësem Fall näischt ze fäerten, verstitt Dir ? Den Jogg fiert zesummen, wéi den Alkohol iwwert seng Wuede geriwwe gëtt. Den Dokter erkläert weider : – Wann dat Iech berouegt, kann ech Iech och zum Beispill soen, datt et an deene leschte fënnef Joer nëmmen zwee Doudesfäll duerch Tollwut gouf. Zwee, am ganze westlechen EU-Gebitt, wuel gemierkt ! Den Jogg bäisst op d’Zänn, probéiert stallzehalen, dee gliddege Brand z’ignoréieren. Hie kuckt den Dokter wëll un. – Wat gelift ? Hunn ech elo richteg héieren ? Nëmmen zwee, hutt Dir gesot ! Nëmmen ? Ass dat vläicht esou eng Zort vu Verharmlosung ? Heescht dat, datt et dann net schlëmm ass, well et ënnert engem gewëssene Seuil vu Relevanz erduerchrutscht ? De Veterinär rëselt kuerz de Kapp, konzentréiert sech weider op d’Wonnen, pëtzt d’Aen heiansdo zesummen, fir méi genee ze gesinn, well d’Liicht elo scho méi schwaach gëtt. D’Florence kuckt all seng Gesten, lauschtert senger Stëmm no. Déi bleift nach ëmmer ganz roueg. D’Sätz, déi hie vu sech gëtt, klénge bal wéi niewebäi gesot, e bësschen esou, stellt hatt sech vir, wéi wann en do en Hond oder e Kanarievillchen géing behandelen.

GAST GROEBER Black Tomcat Twice

Black Tomcat Twice

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

The veterinarian grabs his suitcase, from which he collects together dressings and a flask of rubbing alcohol. – Apologies, this may sting, yet several of these wounds run quite deep, I prefer cleaning them out straight away. Florence trips closer. – Doctor, those rabies? That does have to be dangerous after all! He unscrews the flask, drenches the dressings with liquid, the pungent smell stings the nostrils. – Hm, one should not see it so sweep ingly. Dangerous, yes and no. You know, it all depends on how quickly the infection is identified and how is being reacted afterwards. The rabies virus increases its population during the first three days in the tissue around the entrance wounds. Normally after which, if no viruses have entered the bloodstream, there remains an incubation period of at least one month. However, since we now directly undertake what is most necessary, there is nothing to be afraid of in this case, you understand? Jogg winces once the alcohol is being rubbed over his wounds. The doctor explains further: – If that may reassure you, I can also tell you for example that in the last five years there have merely been two deaths due to rabies. Two, in the entire western EU area, mind you! Jogg grits his teeth, tries to hold still, ignore the scalding fire. He looks at the doctor wildly. – Excuse me? Did I hear correctly now? Merely two, you said! Merely? Is that perhaps an attempt at playing things down? Does that mean, it isn’t bad then, because it slips below a certain threshold of relevance? The vet briefly shakes his head, keeps on concentrating on the wounds, squints occasionally to be able to see better, since the light already begins to fade. Florence observes his every gesture, listens to his voice. The latter still stays quite calm. The sentences he utters sound almost matter-of-factly, a bit as if, so she imagines, he was treating a dog or a canary.

2019

NOVEL

GAST GROEBER

Fiction

Kaput SAMUEL HAMEN

2019

NOVEL

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

Devid Risch begins his fourth therapy. After all, his so-called life is an amazing accumulation of commotions. The most harmless is his name. A name that sounds like a spelling mistake, that fits well with a life in which many things went wrong: suicidal parents, choleric grandfathers, little moments of happiness that have passed like clouds in strong winds. Even a few good years in Cologne, including a job, a relationship and the desire to become a writer, were swept away at some point. Can misery be erased ? And how can a life be told that consists of the missed and the repressed ?

Genre Novel

Price 22 €

Publication date 2018

Format 13,4 x 21 cm Number of pages 144

ISBN 978-99959-42-35-9

Rights available World

Language Luxembourgish Original title: V wéi vréckt, w wéi Vitess

Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Éditions Guy Binsfeld 14, place du Parc L-2313 Luxembourg Luxembourg +352 49 68 68 - 1 editions@binsfeld.lu www.editionsguybinsfeld.lu

SAMUEL HAMEN Kaput

V wéi vreckt, w wéi Vitess

Kaput

SAMUEL HAMEN

Samuel Hamen, born in 1988, attended the Lycée classique de Diekirch. Since 2013 he has been working on a dissertation on the poet and essayist Thomas Kling at the University of Heidelberg. He has published in Luxembourgish, German and Swiss literary journals and was awarded the Hans Bernhard Schiff Prize in 2016. As a freelance cultural editor, he works for d’Lëtzebuerger Land, ZEIT ONLINE and Radio 100,7. Samuel Hamen is in charge of the literature blog ltrtr.de.

“And still: always throw a stone, Mister Coster, preferably a flat one, as if it could endlessly bounce over the wobbly surface, on and on, maybe even so far that the goddamn horizon would choke on it.”

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

„An awer: ëmmer ee Stee geheien, Här Coster, gären ee flaachen, wéi wann en éiweg iwwert déi geradderegt Flaatsch ditze kéint, ëmmer weider, vläicht souguer sou wäit, bis datt deen houeren Horizont sech dru verschlécke géif.“

NOVEL

SAMUEL HAMEN

Fiction

NOVEL

Little History of Luxembourgish Literature

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

GEORGES HAUSEMER

A philistine in literary matters, untroubled by any knowledge of the industry, takes a job as publisher’s representative for a Luxembourg publishing house and tries to find his way around the Grand Duchy’s complicated literary scene. This novel was previously published in 1989. Many of today’s readers had not been born back then. In the meantime, quite a lot has changed. On the political scene, in road transport, in people’s hearts. In a nutshell: in the way the world operates globally. And hence also in Luxembourg’s literary industry. Georges Hausemer went back to work, partially re-wrote his work, updated and expanded it, while slightly modifying the title. Now, the new version is available. Readers will be astonished. At all the things that were possible in those days. And at all the things that are still possible today.

Genre Novel Publication date 2018 ISBN 978-99959-43-18-9 Language German Original title: Kleine luxemburgische Literaturgeschichte

Price 17,95 € Format 20 x 12 cm Number of pages 200 Rights available World Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details capybarabooks 52, rue de Colmar-Berg L-7525 Mersch Luxembourg +352 661 50 17 15 contact@capybarabooks.com www.capybarabooks.com

GEORGES HAUSEMER Little History of Luxembourgish Literature

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

Georges Hausemer, born in Differdange in 1957, lived as author, travel writer, translator and painter in Luxembourg, a small village in the German Eifel and in San Sebastián in the Basque Country. In 2017 he was awarded the Prix Batty Weber, Luxembourg’s most important literature prize, for his work. He died in 2018.

Fiction

Kleine luxemburgische Literaturgeschichte

112 Am nächsten Morgen wartete Anna bereits auf mich. – Salut. Sie zeigte auf zwei Kartons neben ihrer Theke und drückte mir einen Umschlag mit – wie sie es nannte – Lieferscheinen in die Hand. Ich wollte mit Monsieur Luc sprechen, doch der war bereits kurz nach acht zu einem Termin in die Druckerei aufgebrochen. […] Bantz um Hilfe zu bitten, nein, das hätte keinen Sinn gehabt. Also lud ich die Kisten mit den Büchern (die neuen Kochbücher hauptsächlich) in den verbeulten Kangoo und machte mich auf den Weg. Endlich, der Arbeitsflow riss mich so richtig mit sich fort. 113 Ich wählte die Strecke, die über Land, an der Grenze zu Belgien entlang, ins Ösling führte. Auf dem Rücksitz die Bücher, in der Hemdtasche mein privates Handy (ich musste schließlich jederzeit erreichbar sein, und von einem Firmenhandy war bislang keine Rede gewesen). In Redingen hielt ich an, um ein frisches Päckchen Maryland zu kaufen und in einem Café neben einer Metzgerei einen Espresso zu trinken. Der Wirt war freundlich, hielt aber keine Zeitungen für seine Gäste bereit. Zum Rauchen ging ich nach draußen. Für ein paar Sekunden tauchte der Metzger in der Vitrine seines Ladens auf, mit blutbefleckter Schürze natürlich (wie das Klischee in einem Film). […] Von Bantz wusste ich, dass in der Nähe von Redingen ein Lehrer wohnte, von dem vor Jahren eine Kurzgeschichtensammlung bei Luksbuks erschienen war. Oh du Schande, ich erinnerte mich weder an den Namen des Dorfes noch an den des Autors. Ich wusste nur, dass das Hauptthema seiner Erzählungen „den langsamen Untergang der Ländlichkeit“ betraf. (Bantz hatte es so umschrieben und betont, wie schwierig es für ihn als Lektor gewesen war, diesen einen und einzigen Grundgedanken in aller Deutlichkeit herauszuschälen. Ich hoffte derweil für ihn, dass das Verfassen von Sportreportagen ihm leichter fallen möge.) Ich ging zurück in die Kneipe, zahlte und fuhr weiter, ohne Bedauern. Längst hatte ich herausgefunden, dass es gefährlich war, die Zeit totzuschlagen. © CNL/Paolo Leoni

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

GEORGES HAUSEMER

GEORGES HAUSEMER Little History of Luxembourgish Literature

Little History of Luxembourgish Literature

113 I opted for the cross-country route that runs along the Belgian border into the Ösling region. With the books on the back seat and my personal mobile in my shirt pocket (after all, I had to be reachable at all times, and so far, there had been no mention of a company mobile). I stopped off in Redingen to buy a fresh pack of Maryland cigarettes and drink an espresso in a café next door to a butcher’s. The café owner was friendly, but didn’t keep newspapers for his customers. I went outside to smoke. For a few seconds, the butcher appeared in the window display of his shop wearing a bloodstained apron, naturally (like the film cliché). […] From Bantz I knew that there was a teacher living near Redingen who had published a collection of short stories at Luksbuks years ago. Oh, shoot! I couldn’t remember the name of the village or the author. I only knew that the main theme of his stories was something about “the slow demise of rural life”. (That was how Bantz had paraphrased it, while highlighting how hard it had been for him as editor to crystallize that single, solitary fundamental idea in perfect clarity. Meanwhile, I hoped for his sake that writing sports reports would come easier to him.) I went back into the café, paid and drove on with no regrets. I had long since discovered that killing time was dangerous.

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

112 The next morning, Anna was already waiting for me. – Salut. She pointed at two cardboard boxes next to the counter and pressed an envelope with what she called delivery notes into my hand. I wanted to talk to Monsieur Luc, but he had already left at just after eight a.m. for an appointment at the printer’s. […] As to asking Bantz for help, no, there would have been no point. So I loaded the boxes of books (mainly the new cookery books) into the battered Kangoo van and set off. Finally – the workflow really swept me along.

