Kassel Grimm Professorship 2013 awarded to Sibylle Lewitscharoff

"In her literature, she combines irony, wit and poetic approaches to the world that we have not found in German literature since the Romantic period," said Prof. Dr. Peter Seibert, head of the Department of Modern German Literature at the University of Kassel. Figures from the Brothers Grimm are also brought to new life by Lewitscharoff, he said, and fairy tale traditions are taken up. "At the same time, the author's characters and the situations in which they are placed seem to come from Kafkaesque worlds," Seibert said, explaining the honor: "Lewitscharoff's literature leads into a poetic world all its own."

Born in Stuttgart in 1954 to a Bulgarian father and a German mother, the writer has published mainly novels, short stories and essays since 1994. Her only drama to date, "Before the Court," had its world premiere in May 2012 at Mannheim's National Theater. Her most recent, highly acclaimed novel to date, "Blumenberg," was published in 2011 and is about a fictional lion by the Münster philosopher Hans Blumenberg. Lewitscharoff has repeatedly reflected theoretically on her poetic work, most recently in "Vom Guten. Wahren und Schönen - Frankfurter und Züricher Poetikvorlesungen" (2012). In addition, the author has also gained recognition as an illustrator of her own works.

Lewitscharoff's work has received numerous awards, including the Marie-Luise-Kaschnitz-Preis 2009, the Berliner Literaturpreis 2010, the Ricarda-Huch-Preis 2011, the Kleist-Preis 2011, the Marieluise-Fleißer-Preis 2011, the Wilhelm-Raabe-Preis 2011, and the Villa Massimo-Stipendium 2012.

In the 2013 summer semester, this year's Kassel "Grimm Professor" will hold her events from 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, to 6 p.m. Thursday, June 13. On 6/11 she will speak about her new "Dante" project, on Wednesday she will lead a seminar on questions of style and ethical principles of writing, and on Thursday she will read from the novel "Blumenberg." All events are open to the public. Venues will be announced at a later date. Admission is free.

The Brothers Grimm Professorship has been awarded for more than 20 years by Kassel University with the support of Kasseler Sparkasse. In this way, the university in North Hesse aims to contribute to a lively exchange between literary studies and contemporary literature and, in particular, to provide a public forum for writing in the border areas between literary genres. Previous holders of the visiting professorship include Dieter Kühn, Tankred Dorst, Hans-Joachim Schädlich, Klaus Harpprecht, Oskar Pastior, Guntram Vesper, Sarah Kirsch, Herta Müller, Volker Braun, Ludwig Harig, Christoph Hein, Eva Demski, Birgit Vanderbeke, Maxim Biller and Rafik Schami. The Grimm Professorship was awarded to Volker Schlöndorff in 2011 and Uwe Timm in 2012.

(Note to editors: The Kassel Grimm Professorship is not to be confused with the Research Professorship "The Work and Impact of the Brothers Grimm" at the University of Kassel. This six-year endowed professorship is held by Grimm researcher Prof. Dr. Holger Ehrhardt).

Info

Prof. Dr. Peter Seibert

University of Kassel
FB 2 - Humanities and Cultural Studies

Department of Modern German Literature

Phone: 0561/804-3319

E-mail: pseibert[at]uni-kassel[dot]de

Dr. Guido Rijkhoek

University of Kassel

Communication, Press and Public Relations

Tel.: 0561/804-2217

E-mail: rijkhoek[at]uni-kassel[dot]de