Meet the author: Kathrin Röggla
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Meet the author
The meetings with writers at Passa Porta, prepared with passion, courage and thoroughness, are more than simply the presentation of literary works. We seek to achieve a genuine connection between writer and reader, and among readers themselves.
Go to overviewKathrin Röggla is the author of novels, plays, radio plays and essays in which she mercilessly dissects our crisis-ridden society. The stories in her collection Nachtprogramma
are no exception: she shows no pity for her characters, who wander around, lost, in a globalized, neoliberal world. At Passa Porta she will discuss the collection with Inge Arteel and her translators, and she will read from her book (in German, with Dutch translation).
The cracks in the lives and worlds that Kathrin Röggla describes are not there to let the light in. The mundane takes on a terrifying character in her stories. She describes a world that consists of conferences, action groups and property companies, with meetings populated by experts and lobbyists who listen to speeches that have no consequences and are part of processes that lead nowhere.
We join her characters on planes that are stationary on the tarmac or are forever hovering over Morocco; we occupy an insurance company’s open-plan office; we ride in a taxi to the airport of Mumbai; we go to a class reunion; or we join a chat forum where medical complaints are discussed. Röggla creates a recognizable yet surprising world in which no one seems at ease. Suspicion prevails and disorientation and miscommunication fuel unrest. Many characters struggle with memory gaps while life rumbles on in a senselessly destructive manner.
And yet Kathrin Röggla’s stories are a joy to read. Her scrupulously clear style and dry humour make the sense of menace bearable. Her inventive vocabulary also makes for a unique reading experience. Or does anyone know another writer who enriches her stories with words like ‘victim competition’, ‘meeting tumult’, ‘alcohol silence’, ‘diagnostic front’, ‘prefab housing-estate monster’, ‘income biography’, ‘catastrophe expert’ or ‘usufruct minimization’, to name but a few of her many delightful coinages?
At Passa Porta, Kathrin Röggla will present, together with her translators, Nachtprogramma, the Dutch translation of her short-story collection Nachtsendung.
About the author
Austrian author Kathrin Röggla is one of the most important voices in contemporary German-language literature. In her novels, plays, radio plays and essays, she sheds an all-consuming light on our crisis-ridden society. Her idiosyncratic oeuvre has earned her several awards, including the Alexander-Sacher-Masoch-Preis, Arthur-Schnitzler-Preis, Italo-Svevo-Preis and Wortmeldungen-Literaturpreis. In 2024 Uitgeverij het balanseer published Nachtprogramma, the Dutch translation of her short-story collection Nachtsendung.
About the moderator
Inge Arteel is a professor of German-language literature at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Her research focuses on contemporary Austrian literature (mainly Friederike Mayröcker and Elfriede Jelinek), developments in drama and theatre, and the radio play. She has translated several of Elfriede Jelinek’s works into Dutch, most recently Angabe der Person as Persoonsgegevens (Querido, 2023).
In collaboration with Uitgeverij het balanseer, Österreichisches Kulturforum and KU Leuven.
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