2019

NOVEL

GEORGES HAUSEMER

Fiction

Magnetosaurus Nostalgodon JEAN-MARC LANTZ

2019

NOVEL

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

“I dumped both of them by post some time later but my recollections are hazy. It was silly teenage stuff.” “Teenage stuff is never silly, you pillock, it’s dead serious. Yours is vaguely surreal, however, I must admit.” Why do so many Luxembourgers feel ashamed of their youth as soon as they have finished grammar school? Then everything is alleged to have been “childish”. But is that really true? Joé grows up in the 1970s and ’80s in the South of Luxembourg. He plays in an incredibly cool band, his parents haven’t really got over the war yet, and the country is too small for him. When he meets Beth, everything changes. Magnetosaurus Nostalgodon tells the story of someone trying to grow up without missing his childhood. A coming-of-age novel full of humour, tragedy and nostalgia.

Genre Novel Publication date 2019 ISBN 978-99959-43-22-6 Language Luxembourgish Original title: Magnetosaurus Nostalgodon

Price 25 € Format 20 x 12 cm Number of pages 376 Rights available World Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details capybarabooks 52, rue de Colmar-Berg L-7525 Mersch Luxembourg +352 661 50 17 15 contact@capybarabooks.com www.capybarabooks.com

JEAN-MARC LANTZ Magnetosaurus Nostalgodon

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

Jean-Marc Lantz was born in Luxembourg in 1964 and studied Anglo-American Literature. He lives and works in southern Luxembourg.

Wat war fir d’éischt do? Seng ausgestreckten Hand oder den Hond, dee ganz roueg, esouguer frëndlech bei hie koum? Wéi en dunn attackéiert huet, gouf et just nach eng panesch Hetz; ëm den Eck aus dem Duerfkär eraus, mat engem wëllen Hechelen hannendrun – oder war hien dat selwer? –, iwwer spatz Steng, duerch Traktersspuere voller Reewaasser a Mëscht. Den Himmel huet viru sengen Ae geliicht an d’Wisen, d’Kéi, de Waassertuerm, wäit ewech, dunn d’Haus, endlech, hu geziddert op senger Flucht viru sengem ganze Liewen a Richtung Horizont. An ëmmer manner Loft. Wéi hie mam Réck widdert der zouener Hausdier stoung, am däischtere Gank mat den nidderege Putteren, hu säin Häerz a seng Longe gebrannt. All Problemer waren op eng onerkläerlech Aart a Weis geléist. War zougespaart gewiescht? Hie wosst et net, de Schlëssel war an der Boxentäsch. Vum rosene Béischt dobausse keng Spur, kee Mënsch op der Strooss, an déi aner dräi hunn nach ëmmer geschlof. Absolut Rou. Nieft him op de schwaarz-wäiss e Plättercher: déi zwou Akafstuten. Et war nach alles dran. Iwwerhaapt war villes an dësem Haus, an dëser Zäit, onerkläerlech. Moies hat hien erëm, virun deenen aneren, an der Minikabinn geduscht, an där e blanke Kabel mat enger aarmséileger Bir bis op den Duschkapp erofhoung. Firwat huet kee sech vun hinne beschwéiert – oder elektrocutéiert? Wéi hie sech am verschmierte Spigel gesinn huet, huet hie seng Eltere verflucht. Et war onverkennbar, dass hien hiert Kand war, et war alles a säi Gesiicht gemeesselt. 22

Firwat hu seng Frënn hiren Eltere kaum geglach? A firwat hu si seng esou sympathesch fonnt? Méiglecherweis goufen et nach vill Saachen, déi hien net wosst. Zum Beispill, firwat d’Buedbidde voll mat kalem Waasser a klenge, schwaarzen Hoer war. Ganz vague huet hie sech un dat Meedchen erënnert, dat ee vun hinnen d’Nuecht virdru un an vum r Dëppefest d’Fantasie wéi eng Dréileie kuerbelenhat. Ech matbruecht Si waren Déi Lächer. all tëscht de platt gewiescht, dass nach eng Kéier. mir se et erziele d’Éisleker fauschtdéck hannert de Kabesoueren haten. Dobäi wollte si deenen dach eigentlech d’Feiere bäibréngen. Wou war hatt elo? Do uewe beim Gibbes? Firwat net hei ënne bei him? A firwat hat keen déi heroesch Flucht virum Hond gesinn? Hannenno wär et just nach eng Anekdot vu villen, wéi ëmmer. Sollten all seng Schicksalsmomenter ouni Zeie geschéien? D’Buedzëmmer huet no Camping geroch an nom Gibbes sengem Tabac After Shave. Hie war deen eenzegen, dee sech schonn all Dag raséiert huet. Naass, dat war cool. De Joé huet gehofft, fir säi Gebuertsdag en eegenen Apparat ze kréien, sengem Papp säi war ze al. Hien hat Denim Musk dobäi, fir ze üben. Moschus zitt Fraen un, dat war wëssenschaftlech bewisen. Leider krut een am August seele fir säi Fest gratuléiert, da waren déi meescht fort, och d’Fraen. Ausser dat „Fettegt“, dat doheem ëmmer mam Hond ronderëm säin Haus geschlach ass, fir him duerch Zoufall ze begéinen. Hien huet lues d’Musek ugemaach, Waasser opgesat, Holz an de Kamäin getässelt a versicht e Feier unzefänken. Hie war kee Scout. D’Feier huet nëmmen de Gank gehëtzt, net déi aner Raim, mee et huet hie faszinéiert. 23

HELLHOUND ON MY TRAIL

(...) “I got to keep movin’ hail (...) Blues fallin’ down like worryin’ me And the days keeps on my trail (...) There’s a hellhound on (...) I can tell the wind is risin’ tree (...) Leaves tremblin’ on the woman All I need’s my little sweet y” And to keep my compan nd on my Trail)

(Robert Johnson: Hellhou

Hond stoung mat senge De grousse schwaarzen vun der Stalldier an huet viischte Patten an der Rumm wier, wosst, dass e wéischt de Joé ugekuckt. De Jong gewarnt haten. Déi éischt hie Duerf well d’Leit am de Kolleegen an engem mat eleng Elteren, Vakanz ouni vu Péiteng. Alles, wat hie ewech wäit haus, ale Baueren . hat – an elo hat hien Angscht sech ëmmer gewënscht ëmmer, an déi kleng Epicerie Hie war ganz fréi op, wéi Hond. den Haff mam béisen louch um Wee laanscht stoen, an den Hänn blouf hie Mat den zwou Tuten hat Seng grouss Schwëster an huet zeréckgekuckt. e friemen Hond bei dech him eng Kéier gesot: „Wann se Hand dohin. Hie wäert kënnt, hal him lues deng ieren.“ richen an dech akzepté 21

Fiction

Magnetosaurus Nostalgodon

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

JEAN-MARC LANTZ

Aus dem Gank, vun der anerer Säit vun der grousser gliesener Dier, aus dem Räich vun de Liewegen, koume Geräischer, déi ëmmer méi haart goufen. Sproochfatzen, Glucksen, Gejäiz a Getrampel hu sech de klenge Korridor eropgedréckt wéi Magma kuerz virum Ausbroch. Hien huet intrigéiert de Kapp gehuewen, a scho sinn déi zwee Flilleke vun der Dier hannewidder geklaakt, sou dass d’Glas geféierlech vibréiert huet. Eng Well vu kaler Loft ass duerch dëse Kierfecht gezunn, a jiddwereen huet entgeeschtert op déi Persoun gekuckt, déi an de Sall eranexplodéiert war. D’Meedchen huet sech vu Laache gekrëmmt an huet an enger Kéier versicht ze goen, sech ze entschëllegen an dem Bibliothecaire hannert der Téik e Stouss Bicher ze iwwerreechen. Et koum kee verständlecht Wuert aus sengem Mond, just ustiechende Chaos. D’Meedche mam Hiem aus der Box war reng Anarchie. De leschte Rettungsrank, no deem déi Schëffbrécheg heibannen nach kéinte gräifen, wa se net souwisou schonn den Doud an der Panz hätten. Mee no zéng Sekonne war alles eriwwer. D’Laachen huet nach déi ganz Kapell mat engem kloren Echo erfëllt, do war hatt schonn nees duerch déi zwee Flilleke verschwonnen, déi no an no am ongläichen Takt geschwonge sinn, bis zum absolute Stëllstand. Wéi de Stëbs sech endlech gesat hat, huet e perplext Publikum weiderhin op d’Dier an eng aner Welt gestuerkt. De Muck huet siichtbar dem Joé seng Reaktioun ofgewaart. Kee Streber hat Zäit fir “Pscht !” ze zischen, mee d’Kommentare waren dem filzege Raum an dem muuschtege Land ugepasst : “Oh vreck, wat war dat do dann ? D’Calamity Jane ?” “Dat Framënsch ass jo historesch ! Wat eng Laach ! Do gëtt ee jo algeresch drop !” Ee vun hinnen huet gegrinst a sot sech, no deem Stréihallem muss du gräifen, soss kënns du hei net lieweg eraus !

JEAN-MARC LANTZ Magnetosaurus Nostalgodon

Magnetosaurus Nostalgodon

From the hall, the other side of the large glass door, from the realm of the living, sounds arose which steadily grew in intensity. Speech fragments, chuckles, shouting and trampling squeezed through the small corridor like magma shortly before an outbreak. Intrigued, he lifted his head just when both wings of the double door flew back so that the glass rattled precariously. A wave of fresh air blew through this cemetery and everybody stared in disbelief at the person who had exploded into the room. The girl was bent over with laughter and all at once attempted to leave, formulate an apology and hand over a stack of books to the librarian behind the counter. Not a single intelligible word left her mouth, just infectious chaos. The girl whose shirt was hanging out of her jeans was pure anarchy. The last life buoy the castaways assembled in the room could grasp for, if they weren’t doomed yet. But ten seconds later, it was all over. Her laughter still echoed through the chapel, while she had already disappeared through the double door, the wings of which kept on swinging in an uneven rhythm till their complete standstill. Once the dust had finally settled, a bewildered public continued staring at the door into another world. Mook visibly itched to see Joé’s response. No swot had the time to hiss “Ssshh!”, but the commentaries matched the room’s mustiness in this mouldering country: “Blimey! What was that? Calamity Jane?” “That woman has got to be historical! What a laugh! Makes me come out in a rash!” One of the inmates smirked and knew he’d better grasp that final straw. Otherwise he would not make it out of there alive!

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

JEAN-MARC LANTZ

Fiction

Voiceless ANOUK MAHR

2019

NOVEL

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

Sixteen-year-old Lucinda suffers from total mutism. After numerous visits to the clinic and home-schooling, she has lost all sense of a normal life. This changes when her family moves to a new town and Lucinda goes back to school. After initial difficulties, she settles in, and with the help of her therapist and new friends, she begins to build a relationship with the blind horse Miracle. Despite some relapses, she learns that she is not alone and decides to fight. But has she overcome the worst of it, or is there a bigger hurdle waiting for her ?

Genre Novel

Price 22 €

Publication date 2019

Format 13,4 x 21,0 cm Number of pages 360

ISBN 978-99959-42-36-6

Rights available World

Language German Original title: Lautlos

Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Éditions Guy Binsfeld 14, place du Parc L-2313 Luxembourg Luxembourg +352 49 68 68 - 1 editions@binsfeld.lu www.editionsguybinsfeld.lu

ANOUK MAHR Voiceless

2019

NOVEL

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

Anouk Mahr, born in 2000, discovered her interest in inventing stories at an early age, which she first drew and later wrote down. When she was 15, she won the 3rd prize in the Prix Laurence literature competition. Besides writing, she likes to read, especially youth literature. In her free time, she continues to write texts and poems, takes singing lessons and plays the violin in an ensemble. Lautlos is her debut novel.

Lautlos

Voiceless

ANOUK MAHR

„Lucinda redet nicht, schon seit Jahren nicht mehr. Mit niemandem. Früher hat sie es getan, und wie. Aber dann hat es aufgehört. Die bisherigen Therapien haben nichts gebracht. Was hat unsere Tochter nur ? Was haben wir nur falsch gemacht ? Während meine Eltern mit tränennassen Augen diese sentimentalen Phrasen hervorpressen, wütet in mir ein Sturm, braust auf, reißt an meinem Inneren: Warum SAGT ihr denn nichts, verdammt ! Warum sagt ihr nicht, was passiert ist, und dass ich mich nicht erinnern kann ?“

“Lucinda doesn’t talk, hasn’t for years. With no one. She used to do it, and how she did. But then it stopped. The therapies so far haven’t changed anything. What is the matter with our daughter? What have we done wrong? While my parents press out these sentimental phrases with their eyes wet from tears, a storm rages inside me, roars up, tears on my inside: Why don’t you SAY something, damn it! Why don’t you say what happened and that I can’t remember?”

Fiction

NOVEL

If Everything Could Always Be so Easy

2019

ROLAND MEYER BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

Greg Wiesinger, a business consultant from Berlin, is called to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to help the Ministry of Tourism with their new “Nation Branding” campaign. Here, he meets Nora Zeimes, a high government official, and falls in love. Nora wants to change her life, quits her job and moves to the former remote residence of deceased author Jempi Nosbusch in the north of Luxembourg. Meanwhile, Hannah, Gregs wife, starts to question her husband’s faithfulness… The different characters in Meyers novel try to escape the rat race of routine and self-optimization, each one in his own way, but if only everything could be so easy. The plot is narrated from a multiperspective viewpoint and thrills the reader to the very last page.

Genre Novel Publication date 2018 ISBN 978-2-87967-232-8 Language German Original title: Wenn immer alles so einfach wäre

Price 17,90 € Format 11,5 x 18,6 cm Number of pages 360 Rights available World Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Op der Lay 2A, Z.A.R.E. Ilot Est L-4385 Ehlerange Luxembourg info@opderlay.lu www.opderlay.lu

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

ROLAND MEYER If Everything Could Always Be so Easy

Born in 1963, Roland Meyer works as a school manager and drama teacher. In 2011 he published the novel Muedebëtzeg and was awarded the Luxembourg Book Prize in the Literature category. M.’s second novel Roughmix received the Servais Prize in 2015. His novel Tel Mo was awarded the Luxembourg Book Prize in the category Children and Young Adult Fiction and was shortlisted for the Servais Prize. In June 2018, Roland Meyer’s first novel in German, Wenn immer alles so einfach wäre, was published. Since 2000 Roland Meyer has been writing children’s and young adult fiction. He is also a well-known cabaret artist and blues musician.

Fiction

Wenn immer alles so einfach wäre

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

ROLAND MEYER

Wenn sie dich nach Luxemburg rufen, verdammt, dann laufe ! So, oder so ähnlich, hatte es Joachim ausgedrückt, als ich ihm von meinen Kontakten erzählte. Luxemburg ist das Land, in dem Milch und Honig fließen, das Land der großen Versprechen, das Land, in dem einer wie ich sein Glück, oder sein Vermögen, machen kann. Verheißungen, große Erwartungen, Perspektiven, Zuversicht. Der Pilot ist eben auf die Startbahn eingebogen, das Flugzeug steht einen Augenblick, ruhig, vibrierend, gedämpfte, gedrosselte Stille in der Kabine. Irgendetwas hält die Energie der Triebwerke zurück. Dann der Start. Ich werde vom Schub nach hinten in den Sitz gepresst. Ob der Pilot Luxemburger ist ? Warum ich mir gerade jetzt diese Frage stelle ? Und was es bedeutet, wenn er Luxemburger wäre ? Flöge seine Maschine dann besser ? Sicherer ? Schneller ? Die Maschine stolpert weiter durch den Abendhimmel. Die Luxemburger sind das Volk, das europaweit am meisten Geld für Urlaub ausgibt und das weltweit am höchsten versichert ist. Wovor haben die Angst ? Wovor laufen die davon ? Was genau muss man zurücklassen, fragte ich mich, weglassen, subtrahieren, was genau stört ? Die Idee an sich bliebe. Doch hätte sie allein nicht einen zu hohen Abstraktionswert ? Liefe es schlussendlich nicht doch wieder auf die Suche nach einem Konsens hinaus ? Das Motto aller Mittelmäßigkeit, das „Sowohl als auch“, die dampfende, brodelnde, siedende Suppe des Alltags ? Abstraktion. Mit Nora zusammen sein als philosophischer Feldversuch ? Mache ich mich zum Narren ? Doch sie will es auch.

ROLAND MEYER If Everything Could Always Be so Easy

If Everything Could Always Be so Easy

If they call you to Luxembourg, dammit, then run! That, more or less, was how Joachim put it when I told him about my contacts. Luxembourg is the land of milk and honey, the land of grand promises, a place where someone like me can make his own way, or his fortune. Promises, great expectations, prospects, confidence. The pilot has just turned into the runway, the aircraft stands still for a moment, motionless, quivering; hushed, controlled silence in the cabin. Something is reining in the power of the jet engines. Then the take-off. I am pushed back into my seat by the thrust. I wonder if the pilot is Luxembourger. Why would I ask myself that question at this specific moment? And what does it mean if he is Luxembourger? Would that make his plane fly better? More safely? Faster? The plane bumbles on across the evening sky. Throughout Europe, the Luxembourgers are the people who spend most money on holidays, and they have the highest insurance cover in the world. What are they afraid of? What are they running away from? What exactly does one have to leave behind, I wondered, eliminate, subtract, what exactly bothers you? The idea itself would remain. But would the abstraction value of the idea alone not be too high? Would it ultimately not just boil down to the search for a consensus? The motto of all mediocrity, “this as well as that”, the steaming, bubbling, seething soup of everyday life? Abstraction. Being with Nora as a kind of philosophical field trial? Am I making a fool of myself? But it’s what she wants, too.

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

ROLAND MEYER

Fiction

The Way It Wasn’t CLAUDINE MUNO

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

The way it wasn’t is a coming-of-age story about three brothers, Simon, Louis and Panda, growing up with their single mother in an industrial town in All Persounen a Virfäll déi an dësem the south of Luxembourg. The focus is on Simon, Buch virkommen, sinn fräi erfonnt an all Ähnlechkeete mat wierkleche Mënschen the eldest, who doesanhis best to replace the usually tatsächlech virgefallene Virfäll sinn absolut zoufälleg oder komplett onfräiwëlleg. absent father. He is responsible and practical, an athlete and a good student, someone who knows how to make the best of the unlucky hand he’s been dealt. Then there’s Louis, the middle child, who looks up to his elder brother and Panda, the youngest, who keeps getting into trouble because he seems to know neither danger nor fear.

CLAUDINE MUNO sou wéi et

war

CLAUDINE MUNO sou wéi et

war 193

Genre Novel

Price 16 €

Publication date 2019

Format 11,5 x 18,6 cm Number of pages 204

ISBN 978-2-87967-237-3

Rights available World

Language Luxembourgish Original title: Sou wéi et net war

Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Op der Lay 2A, Z.A.R.E. Ilot Est L-4385 Ehlerange Luxembourg info@opderlay.lu www.opderlay.lu

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

CLAUDINE MUNO The Way It Wasn’t

Claudine Muno (*1979) is currently teaching music and writing at a high school in Luxembourg. She wrote her first book The Moon of the Big Winds at the age of 16. Since then she has published novels in Luxembourgish, German and French. In 2004 her novel frigo was awarded the Prix Servais and in 2016 she received the Lëtzebuerger Buchpräis for her novel Komm net kräischen. She is also a songwriter and plays music, solo or as a member of bands like Monophona or The Lunaboots.

Fiction

Sou wéi et net war

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

CLAUDINE MUNO

De Simon bleift ee Moment am Schoulhaff stoen, grouss a riicht wéi e Bam, wärend d’Schüler onsiichtbar Netzer ronderëm hie spannen. Si spille Spiller, déi hien net versteet a bei deenen hien net matgemaach hätt, och net an hirem Alter. Si hu Besseres ze dinn, wéi him hir Opmierksamkeet ze schenken; si wëssen, dass hie fir si net wichteg ass an dass hien net heihi gehéiert. D’Schell ënnerbrécht seng Gedanken, si iwwertéint d’Stëmmen an d’Laachen, da verkléngt se an hëlt d’Schüler mat. De Simon kuckt op, well et erëm ugefaangen huet ze schneien, da geet hien an d’Richtung vun der Schoul. Banne richt et no kalem Steen an Zopp, wéi all Dag, mee haut kënnt och nach Fiichtegkeet derbäi an all hire Formen : Prabbelien, déi opgespaant an de Gäng stinn, Anoräk, déi an d’Gummisstiwwelen drëpsen, déi ënnendrënner um Buedem opgestallt goufen. Den Dag, wou hie sech virstelle komm war, hat hien de Pappen nogekuckt, wéi se hir Meedercher duerch d’Gäng manövréiert haten, eng virsiichteg Hand just net PRABBELIEN, DÉI tëscht hire Schëllerblieder.

OPGESPAANT AN DE GÄNG STINN, ANORÄK, DÉI AN D’GUMMISSTIWWELEN DRËPSEN, DÉI ËNNENDRËNNER UM BUEDEM OPGESTALLT GOUFEN.

CLAUDINE MUNO The Way It Wasn’t

The Way It Wasn’t

Simon stops for a moment in the schoolyard, tall and serious as a tree, while the children are weaving imaginary webs around him. They are playing games that he does not understand and that he wouldn’t have taken part in, not even at their age. They have better things to do than waste their attention on him; they know he is of no importance to them and that he does not belong here. The ringing of the bell interrupts his thoughts; it drowns out their voices and laughter, until it fades along with the children. Simon glances up as it has started snowing again, then he heads toward the school. Inside the smell of cold stone and soup, as every day, only today it is enhanced by humidity in all its manifestations: umbrellas, UMBRELLAS, propped up in the hallways, damp anoraks draining into the PROPPED UP IN occasional pair of boots placed underneath. The day he had turned up for his interview he had watched fathers guide their THE HALLWAYS, daughters along the hallways, one careful hand barely off their DAMP ANORAKS shoulder blades.

DRAINING INTO THE OCCASIONAL PAIR OF BOOTS PLACED UNDERNEATH.

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

CLAUDINE MUNO

Make the Night Pass by

NOVEL

MARCO SCHANK

Marco Schank Damit die Nacht vergeht

2019 BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

gen

Fiction

In search of his kidnapped friend and colleague Armand Muller, Commissaire Robert Mathieu travels to Morocco. There, he encounters the family of one of North Africa’s most wanted terrorists and narrowly escapes an attempt on his life. Back in Luxembourg and assisted by asylum seeker Faizah, he follows the trail of unscrupulous arms dealers who will stop at nothing -- not even cold-blooded murder. In the end, Mathieu’s life is at stake.

Marco Schank

Damit die Nacht vergeht Kriminalroman

189 24/07/2018 21:26

Genre Detective story

Price 14,90 €

Publication date 2018

Format 11,5 x 18,6 cm Number of pages 224

ISBN 978-2-87967-233-5

Rights available World

Language German Original title: Damit die Nacht vergeht

Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Op der Lay 2A, Z.A.R.E. Ilot Est L-4385 Ehlerange Luxembourg info@opderlay.lu www.opderlay.lu

MARCO SCHANK Make the Night Pass by

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

Marco Schank is a politician and author. He was born in 1954 and he and his wife have three children and two grandchildren. Over the years, he has taken on various political mandates at local and national level, serving as minister for housing, sustainable development and infrastructure between 2009 and 2013. He is currently a member of parliament and the mayor of the commune Esch-sur-Sûre in the North of Luxembourg. In his free time, he enjoys writing crime fiction, reading and gardening.

Fiction

Damit die Nacht vergeht

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

MARCO SCHANK

Eben will er zurück ins Bett, als sein Handy in seiner Hosentasche vibriert. Er sieht auf das Display. „Robert ? Hier ist Armand…“ Seine Müdigkeit ist wie weggeblasen. „He ! Hallo, du Schwerenöter ! So spät noch ? Alles in Ordnung ?“ Der Anrufer atmet schwer, scheint sich hastig fortzubewegen. „Du musst mir helfen. Die sind hinter mir her.“ „Verdammt ! Was ist los ? Wo bist du ?“ Wildes Keuchen dringt an sein Ohr. Niemand antwortet. „Armand ! Red mit mir !“ Motorengeräusche sind zu hören. Mal näher, dann wieder weiter entfernt. Ein Zweitakter, vielleicht ein Moped. Jemand gibt Gas. Immer wieder. „Wo bist du ? Sag doch was !“ Die Stimme am anderen Ende flattert. „Ich versteh nicht. Was sagst du ? Sprich lauter !“ „… Marokko. In Marrakesch… ich werd verfolgt. Die haben automatische Waffen.“ „Was um alles in der Welt tust du in Marokko ? Und wer sind die ?“ „Weiß nicht genau. Waffenhändler… Extremisten… Verdammt ! Die kommen näher…“ „Hast du die Polizei gerufen ?“ Wieder dieses Keuchen. Dann das wilde Kreischen eines Zweitakters. „Die haben Verbindungen überallhin.“ „Wo bist du ?“ „Die Altstadt, in den Souks… ich hab mich verlaufen…“ „Genauer, Armand ! Gibt’s keine Straßennamen, spezielle Geschäfte, oder so ? Ich brauch Hinweise, wenn ich helfen soll.“ „Nein, nein ! Hier sieht alles gleich aus.“ „Mach Fotos mit dem Handy. Hörst du !?“ Plötzlich sind Schüsse zu hören. Schnelles Feuern. „He ! Was geht da ab ?“ Eine halbe Ewigkeit lang hört man gar nichts. GENAUER, ARMAND ! Dann wieder schnelle Schritte. Vielleicht ist es ihm gelungen, sich irgendwo zu verstecken. Jetzt hört er ihn keuchen. Mit GIBT’S KEINE einem Mal ohrenbetäubender Lärm. Als würde gegen eine Tür getreten. Dumpfe Schläge, dann ein Donnern, eine Explosion STRASSENNAMEN, vielleicht. Armand flüstert. Kaum zu verstehen. „Hör zu, SPEZIELLE Robert ! Sieh in unsere Cloud rein ! Da ist was Großes am Laufen… mein Gott, sie kommen…“ Das Splittern von Holz, GESCHÄFTE, ODER Getrampel von Stiefeln. Alles scheint jetzt in nächster Nähe zu SO ? ICH BRAUCH passieren. Mathieu schreit ins Telefon. „Armand ! […]“

HINWEISE, WENN ICH HELFEN SOLL.

MARCO SCHANK Make the Night Pass by

Make the Night Pass by

He was about to go back to bed when the mobile in his pants pocket vibrated. He glanced at the display.  “Robert? Armand here…” The sense of fatigue evaporated. “Hey! What’s up, dude! This late? Everything okay?” Loud breathing from the caller, who was apparently on the move and in a hurry. “You’ve got to help me. They’re after me.” “Dammit. What’s going on? Where are you?” Frantic wheezing down the line. No answer. “Armand! Talk to me!” The sound of an engine. Closer, then more distant. A two-stroke engine, maybe a moped. Someone opening up the throttle. Repeatedly. “Where are you? Say something, man!” The voice on the other end wobbles.  “I didn’t catch that. What did you say? Speak up!”  “… Morocco. In Marrakesh… I’m being followed. They’ve got automatic weapons.”  “What the hell are you doing in Morocco? And who are they?”  “Don’t really know. Arms dealers… extremists… Dammit! They’re closing in…” “Have you called the cops?” More wheezing. Then the piercing squeal of a twostroke engine.  “They’ve got connections everywhere.”  “Where are you?”  “The Old Town, in the souks… I got lost…” “Give me more detail, Armand! Are there no street names, specialist shops or whatever? I need some clues if I’m to help you.” “No, no! It all looks the same round here.”  “Use the camera on your smartphone. Do you hear me!?” Suddenly, the sound of shots. Rapid fire.  “Hey! What’s going on down there?” Total, intermiGIVE ME MORE nable silence. Then more rapid footsteps. Maybe he managed to DETAIL, ARMAND! hide somewhere. Then he hears the wheezing again. Suddenly, an ear-splitting racket. Like a door being kicked in. Muffled pounding ARE THERE NO followed by a roar, an explosion maybe. Armand whispers. Barely STREET NAMES, audibly. “Listen, Robert! Check our cloud! Something big’s going SPECIALIST SHOPS on… oh God, they’re coming…” Wood splintering, the clatter of boots. Everything seems to be happening up close now. Mathieu OR WHATEVER? I screams into the phone. “Armand! […]”

NEED SOME CLUES IF I’M TO HELP YOU.

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

MARCO SCHANK

Fiction

Sabotage JEFF SCHINKER

A company decides to organise a fiendish, Darwinian version of a Team Building Game. At the job centre, the identities of the unemployed, fraudsters, artists and employees dissolve into a nebula where reality and fiction are intertwined. A book prize is creating chaos and hopes in the Luxembourgish literary scene, which is being closely examined by a TV reality show. A house of literature on the Wannsee is taken over by an unscrupulous banker for his birthday party, in the course of which two views of the world collide. In these four stories around broken hearts and bodies, 16 narrators question the inept madness of the world of work, while questioning language itself, sabotage their lives or the lives of others and go through episodes in which everyone discovers an impostor.

Jeff Schinker

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

HYDRE ÉDITIONS

Genre Novel

Price 22 €

Publication date 2018

Number of pages 272

ISBN 978-2-9199541-2-4 Language French, German, English, Luxembourgish

Format 220 x 280 cm Rights available World Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Hydre Éditions 12, rue Biergerkräiz L-8120 Bridel Luxembourg +352 621 747736 info@hydreditions.eu www.hydreditions.eu

JEFF SCHINKER Sabotage

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

Jeff Schinker, born in 1985, is a writer and the head of the cultural pages of the daily newspaper Tageblatt. He also organizes a series of readings with formal constraints. Sabotage – a project in four languages – is his second book publication, after the novella Retrouvailles (2015), also published by Hydre Éditions.

Fiction

Sabotage

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

JEFF SCHINKER

Ein Haufen von Büroangestellten gleitet in den Raum – die zu Bürgern mutierte Arbeiterklasse, einige Sprossen auf der Gehaltsleiter gestiegen, doch genauso verbittert, erniedrigt, lustlos, unterdrückt, manipulierbar. Ich gebe mir nicht die Mühe, ihre Gesichtszüge auch nur minimal zu verinnerlichen. Oui, c’est de mauvais goût. Excusez-moi. Mais j’aime ça, moi, le mauvais goût. La vie, en général, c’est d’assez mauvais goût, non ?

LA VIE, EN GÉNÉRAL, C’EST D’ASSEZ MAUVAIS GOÛT, NON ?

And he’d inevitably be blocked by this same dissatisfaction with all kinds of words, by his disgust in their tendency to the universal, one word for thousands of varieties and nuances of emotions, one expression to feed humanity. Words were dancing gigolos who’d adapt to every possible situation. He was done with them.

Virun der Haaptentrée waren d’Museker nach ëmmer an enger deels hektescher Diskussioun. Ronderëm si huet een net vill erkannt, d’Beliichtung war esou minimal, wéi wann ee sech an engem Buch erëmfonnt hätt, wou den Auteur keng Loscht op laang Beschreiwunge gehat hätt.

JEFF SCHINKER Sabotage

Sabotage

A bunch of office workers glides into the room – the working class mutated into citizens, a few rungs higher on the salary ladder, but just as bitter, humiliated, desireless, oppressed, easy to manipulate. I don’t bother to internalize their features even minimally. Yes, that’s bad taste. Excuse me. But I like that, the bad taste. Life, in general, is pretty distasteful, isn’t it? And he’d inevitably be blocked by this same dissatisfaction with all kinds of words, by his disgust in their tendency to the universal, one word for thousands of varieties and nuances of emotions, one expression to feed humanity. Words were dancing gigolos who’d adapt to every LIFE, IN GENERAL, possible situation. He was done with them.

IS PRETTY DISTASTEFUL, ISN’T IT?

By the entrance, the musicians where still arguing, frantically at times. Around them, not much could be recognized, the lighting was so minimal, as if one were in a fiction in which the author couldn’t be bothered with lengthy descriptions.

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

JEFF SCHINKER

Fiction

In Search of Nothing Gone CLAUDE SCHMIT

2019

NOVEL

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

“Me, I have had it very early, this insidious feeling, that little question: why is there something? Why is there not nothing? Nothing! Really nothing! The question haunts me. It runs through my veins like an exquisite elixir. It is a strange source of joy and I don’t feel like resisting its sweet bitterness.” Here are the Confessions of a nihilist. He is a librarian in a village. His days are peaceful…

Genre Philosophical novel

Price 18 €

Publication date 2018

Format 12 x 20 cm Number of pages 128

ISBN 978-99959-37-63-8

Rights available World

Language Français Original title: À la recherche du rien perdu

Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Éditions Phi 14, rue d’Ehlerange L-4439 Soleuvre Luxembourg +352 691 43 03 83 administration@editionsphi.lu www.phi.lu

CLAUDE SCHMIT In Search of Nothing Gone

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

Claude Schmit, born in 1947, has pursued studies in Philosophy in both Germany and France. After a lengthy spell teaching, he embarked on theatrical studies and became active as a comedian and stage director. He adapted and translated various plays and spent time heading the “Jeunesses Théâtrales”. As a regular contributor to the Radio 100,7 since its inception, he has initiated the philosophical programme “Usiichten”. À la recherche du rien perdu is his sixth novel to be published at Éditions Phi.

Fiction

À la recherche du rien perdu

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

CLAUDE SCHMIT

Moi aussi je n’ai pas eu de père, mais trop de mère. C’est pour ça que je comprends mieux les choses que les autres, et que je suis souvent silencieux, comme la Terre, vue de loin. Sauf qu’elle est bleue, alors que moi je suis pâle de mon désir de rien. Ce soir, notre parc détrempé est noir comme une cave humide et ses sentiers de sable gorgés de pluie. Les cimes pelées des tilleuls sont malmenées par les bourrasques et l’horizon parcouru par de tristes nuages, tout déchirés. Je m’engage dans l’impasse étroite, longe le mur moussu et pousse le portail. Crac ! j’écrabouille un escargot. A-t-il senti quelque chose ? […] Une fois par an, il vient lire ses poèmes incompréhensibles dans ma biblio, devant cinq pelés. Et ce soir, il m’a invité pour « préparer l’événement littéraire », comme il dit. Il veut y chanter l’homme, la liberté et la justice. Il est pour la paix aussi, et il collectionne les nez : photos, moulages, tableaux, caricatures, masques… Il faut savoir renifler les rumeurs du monde, murmure-t-il en affichant un air inspiré. Il a tous les nez : l’aquilin, le busqué, le crochu, l’écrasé, le retroussé, le grec… Il en a partout, même aux W.-C. Pour humer le monde, il faut du pif, dit-il. Et alors ses narines frémissent, son pif se boursoufle et le mien s’allonge. Je vois des nez ailés qui traversent le salon, d’autres qui fristouillent dans la poêle, et le sien qui saigne d’empathie avec tous les damnés de la terre. Trêve de balivernes ! Préparons l’événement littéraire. En rentrant chez moi, j’ai sans cesse envie de rire en pensant à Yaka. Il se met en colère contre les drones et les robots tueurs qui commencent à se balader dans les points chauds du globe. Un crime contre l’humanité, tonne-t-il, on n’a plus de boussole, plus de véritable idée de l’humain. Il n’y a plus que la performance, le rentable. Nous devenons des rouages de la machine économique. À pisser de rire, ce mec !

CLAUDE SCHMIT In Search of Nothing Gone

In Search of Nothing Gone

I haven’t had a father either, but too much of a mother. That’s why I understand things better than others and why I tend to keep quiet, like the earth, seen from afar. Only that it is blue while I pale in my desire for nothing. Tonight, our drenched park is dark like a damp cellar and its sandy alleyways are soaked with rain. Gusty winds hammer the lime trees’ bare tops and morose clouds traverse the horizon, all torn to shreds. I turn into the narrow passage, follow the moss-grown wall and open the gate. Crack! I crush a snail underfoot. Has it felt anything? […] Once a year, he comes to my library to read his impenetrable poems, facing a bland audience of five. And tonight, he has invited me to “organise the literary event”, as he calls it. His aim is to praise man, liberty and justice. He also favours peace and entertains a collection of noses: photographs, moulds, paintings, caricatures, masks… One needs to know how to sniff out the rumours of the world, he murmurs while affecting an enthused air. He has all of the noses: the aquiline, the hooked, the crooked, the crushed, the snub, the Greek… He has noses all over the place, even in the restrooms. To sniff the world, you have to have schnoz, he says. And his nostrils quiver, his sneezer swells and mine grows. I see winged noses cross the living room, others sizzling in the pan, and his bleeds in empathy with all the wretched of the earth. Enough gibberish! Let’s prepare the literary event. On my way home, I continually feel like laughing thinking of Yaka. He is incensed at the drones and killer robots that are roaming the world’s hot spots. A crime against humanity, he thunders, we have lost our bearings, of what it genuinely means to be human. There is nothing left but performance, cost efficiency. We are becoming cogs in the economic wheel. This guy, to piss your pants laughing!

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

CLAUDE SCHMIT

Fiction

Junkies at the Luxembourgers

NOVEL

eu à ens bres eux

€

DES TAUPES CHEZ LES LUXOS

plus

Jacques Steiwer est né à Niederfeulen. Il a fait des études de lettres et de philosophie à Paris. La plus grande partie de sa vie d’enseignant s’est passée à Bruxelles, aux Ecoles européennes. Il fut nommé directeur, successivement à Varese et à Ixelles (Bruxelles III). Outre de nombreux articles de philosophie et de pédagogie dans des revues spécialisées, cet auteur a publié trois ouvrages philosophiques aux éditions L’Harmattan à Paris, où a paru aussi un de ses romans : Mort d’un Nietzschéen. Les éditions Phi ont publié en 2012 Du gâchis chez les Luxos et en 2014 Angelika chez les Luxos .

Jacques Steiwer

des camés chez les luxos ROMAN

JACQUES STEIWER

ents aité éo-

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

JACQUES STEIWER This is inspector Moulinart’s 4th investigation. Former major crime investigator and security chief of the Grand Duke, superintendent Moulinart is enjoying his retirement among the bucolic hills of Bourschent, when his son Bastien is caught up in a raid by the Luxembourgish anti-narcotics brigade. Leading police officer Luc Nilles, an honest and meticulous man, is drawn into an investigation which becomes ever more obscure. International drug rings infiltrate the Luxembourg market where they weave murderous plots. Against their actions, the anti-narcotics police’s traditional methods prove useless and fruitlessly sidetrack, all the more since corrupt politicians and police officers seem to give the thugs protection. A secret war arises between two mafia clans.

-0

Editions Phi

Phi

12/09/2019 12:43

Genre Detective story

Price 20 €

Publication date 2019

Format 12 x 20 cm Number of pages 380

ISBN 978-2-919791-15-6

Rights available World

Language French Original title: Des camés chez les Luxos

Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Éditions Phi 14, rue d’Ehlerange L-4439 Soleuvre Luxembourg +352 691 43 03 83 administration@editionsphi.lu www.phi.lu

JACQUES STEIWER Junkies at the Luxembourgers

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

Jacques Steiwer was born in Niederfeulen. He studied Literature and Philosophy in Paris. Most of his teaching career was spent in Brussels, at the European Schools. He was appointed director, at Varese and at Ixelles (Brussels III) successively. Éditions Phi published Such a waste at the Luxembourgers in 2012, Angelika at the Luxembourgers in 2014 and Moles at the Luxembourgers in 2016.

Fiction

Des camés chez les Luxos

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

JACQUES STEIWER

Lui, rien savoir. On l’avait quand même coincé rue de Strasbourg avec cinquante boules de cocaïne dans une petite sacoche de cuir qu’il avait précipitamment jetée dans une poubelle au moment où la brigade des stups sautait d’un véhicule banalisé. Il n’avait rien sur lui, le malin. Tout reposait sur le témoignage d’un jeune policier qui prétendait l’avoir vu au moment où il balançait son magot dans une benne industrielle au bord d’un chantier, là où on l’avait d’ailleurs récupéré : une grosse bourse à tirette avec exactement cinquante fois deux grammes de pure neige emballée, prête à l’emploi. « Donc, ce sac tu ne connais pas ? – Pas à moi, m’sieur commissaire. Allah témoin, je jure. UNE GROSSE – Parjure devant la police, très grave, grommela Nilles, dans le BOURSE À TIRETTE même jargon que son interlocuteur. Eh bien, on va te libérer, AVEC EXACTEMENT puisque tu jures sur Allah. Mais pour plus de précision, tu me permettras d’introduire ce tampon d’ouate dans ta bouche, CINQUANTE FOIS histoire de prendre un peu d’ADN, et puis tu me feras le plaisir d’aller te soulager aux toilettes avec ce petit pot pour uriner DEUX GRAMMES dedans. Compris ? » DE PURE NEIGE L’autre le regardait avec un faciès de chihuahua, obtus à souhait. « Oui, uriner, pisser, quoi. Contrôle de routine ! » Nilles EMBALLÉE, s’empêchait de crier trop fort. Il voulait rester calme, dominer PRÊTE À L’EMPLOI. son irritation.

JACQUES STEIWER Junkies at the Luxembourgers

Junkies at the Luxembourgers

He… ‘know nothing’. He had nonetheless been caught on the rue de Strasbourg with fifty bags of cocaine, hidden in a small leather pouch, which he had hastily thrown into a trash can just as the anti-narcotics brigade had jumped out of an unmarked vehicle. He had nothing on him, the clever fella. Everything rested on the testimony of a young policeman who claimed to have seen him when swinging his loot into an industrial dumpster next to a construction site, from which it had, by the way, been retrieved: a large pouch with a zipper, containing exactly fifty times two grams of pure, wrapped up snow, ready for use. “So, this pouch, you don’t know it? – Not mine, sir commissioner. Allah witness, I swear. A LARGE POUCH – Perjury before a police officer, very serious offence, grumbled Nilles, in the same jargon as his interlocutor. Well, we’re going WITH A ZIPPER, to release you, since you swear to Allah. But for the sake of CONTAINING transparency, you will allow me to rub this swab inside your mouth, just to take a tiny DNA sample. Then do me a favour EXACTLY FIFTY and take this urine sample cup and relieve yourself at the res- TIMES TWO troom. Understood?” The other stared at him doing his Chihuahua’s face, as obtuse GRAMS OF PURE, as you wish. WRAPPED UP SNOW, “Well… to urinate, to pee, you know! For a routine control!” Nilles tried not to shout too loudly. He wanted to stay calm READY FOR USE. and control his anger.

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

NOVEL

JACQUES STEIWER

Fiction

One Year in Berlin ROMAIN BUTTI

2019

SHORT FICTION

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

The protagonist, a recent graduate from university, goes to Berlin for a year to write the memoirs of his aunt Ida, a celebrated gallery owner from Mitte. In a bar he gets to know the mysterious Greg, and both men realize they have something very important in common: they want to get out of civilization, out of this city that makes them unhappy. Daydreaming evolves into wild visions in which the protagonist finds himself surrounded by rough nature and draws closer to Greg. In a feverish state, he realizes that he can no longer cope with the urban jungle. Ida recognizes his inner conflict and helps him to finally leave Berlin. The protagonist gathers his last strength and sets off to join Greg on an adventure into auspicious nothingness.

Genre Novella

Price 19,95 €

Publication date 2019

Format 13,5 x 21,0 cm Number of pages 98

ISBN 978-99959-39-47-2

Rights available World

Language German Original title: Ein Jahr in Berlin

Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Kremart Edition s.à r.l. 5, rue François Faber L-1509 Luxembourg Luxembourg +352 621 71 09 29 kontakt@kremart.lu www.kremart.lu

ROMAIN BUTTI One Year in Berlin

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

Born in 1989 in Luxembourg City, Romain Butti studied German Literature and English and American Studies at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau, before working as a Social Media Manager in Berlin. In his texts, he explores topics such as isolation, being on the road and the search for finding your place between raw nature and the anonymity of the city. In 2018, he was awarded the 1st prize at the National Literary Competition Luxembourg for his play Fir wann ech net méi kann.

Fiction

Ein Jahr in Berlin

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

ROMAIN BUTTI

Der Ford Explorer steht zwischen einer Wand aus Regenwald und einem Abgrund, und die Scheinwerfer leuchten durch den Nieselregen über die Klippe ins Dunkel hinein. Ich klettere den platt getretenen Pfad zwischen Nikau-Palmen und Harakeke und Puriri hinunter, und stehe wieder vor dem Wasserfall, und über mir dröhnt die Nor’wester, und es blutet in mich hinein, und ich sinke mit jedem Schritt bis zu den Knöcheln in den Sand, und der Regen wäscht meine Spur weg. Vor mir alles. Saftiger Wuchs und üppiges Buschland. Ich atme die kühle Luft. Um mich herum sind Kiefern und Silberfarn, feuchte Erde saugt an meinen Zehen und zwischen meinen Härchen ist Sand, und die Toetoes sind flaumig und wehen lasch, es ist ruhig und groß und dunstblau, und von den gewölbten Felsen fließt Gewitterregen. Alles in meinem Körper tut weh, und ich halte meinen Kopf unter den Wasserfall, und Greg hält meinen Kopf in seinen Händen, und ich gehe in ihm auf, ich habe solche Angst, er geht weg, und alles läuft aus, hinein in den Nieselregen, Greg ist jetzt in diesem Moment neben mir und hält mich und verbringt Zeit mit mir und ist da, und ich höre das Meer rauschen und Vögel zwitschern, und ich sehe die Pōhutukawa-Bäume und die Kōwhai-Blüten, und Greg zeigt mir die vier roten Sterne, das Kreuz des Südens, hier ist das Gras fester und der Himmel ist aufgeklappt und überragend weit, und das Wasser fließt hier in entgegengesetzter Richtung, und ich fühle und atme, und es ist so, wie Greg es immer beschrieben hat, und ich sehe Greg, er ist direkt hier, und er lächelt, und seine Stimme heilt, haere mai, everything is ka pai, sie hallt, und hinter uns tost der Wasserfall, und vieles ist leicht, und ich bin dort und hier mit dir, und du wirst mir so viel zeigen und streckst deine Hand nach mir aus, und ich glaube, ich bin angekommen.

ROMAIN BUTTI One Year in Berlin

One Year in Berlin

I leave the Ford Explorer next to a wall of rainforest on a precipice, and its headlights shine over the cliff through the drizzle and into the darkness. I climb down the worn path between Nikau palms and harakeke and puriri, and end up again in front of the waterfall, and the Nor’wester roars above me, and it bleeds into me, and with each step I sink up to my ankles in sand, and the rain erases my trail. In front of me everything. Succulent growth and lush scrubland. I breathe the cool air. Around me are pines and silver fern, wet soil sucks on my toes and sand gets between my hairs, and the toetoe are fluffy and blowing lazily, it is calm and vast and haze blue, and thundery showers flow from the arched rocks. Everything in my body hurts, and I put my head under the waterfall, and my head in his hands, and I bloom inside him, I am so scared, he leaves, and everything leaks out, into the drizzle, Greg is now next to me, and holds me and spends time with me and is present, and I hear the surf and the birds chirping, and I see the Pōhutukawa trees and the kōwhai blossoms. Greg shows me the four red stars, the Southern Cross, the grass is firmer here, and the sky is unfolded and wonderfully wide, and the water is flowing the other way around here and I feel and I breathe it; it’s just as Greg has always described. I see Greg, he is right here,he smiles, and his voice heals, haere mai, everything is ka pai, his voice echoes, and behind us the waterfall storms, and things are light, and I’m there and here with you, and you will show me much and you stretch out your hand towards me, and I think I have arrived.

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

ROMAIN BUTTI

Fiction

Not Too Late ANJA DI BARTOLOMEO

2019

SHORT FICTION

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

Nicht zu spät is a collection of 9 short stories, all very different, but all dealing with the same question: When is it too late? Michael knows that they are all waiting for him. Even his own life – that doesn’t seem to be his own any more. What if he does not board this train? Would it be too late, or would a new door open? A father hasn’t seen his daughter for years. The wounds from the past are deep. When he finally hears from her, everything seems to be possible again. The borders between too late and not too late are blurred. Too late to forgive, too late to revolt and make a decision? When is it too late? And if it is too late, is there a way out? What is stronger? Courage or resignation, insight or denial, hope or surrender?

Genre Short Stories

Price 14,90 €

Publication date 2019

Format 11,5 x 18,6 cm Number of pages 128

ISBN 978-2-87967-238-0

Rights available World

Language German Original title: Nicht zu spät

Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Op der Lay 2A, Z.A.R.E. Ilot Est L-4385 Ehlerange Luxembourg info@opderlay.lu www.opderlay.lu

ANJA DI BARTOLOMEO Not Too Late

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

Anja Di Bartolomeo was born in 1978 in Luxembourg. As a freelance journalist for newspapers and magazines such as Woxx, Télécran, Tageblatt, Kulturissimo, das Magazin, she published from 2004 - 2009 reviews and cultural contributions and started to write her first literary texts. In 2011 Exit Schattenkopf was published by Op der Lay. In 2017, she won the Concours littéraire national with her short stories Chamäleons. Nicht zu spät, her third book, was published in spring 2019.

Fiction

Nicht zu spät

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

ANJA DI BARTOLOMEO

Ich stehe am Fenster. Ein Vogel fliegt. Er treibt im Wind. Im Radio sagen sie, dass der Schnee kommt. Elisa sagt nichts. Ich sehe sie in der Scheibe. Die Augen sind im Baum. Die Haare im Himmel. Elisa. Elisa sagt nichts. Sie sagt nie was. Nicht morgens, nicht mittags und nicht abends. Schon lange nicht mehr. Früher war das anders. Vor zwei oder drei Jahren hat sie noch gesprochen. Nicht viel. Aber immerhin. Sie war nicht immer so still. Manchmal frage ich mich, woran ich überhaupt merke, dass sie da ist. Ich glaube, es ist ihre Leere, die den Raum füllt. Die Leere nimmt mir die Luft. Wenn es zu schlimm wird, reiße ich das Fenster auf und strecke meinen erstickenden Kopf in die laute Stadt. Schnappend, ringend, die Augen in den weißen Himmel gedreht, die Nasenflügel zusammenklebend – den betäubenden, dampfenden Atem der Stadt gierig einsaugend. Innehalten. Bis zehn zählen. Vielleicht bis zwölf oder dreizehn. Die Augen schließen. Den kalten Kopf in den Nacken, die Lungen voller Abgase, Kerosin, Dreck. Ausatmen. Bis zehn zählen. Das Fenster schließen. Weiteratmen. Elisa atmet auch. Aber anders als wir. Anders als die anderen. Sie atmet nicht schnell und nicht langsam und auch nicht flach. Manchmal warte ich darauf, dass sich der Brustkorb auf- und absenkt. Ich warte auf ein Geräusch, eine Bewegung, ein kaum bemerkbares, minimales Zucken. Doch nichts kommt. Nichts passiert. Einmal, vor ungefähr sechs Monaten, dachte ich, sie sei tot. Es war fünf nach zwei und der Vollmond schien ihr hell ins Gesicht. Ihre Wangen glänzten weiß, der Mund war leicht geöffnet. Ich stellte mir vor, wie das Licht in sie hineinfließen würde. Wie es das Nichts absorbieren und eine schöne, leuchtende Hülle zurückließe. Ich stieg aus dem Bett, leise, vorsichtig, und schlich rückwärts ans Fenster. Die Augen fest auf den reglosen Körper gerichtet. Berauscht von der unfassbaren Schönheit der Endlichkeit.

ANJA DI BARTOLOMEO Not Too Late

Not Too Late

I’m standing by the window. A bird on the wing. Drifting on the wind. On the radio, they are saying that snow is on the way. Elisa says nothing. I can see her in the window-pane. Her eyes are in the tree. Her hair in the sky. Elisa. Elisa says nothing. She never says anything. Not in the morning, not at lunchtime, and not in the evening. She hasn’t for a long time. It used to be different. Two or three years ago, she still used to talk. Not a lot. But still. She wasn’t always so silent. Sometimes I ask myself how I actually tell she is there. I believe it is her emptiness that fills up the space. The emptiness takes my breath away. When it gets too bad, I wrench open the window and poke my suffocating head out into the noisy city. Gasping, struggling, eyes turned up into the white sky, nostrils stuck together – greedily sucking in the numbing, steaming breath of the city. Pause. Count to ten. Maybe to twelve or thirteen. Close my eyes. Tip back my cold head, lungs full of exhaust fumes, kerosene, filth. Breathe out. Count to ten. Close the window. Carry on breathing. Elisa breathes, too. But not as we do. Not like the others. Her breathing is not rapid, nor slow, and not shallow, either. Sometimes, I wait for her chest to rise and fall. I wait for a sound, a movement, a barely noticeable, minimal twitch. But nothing comes. Nothing happens. Once, about six months ago, I thought she was dead. It was five past two a.m., and the full moon was bright, shining on her face. Her cheeks gleamed white; her mouth was slightly open. I imagined the light flowing into her. How it would absorb the nothingness and leave behind a beautiful, luminous husk. I got out of bed, quietly, cautiously and edged backwards to the window. Eyes fixed steadily on her motionless body. Intoxicated with the inconceivable beauty of the finite.

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

ANJA DI BARTOLOMEO

Fiction

The Bubbles TOM REISEN

Nine stories, nine characters evolving in the same city: New York. Each of them live in their own bubble that nurtures both a lie and frames a solitude. Until the day an event – a tragic accident or a trivial encounter – breaks it apart. These nine destinies, seen at a fateful threshold of their existence, merge with the superlative and superficial city. Ironically, this quest for truth describes a circular movement around a fleeting centre until, toward the end of the book, the photogenic New York reveals its essentially imaginary nature: the mental representation of a necessarily disappointing desire.

Tom Reisen

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

HYDRE ÉDITIONS

Genre Short stories

Price 12 €

Publication date 2018

Format 220 x 280 cm Number of pages 100

ISBN 978-2-9199541-1-7

Rights available World

Language French Original title: Les Bulles

Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Hydre Éditions 12, rue Biergerkräiz L-8120 Bridel Luxembourg +352 621 747736 info@hydreditions.eu www.hydreditions.eu

TOM REISEN The Bubbles

Tom Reisen was born in Luxembourg in 1971. His father is a Luxembourger and his mother is of Serbian descent. He has published two collections of poetry and several short stories. Author of a thesis on André Gide, he was a university researcher (Sheffield), then a journalist (Tageblatt) before joining Foreign Affairs. As a diplomat, he served at UN headquarters in New York and at UNESCO in Paris, among other places. The Bubbles is his first prose work.

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

Les Bulles

The Bubbles

TOM REISEN

C’était comme si je découvrais pour la première fois le monde, je veux dire l’immensité du monde, la majesté du monde transformé par l’homme, son foisonnement et sa puissance. Il y avait la mer et le ciel, également vastes, également bleus, des ponts suspendus, une forêt de gratte-ciel dont à l’époque j’ignorais les noms et dans lesquels se reflétait la lumière dorée d’un azur sans nuages. Quelles foules déambulaient sur les boulevards de cette ville de géants ?

It was as if I were discovering the world for the first time, I mean the immensity of the world, the majesty of the world transformed by man, his abundance and power. There were the sea and sky, equally vast, equally blue, suspended bridges, a forest of skyscrapers the names of which I didn’t know at the time and which reflected the golden light of a cloudless azure. What crowds were walking along the boulevards of this city of giants?

nue

On the Edge

SHORT FICTION

ON THE EDGE

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

ANNE-MARIE REUTER

A father missing his children, a dance teacher facing the end of the world in her school, a house on the verge of collapse, a tax officer fighting for his life, Black Fountain Press a chewing gum dying for love – the characters in Luxembourg’sfirstpublishinghousefor these 15 stories find themselves pushed to the edge literature in English. where they have to struggle, to reinvent themselves if they are to continue in a country very much on the edge itself. www.blackfountain.lu

ON THE EDGE Anne-Marie Reuter

Anne-Marie Reuter

the f gum nd

Fiction

We wish to provide a platform for writers who choose to express themselves in English rather than in the traditional languages of Luxembourg. We want to promote established Luxembourgish authors by publishing English translations of their work.

ON THE EDGE ISBN 978-99959-998-0-3 Publisher: Black Fountain Press Author: Anne-Marie Reuter Edition: 04/2017 Layout: Vidale-Gloesener

-998-0-3

Genre Short stories

Price 15 €

Publication date 2018

Number of pages 86

ISBN 978-99959-998-0-3 Language English

Format 13 x 20 cm Rights available World Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Black Fountain Press 1c, rue de Luxembourg L-8140 Bridel Luxembourg +352 691 136 164 anne-marie.reuter@blackfountain.lu jeff.thill@blackfountain.lu www.blackfountain.lu

ANNE-MARIE REUTER On the Edge

Anne-Marie Reuter, born in Luxembourg, studied in London and Warwick. She holds a PhD in comparative literature and works as an English teacher at Lycée Robert-Schuman. In 2017, she co-founded Black Fountain Press. She has published a collection of flash fiction and short stories, On the Edge (2017). She has translated, from French into English, poetry by Lambert Schlechter, One Day I Will Write a Poem (2018), and, from English into Luxembourgish, the play Disko Dementia by Larisa Faber (2018).

From: ‘Stalking’ He was on time. The bell hadn’t gone yet, and he had managed to get the perfect parking space. He knew which one he wanted; he always tried to be early to make sure it was still free. It was like an omen: parking space free – good day; parking space taken – bad day. The space was ideal because no other cars were parked right or left, which was important for his purposes. His view wasn’t blocked, and no other drivers could see him. Too much hassle with people getting in and out; or worse staying in their cars and waiting – just like him, or not quite. Too risky. All watching out for the children to leave the school building. The little girls in their beautiful dresses flying in the summer air; the boys with their ruffled hair and wild looks. He pictured himself sitting in the car, watching the school gates. A picture of humiliation. It made him feel sick. He had tried to stop coming to school. He knew better than anyone else it made things worse. But he couldn’t help it. Given the choice of suffering in his car or suffering at home, he preferred the first option.

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

Fiction

Falling from Various Heights ELISE SCHMIT

Watching from the kitchen window how tourists plunge to their deaths, driving aimlessly through all of Germany out of love sorrow until the money runs out, repairing a radio, because devices are easier to mend than a broken existence: the characters in Elise Schmit’s narrative Falling From Various Heights have had to come to terms with life after the great personal catastrophe. Whether they fall from rocks or in love - in the end everything revolves around the question of how life will continue after the decisive upheavals.

Elise Schmit

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

HYDRE ÉDITIONS

Genre Short stories Publication date 2018 ISBN 978-2-9199541-0-0 Language German Original title: Stürze aus unterschiedlichen Fallhöhen

Price 15 € Format 220 x 280 cm Number of pages 144 Rights available World Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Hydre Éditions 12, rue Biergerkräiz L-8120 Bridel Luxembourg +352 621 747736 info@hydreditions.eu www.hydreditions.eu

ELISE SCHMIT Falling from Various Heights

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

Elise Schmit (*1982) was born and raised in Luxembourg. She holds a degree in German Studies with Philosophy from the University of Tübingen. After two extended stays in Tübingen and a shorter stint in Paris, she returned to Luxembourg in 2012 where she has been living and working since. Her writings have been honoured with several awards in Luxembourg. Falling From Various Heights is her first collection of short stories to be published.

Fiction

Stürze aus unterschiedlichen Fallhöhen

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

ELISE SCHMIT

Wenn „wir“ uns vor zwei Jahren begegnet wären, sagte er, hätten „wir“ kein so angenehmes Gespräch geführt. Ich hätte garantiert nicht mit ihm geredet. Was fiel dem ein, mir Vorurteile zu unterstellen, die ich längst abgelegt hatte, dachte ich. Keine Arbeit, keine Freunde, keine Marcia. Wellen, Salzwasser, immer weiter abwärts, bis kein Licht mehr durchdringt, Meeresboden, ein paar Schichten Sand und Dreck, dann irgendwann ich, so tief war ich gesunken. Es hatte Monate gedauert, bis ich verstanden hatte, dass ich mich nicht in einem Haus verstecken konnte, das bald nicht ARBEIT, mehr meines wäre.

KEINE KEINE FREUNDE, KEINE MARCIA.

ELISE SCHMIT Falling from Various Heights

Falling from Various Heights

If “we” had met two years ago, he said, “we” would not have had such a pleasant conversation. I certainly wouldn’t have talked to him. What was the idea of accusing me of prejudices that I had long since discarded, I thought. No work, no friends, no Marcia. Waves, salt water, ever deeper to where no more light penetrates, seabed, a few layers of sand and dirt, then, eventually, me. That is how far I had sunk. It took me months to understand that I could not hide in a house that would NO soon no longer be mine.

WORK, NO FRIENDS, NO MARCIA.

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

ELISE SCHMIT

Fiction

The Scent of the Earth after the Rain YORICK SCHMIT

2019

SHORT FICTION

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

Yorick Schmit’s stories, written in German and Luxembourgish, make use of the characteristic landscape of the “Minette” region in southwestern Luxembourg to describe the fates of mostly socially isolated figures, their losses as well as their achievements and hopes: An old man wakes up after an atomic catastrophe in the evacuated exclusion zone in the south of Luxembourg; a century-old tree is at the origin of a historical and literary search into Luxembourg’s past. The passing away of a childhood friend brings a young scholar back to his home village and his memories; a mourning widower fights against his unruly garden; a mother goes to extremes to save her son from the Nazis. These are stories about the light at the end of the tunnel, new beginnings and first steps into a new life.

Genre Short stories Publication date 2018 ISBN 978-99959-2-025-8 Language German/Luxembourgish Original title: Der Geruch der Erde nach dem Regen

Price 19 € Format 13 x 20 cm Number of pages 144 Rights available World Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Éditions Saint-Paul 2, rue Christophe Plantin L-2988 Luxembourg Luxembourg +352 4993 238 editions@editions.lu www.editions.lu

YORICK SCHMIT The Scent of the Earth after the Rain

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

Yorick Schmit was born in 1986 in Luxembourg and graduated in German and American Studies at the University of Saarland. From 2010 to 2011 he completed the course “Lëtzebuerger Sprooch a Kultur” at the University of Luxembourg. As an author he has published literary articles in the magazines Galerie and Forum as well as short stories, including Paenitentia (2014) and Vogelflug (2018). The Scent of the Earth after the Rain is his first collection of short stories to be published.

Fiction

Der Geruch der Erde nach dem Regen

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

YORICK SCHMIT

„Sie war weder das schönste noch das wertvollste Gewächs in Herrn Blums Garten. Doch es war immer sie, zu der er bei seinen allmorgendlichen Rundgängen zuerst ging. Die etwa dreißig Zentimeter hohe Sonnenblume stand, etwas abseits von ihren ungleich auffälligeren Artgenossen, alleine auf einer kleinen Anhöhe, ganz am Ende des Gartens. Herr Blum mochte die langgliedrigen, sonnengelben Zungenblüten, die der Pflanze ihren Namen gegeben hatten, und er mochte es, wie diese im Laufe des Tages der Bewegung der Sonne von Osten nach Westen folgten. Vor allem aber mochte er, dass sie seiner Frau gefallen hatte. Die beiden hatten sie vor etwa drei Monaten zusammen gepflanzt. Es war der letzte Neuzugang. Keine weiteren Blumen, keine neuen Hecken, keine zusätzlichen Gemüse- oder Obstsorten. Seit jenem Tag versuchte Herr Blum vergebens die VOR ALLEM ABER Zeit anzuhalten, den Status Quo aufrechtzuerhalten. Der Garten MOCHTE ER, DASS sollte so bleiben, wie sie ihn zuletzt erlebt hatte. Jede zusätzliche Sprosse, jeder neue Strauch, jede Abweichung von der Norm SIE SEINER FRAU wurde im Keim erstickt. Er war ein Wall gegen die zerstörerischen GEFALLEN HATTE. Strömungen der Zeit. Jeden Morgen schlenderte Herr Blum mit einer Gartenschere durch sein grünes Reich und entfernte aufmüpfige Äste und starrköpfige Blüten, die seinem Sinn nach Ordnung und Konstanz zuwiderliefen. Eine Zeitlang – so schien es zumindest – gelang ihm dies auch. Bis zu jenem Sommertag, an dem Herrn Blums geordnetes Leben aus den Fugen geriet.“

YORICK SCHMIT The Scent of the Earth after the Rain

The Scent of the Earth after the Rain

“It was neither the most beautiful nor the most valuable plant in Mr. Blum’s garden. But it was always her to whom he went first on his morning rounds. The sunflower, about thirty centimetres high, was standing on a small hill, at the very end of the garden, just off its much more conspicuous congeners. Mr. Blum liked the long-limbed, sunny yellow tongue blossoms that gave the plant its name, and he liked the way they followed the sun from east to west during the day. Above all, he liked that his wife had liked the sunflower. They had both planted it about three months ago. It was the last addition to the garden. No new flowers, no new hedges, ABOVE ALL, HE no additional vegetables or types of fruit. Since that day, Mr. Blum LIKED THAT HIS had been trying in vain to stop time and maintain the status quo. The garden should remain as she had last seen it. Every new flower, WIFE HAD LIKED every new shrub, every deviation from the norm was nipped in the THE SUNFLOWER. bud. He was a wall against the destructive currents of time. Every morning, Mr. Blum wandered through his green kingdom with pruning shears and removed defiant branches and stubborn blooms that ran counter to his sense of order and constancy. For a while – so it seemed – he succeeded. Until that one summer’s day when Mr. Blum’s orderly life was thrown off balance.”

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

SHORT FICTION

YORICK SCHMIT

Fiction

Fresh from the Fountain English Writing in Luxembourg [Anthology] Fresh from the Fountain is a collection of prose and poetry by 29 authors who have made English their language or Luxembourg their home.

Fresh from the Fountain

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

MISCELLANEOUS

Fresh from the Fountain is a collection of prose and poetry by 29 authors who made English their language or Luxembourg their home.

Fresh from the Fountain English Writing in Luxembourg

English Writing in Luxembourg

Terry Adams, Susan Alexander, Jess Bauldry, Jessica Becker, Catherine Bennett, Jodie Dalgleish, Shehzar Doja, Ruth Dugdall, Joanna Easter, Tullio Forgiarini, Françoise Glod, Dylan Harris, Tom Hengen, Pierre Joris, Jos Kayser, Georges Kieffer, Jean-Marc Lantz, James Leader, Noëlle Manoni, Agnes Marton, Robbie Martzen, Claudine Muno, Jeffrey Palms, Jeff Schinker, Lambert Schlechter, Sandra Schmit, Robert Schofield, Cecile Somers, Wendy Winn

Genre Poetry & short stories

Price 19 €

Publication date 2018

Number of pages 166

ISBN 978-99959-998-2-7 Language English

Format 13 x 20 cm Rights available World Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

[Anthology] Fresh from the Fountain – English Writing in Luxembourg

PZIERRE JORIS NOËLLE MANONI CECILE SOMERS ROBBIE MARTZEN AGNES MARTON WENDY WINN TERRY ADAMS RUTH DUGDALL ROBERT SCHOFIELD TULLIO FORGIARINI JODIE DALGLEISH SANDRA SCHMIT GEORGES KIEFFER SUSAN ALEXANDER JEFF SCHINKER JOS KAYSER CLAUDINE MUNO FRANÇOISE GLOD JESSICA BECKER JEFFREY PALMS JOANNA EASTER JEAN-MARC LANTZ TOM HENGEN JESS BAULDRY LAMBERT SCHLECHTER CATHERINE BENNETT SHEHZAR DOJA DYLAN HARRIS JAMES LEADER

Farewell

On Bridges Red

Stargazing

MISCELLANEOUS

The Cormorant, A Glottal Choice

Mother of the Groom

To Start With

Daddy’s Girl

The Day the River came in

Journey Home

A Bigger Splash

Pequeño — A Brief History

The Soundtrack of their Lives

Cat’s Jump

Stephen

By Train

The Square

Wham! A Tram

5AM

Finn’s Viewing

Memorable Journey: The Family of Man revisited

Old Town

Nine Lines

The Elephant is out of the Basket

Inside the Haveli

Untitled

A&E

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

Mandatory Birthday Hats

Drive through Time

2019

Pink Benetton

Fiction

Fresh from the Fountain English Writing in Luxembourg [Anthology]

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

MISCELLANEOUS

“Joséphine Charlotte,” they said, “This is your bridge. What colour would you like it?” She pointed to her lipstick and said “I like the colour red.” (from ‘On Bridges Red’ by Cecile Somers) On his first day of school, the boy told them that his name was Stephen. There was some confusion, initially, because the forms clearly stated that his real name must be Tom, but he pretended otherwise with such conviction that by the second week his friends and teachers could not remember why they might ever have doubted his word. (from ‘Stephen’ by Claudine Muno) You wake up in the cold pre-dawn, rub the tiredness from your eyes. A shower, scalding hot, would be nice. But the boiler is broken, and the water chills you as you scrub your skin, raw and red and clean. It’ll get fixed soon, the landlord promised. That was three weeks ago. Your wet feet feel gritty on the tiles. (from ‘5AM’ by Joanna Easter)

[Anthology] Fresh from the Fountain – English Writing in Luxembourg

2019

MISCELLANEOUS

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

“The Wongs are a very proper family, very respected in our village. Traditional and strong. An unmarried daughter brings terrible luck on a family, so when she passed into the other world without a groom there was much fear. It was simple good fortune that my own mother should tell me this, and that I knew of Felix’s sad death, just a month before. It seemed like fate.” (from ‘Mother of the Groom’ by Ruth Dugdall) Gerald Fischer dies today. He doesn’t deserve it. Not at all. He deserves to go on living forever. He’s discovered pain just recently and it would only be fair for him to suffer a little longer. Much longer, in fact. But life isn’t fair. So Gerald Fischer will die at the age of 81, having suffered for less than a year. (from ‘Daddy’s Girl’ by Tullio Forgiarini)

‘AT ANY RATE, ONE ALWAYS WRITES IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. BE IT MOTHER TONGUE OR FOREIGN LANGUAGE, LANGUAGE IS ALWAYS FOREIGN, OTHER, SECOND – & ONLY THEREFORE CAN ONE FIND A HOME THEREIN. ’ PIERRE JORIS, ‘A GLOTTAL CHOICE’

Fiction

As Proof of Vestiges SAMUEL HAMEN & MARC ANGEL

2019

MISCELLANEOUS

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

The author looks back on his own, Luxembourgish childhood of a civil servant offspring in the 1990s. He inspects various strands of time and episodes from his earliest childhood up to his youth in order to clarify what he actually perceived and what are only mental constructions. Does he stand in his way when he wants to remember ?

Genre Short stories/graphic stories

Price 24 €

Publication date 2019

Format 19 x 25 cm Number of pages 80

ISBN 978-99959-42-56-4

Rights available World

Language Luxembourgish Original title: Zeeechen

Foreign rights contact Stefanie Drews Agency stefanie.drews@orange.fr

Publishing house contact details Éditions Guy Binsfeld 14, place du Parc L-2313 Luxembourg Luxembourg +352 49 68 68 - 1 editions@binsfeld.lu www.editionsguybinsfeld.lu

SAMUEL HAMEN & MARC ANGEL As Proof of Vestiges

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

MISCELLANEOUS

Marc Angel was born in Diekirch in 1960. He has been working as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator for over twenty years. Having started out with commissions mostly, he now specializes in comic books as well as paintings and graphic art. He has published several works under the pseudonym Mangro.

Fiction

Zeeechen

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

MISCELLANEOUS

SAMUEL HAMEN & MARC ANGEL

„Et ass wéi bei där Forschett, déi si virdrun am Grapp hat. Et gëtt de breede Still, dat, wat mir schonns ergraff hunn, eist geliefte Liewen, jo ? An da gëtt et d’Spëtzten, dat sinn d’Varianten. Am Däitsche kann een aus Gabel ee Verb maachen: sich gabeln. Dat geet am Lëtzebuergeschen natierlech net, an dëser Mëschtsprooch, dësem Batz vun enger Sprooch, mat där een de Saachen ëmmer hannendrunhippt wéi een Zongekrëppel. Mee stellt Iech et vir, d’Méiglechkeete vum Verb sech forschettéieren. Domadder léisst sech d’Zukunft oppicken. Op eemol gëtt et Kräizungen, sinn ënnerschiddlech Weeër méiglech. A genee dat Wësse läit an der Mamm hirem Schmonzen.“

SAMUEL HAMEN & MARC ANGEL As Proof of Vestiges

As Proof of Vestiges

“It is the same with the fork that she held in her hands earlier. There’s the broad handle, that which we have already seized, our lived life, right? And then there are the spikes, which are the variables. In German, you can form a verb with the word Gabel: sich gabeln. That’s obviously not possible in Luxembourgish, this crap of a language, this heap of a language, with which one constantly limps after things, like some tongue-cripple. But just imagine the possibilities of the verb: to fork oneself. With this, the future can be skewered. Suddenly there is a crossroads, now different paths are possible. That is exactly the knowledge hidden in my mother’s smirk.”

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

MISCELLANEOUS

SAMUEL HAMEN & MARC ANGEL

Fiction

Literary Prizes

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

Prix Batty Weber Since 1987, the Batty Weber National Literature Prize has been awarded every three years by the Ministry of Culture to a Luxembourgish writer for their collected works. Illustrious Luxembourgish writers, such as Edmond Dune, Roger Manderscheid, Anise Koltz and Jean Portante are among its recipients. Past winners of the Batty Weber prize are listed on the website of the Dictionary of Luxembourgish Authors. For more information: www.autorenlexikon.lu Prix Servais Since 1992, the Servais Prize for literature has been awarded by the Servais Foundation to the most significant Luxembourgish work published over the past year, regardless of its language. Former winners of the Servais prize are listed on the website of the Dictionary of Luxembourgish Authors. For more information: www.autorenlexikon.lu Lëtzebuerger Buchpräis The Luxembourg Publishers’ Association (Lëtzebuerger Bicherediteuren) has awarded the Luxembourg book award (Lëtzebuerger Buchpräis) every year since 2006 on the occasion of the Book Days in Walferdange (Walfer Bicherdeeg). The best Luxembourgish books in the three categories Literature, Non-fiction as well as Children’s Books and Literature for Young Adults are selected by a panel of experts. A special prize for Design/Graphic, and a prize “Coup de coeur” may be awarded additionally. An audience prize is granted following the votes cast online by readers across all categories. European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), which is co-financed by the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission, aims to highlight the excellence of Europe’s contemporary literature in the field of fiction and to encourage greater interest in non-national literary works. Since its creation in 2009, 108 emerging authors from all over Europe have been awarded the Prize. In 2018, the EUPL celebrated its 10th anniversary with a special short fiction competition on the topic of Europe. For more information: www.euprizeliterature.eu

Â© Private

BOOKS FROM LUXEMBOURG

2019

Foreign Rights Contact details

Stefanie Drews Stefanie Drews Agency

stefanie.drews@orange.fr +33 6 89 33 21 76 3, rue Plumet F-75015 Paris France

c/o Agence luxembourgeoise d’action culturelle Cercle Cité | Place d’Armes B.P. 267 L-2012 Luxembourg Tel. +352 46 49 46 -21 www.readingluxembourg.lu info@readingluxembourg.lu